Consultant Ecologist

My client is a forward-thinking, independent consultancy based in the heart of the Cambridgeshire countryside. They conduct a wide variety of ecological surveys across Central and Eastern England as well as providing arboricultural consultancy and practical habitat creation/management services. Their commitment to nature conservation is central to their business values, whilst balancing this with their duty to their clients. They proactively choose work that closely aligns with their conservation values, for example current projects include writing and enacting a 5-year management plan for nightingale habitat creation, and monitoring and advising on a rewilding project for a local authority.

This role will provide you with an opportunity to gain exposure to a wide variety of projects and clients and further develop your career in all aspects of consultancy work. You will be involved in all areas of their work, working with a friendly team of ecologists and subcontractors. You will undertake ecological surveys and mitigation, supporting junior staff, writing reports, whilst liaising with clients and their design teams, as well as LPAs.

What you'll need to succeed:

• Have relevant professional ecological experience.
• Ideally hold personal survey licences (level 1 or above for bats and GCN) and be competent in the survey of, and mitigation for, at least 2 protected species.
• Hold qualifying or associate level membership of CIEEM.
• Have proven botanical skills, ideally at a FISC Level 3 or above (or a willingness to achieve this, we will provide training and assessment).
• Have the ability to undertake habitat surveys using UKHabs and use the Biodiversity Metric to accompany planning applications.
• Have a professional, enthusiastic, and positive approach and be able to engage successfully with clients and stakeholders.
• Have good knowledge of UK and European environmental legislation.
• Have good report writing skills with experience of writing PEARs and EcIAs.
• Be confident and able to manage own workload, be proactive in managing projects.
• Have a BSc/MSc or equivalent qualification in a relevant field.
• Have a full clean UK driving licence and access to own transport.

What you'll get in return:

• Flexible working arrangements: They pride themselves on being a family friendly, inclusive business, that places importance on their staff’s wellbeing. Their current staff have various flexible working arrangements to suit their individual needs and personal responsibilities.
• Competitive salary: The salary for this position is £25,000 - £32,000 DOE.
• Training: They offer a generous CPD budget, paid CIEEM membership and personal survey licences, and encourage attendance at conferences where relevant.
• Local field work: They have a strong local client base and pride themselves on working on sites predominantly in their region, limiting the need for staff to be working away from home.
• Diverse portfolio of work: They strive for continual improvement and proactively seek opportunities to expand their team’s skill set and their subsequent range of services that positively challenge, but also inspire their staff.