MOD Heathlands Project Manager in Hook

Location: College Copse Farm, Ridge Lane, Rotherwick, Hook

This is a Permanent, Full Time vacancy. Permanent Contract, Full Time – 35 Hours per Week.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is shaping a wilder future for our counties – protecting special places, restoring habitats and inspiring people to act for nature. As part of the UK’s fastest-growing movement for nature’s recovery, we lead with passion, integrity and bold thinking. Join a team where your work has purpose, your ideas matter, and you can help create lasting change for wildlife and people.

The MOD Project Manager is responsible for the general oversight and operational management of designated Ministry of Defence (MOD) project sites, ensuring the effective delivery of conservation objectives, contractual commitments, and habitat management programmes. Acting as the primary day-to-day point of contact for the MOD and Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), the postholder will maintain strong relationships with MOD and DIO representatives, contractors, partners, and other key stakeholders. Along with the Senior Estates Manager, they will provide oversight of site operations and ensure that management activities are delivered safely, efficiently, and in accordance with organisational and contractual requirements.

The postholder will be expected to balance hands-on operational delivery with strategic planning, ensuring MOD project sites are managed effectively, within budget, and in line with organisational objectives.

What you’ll be doing:

• You’ll coordinate the review and implementation of management plans across MOD sites, ensuring that conservation objectives are achieved while meeting the requirements of Countryside Stewardship agreements, the MOD training estate and any other contractual obligations.
• You’ll also be responsible for the procurement, supervision, and performance management of contractors, ensuring work is completed to the required standards and within agreed budgets and timescales.
• You’ll lead major infrastructure and capital works programmes across MOD sites, overseeing projects from planning and development through to delivery and completion.
• The postholder will retain practical management responsibility for those sites and activities not delegated to the Reserves Officer or Heathland Officer.
• You’ll also be responsible for direct line management of the Reserves Officer (MOD North) and Heathland Officer (MOD North), providing leadership, support, and performance oversight to ensure the successful delivery of site-based activities.
• In addition, you’ll be responsible for the day-to-day welfare of livestock on MOD sites, ensuring high standards of animal husbandry and seek support from the HIWWT Grazing Team where issues arise beyond basic livestock knowledge.
• As part of the management programme, you’ll be expected to feed into grazing plans and ensuring compliance of livestock whilst grazing MOD sites.

About you:

You will be a highly motivated and self-directed individual with a practical, solutions-focused approach to problem solving. You will have the ability to build credibility and develop positive working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders. Resilient and adaptable, you will be comfortable working in a fast-paced and evolving environment, responding positively to change and new challenges. You will demonstrate a strong commitment to maintaining high standards of animal welfare, conservation management, and health and safety. Flexibility is essential, and you will be willing to undertake occasional evening and weekend work when required.

Wild About Inclusion! As an inclusive employer we recognise that our workforce needs to better reflect the communities in which we live and work. We encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly those underrepresented within our sector, including people from black, Asian, minority Ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a Movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.

Disability Confident. We are proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer. The scheme is helping us recruit and retain great people to meet our workforce needs. As a member of the scheme, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview.

To be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme you must: Identify as being disabled which under the Equality Act 2010 means a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial*, long term** adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities; or a long-term health condition; and; (*Substantial is more than minor or trivial **Long-term means 12 months or more) Set out how you meet all the minimum qualifying criteria set out in the person specification for the post at the application and testing stages. This is a requirement for all candidates, not just those applying under the scheme.

We offer a wide range of benefits including a competitive salary, generous annual leave allowance, a contributory pension scheme, life assurance, learning and development support, 24-hour access to our employee assistance programme, discounted staff travel with our corporate partners Wightlink (subject to T&Cs), free parking at our sites and more.

Closing date: 01 September 2026 please note, we may close this vacancy early when we have received enough applications that meet the required criteria. Interviews: 10 September 2026

So what do we offer to our employees? Well most importantly you get to work in one of the most magnificent parts of the UK! Here in Hampshire we have globally important wetlands around the coastline of the Solent and medieval heathland landscapes in the New Forest. Our thriving cities and suburbs are surrounded by exceptional places for wildlife, including gin-clear chalk rivers, flower-rich grasslands, and ancient woodlands. Our jewel in the crown is the Isle of Wight where you can walk all day across downland turf and along spectacular cliffs.

That’s our working environment and you could share it with us! Our values are at the heart of who we are and what we do – they propel our culture and shape our priorities, beliefs, and actions. They underpin the decisions we make and are fundamental to how we treat one another and our stakeholders.

• We lead with purpose: We bring passion, commitment and focus to everything we do for nature and people.
• We act with integrity: We do what's right, with honesty, accountability, and trust at the heart of our work.
• We work together: We collaborate with openness and respect, embracing diverse voices, partnership and shared goals.
• We are bold and creative: We face challenges with courage and curiosity, embracing innovation and always seeking better ways to make a difference.
• We strive for excellence: We aim high, learn constantly, and take pride in doing things well, seeking to continually raise the bar for wildlife.