Associate Ecologist in Manchester

If you're an experienced consultant ecologist ready to step into an Associate role where you can lead, influence, mentor and make a real impact, this could be the perfect next step.

A Little More About the Team

Our Ecology team is friendly, collaborative, and built on shared expertise. You'll work alongside specialists in habitats, protected species, biodiversity, water, planning, and more meaning you'll gain exposure to a wide range of projects and disciplines.

What you can expect:

• A supportive culture with training, mentoring, and clear progression
• Access to industry leading specialists across the UK
• Opportunities to help shape best practice in UK ecology
• A workplace where wellbeing and safety always come first

If you want to grow your ecological, project management, and consultancy skills while influencing the wider ecology profession, you'll feel right at home here.

Your New Role - What's Involved?

As an Associate Ecologist, you will play a key role in both project delivery and team leadership, including:

• Championing our Health, Safety & Wellbeing culture and helping create a safe, positive working environment.
• Working closely with your team, the Regional Director, and Team Leader to manage workload and uphold high technical standards.
• Generating new opportunities and preparing tenders, while overseeing the delivery of ecological workstreams technical, commercial, and financial.
• Providing both site and office support, helping to guide and mentor junior colleagues as they develop their skills.
• Contributing to a supportive, enthusiastic, and high performing team environment.

What We're Looking For

You will thrive in this role if you have:

• Experience working across a range of UK habitats and protected species, with survey and/or mitigation licences (current or held previously).
• A proven track record of supporting clients from devising survey programmes and designing pragmatic, cost effective mitigation, to gaining regulatory support and supervising implementation on site.
• Experience delivering Ecological Impact Assessments and writing robust ES chapters.
• Knowledge and experience of Habitats Regulations Assessment.
• Demonstrable success in winning work, particularly with commercial clients in residential, mixed use, and industrial sectors.
• A passion for supporting and developing ecologists of all grades through mentorship and leadership.

Why Choose WSP?

When you join us, you'll gain:

• A clear pathway to progress your ecological consultancy career
• The freedom to shape your own development
• Exposure to major UK and international projects
• A workplace that truly values diversity, collaboration, and wellbeing

You'll be part of a team that believes in building a better, more resilient environment one project at a time.

Ready to take the next step? If you're an ecologist with consultancy experience looking for a role where your technical expertise, leadership and passion for the natural environment will flourish we'd love to hear from you.

Don't quite meet all the criteria? Apply, and we can see how your experience aligns to this role and other opportunities within the team.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Here at WSP we positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy or maternity/paternity. As a Disability Confident leader, we will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria, please let us know if you require any workplace adjustments in support of your application.