Invergeldie Estate Ranger: Stalking & Estate Operations in Comrie

Picture this. You're out on a stalk at first light, red deer moving across the hill and Ben Chonzie lit up behind you. By late morning you are mending a stretch of fence that stands between 1.5 million young trees and the herbivores that would happily eat them. By the afternoon you are fixing a pothole, mending a leak or sanding and oiling wooden signs. No two days are the same, and every one of them matters.

Invergeldie is a conservation estate of 11,701 acres in one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland, and it is the site of an ambitious programme of woodland creation, peatland restoration, river restoration and nature recovery. We are looking for a genuinely capable, practical person who can turn their hand to almost anything, and who wants their work to count. If that is you, read on.

About You

Do you want to work hard for people and wildlife, and look back in years to come knowing that what you did helped in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss? We are looking for someone who wants to make a long-term commitment to this place, its hills and its community. You will be practical, fit, self-motivated and happy working alone on the hill or as part of a small, collaborative team. Above all, you will be someone who takes real pride in a job done well.

Here is what we are looking for:

• Impact: Deer control: a confident, safe and ethical stalker, DSC1 held, with DSC2 either held or genuinely underway, and your own current Firearm and Shotgun Certificate — ready to be our boots-on-the-hill presence on herbivore management day in, day out.
• Practical all-rounder: genuinely handy across estate, farm, forestry or maintenance work, with real ability across trades and machinery and the judgement to know when to crack on and when to call in a specialist. You'll also need a full UK driving licence to get yourself across the estate and beyond.
• Exacting standards: a sharp eye for detail and a deep commitment to doing things properly, safely and to a standard you would be happy to sign your name to.

Environment

• A feel for the wild: a love of the natural world, rural Scotland and hill country, and a belief in restoring land rather than simply managing it.

Adventure

• Up for it: fuelled by hard work outdoors in all weathers, and by the idea of helping build something that has never been done at this scale before.
• Steady under pressure: priorities here change with the weather, the season and the deer. You keep a cool head and get the important things done.
• Comfortable with a rhythm that shifts with the land: No two weeks look the same here. You might be out through the evening during the cull, up before dawn to catch the best window on the hill the next day, or lending a hand elsewhere on the estate when it's needed. The work follows the seasons and the land, not a fixed clock — and you're someone who finds that exciting rather than unsettling.

Together

• A team player: happy working alongside our Estate Manager and Estate Ranger, our specialist deer contractor and a wide range of trades and neighbours.
• Good with people: comfortable representing Invergeldie and Oxygen Conservation well, whoever we are working with.
• And, of course, you have to be the kind of person people want to share a hill with. Sharing snacks on a long day, or a packed lunch out in the rain, is mandatory.

We believe in recruiting exceptional people and building the role around them. We are committed to a genuinely diverse team drawn from all walks of life, with a wide range of lived and learnt experience. You might have skills in some, but not all, of the areas above. Whatever your skillset, we would love to hear from you if you think you can make a real difference with Oxygen Conservation and the communities where we are fortunate to work.

About The Role

Invergeldie sits in Glen Lednock, above Comrie in Perthshire. It surrounds Loch Lednock Reservoir up to the summit of Ben Chonzie, across roughly 4,735 hectares of open moorland, deep peat and blanket bog, grassland, heath and native woodland. It holds two Sites of Special Scientific Interest and a wildlife list that includes mountain hare, various birds of prey and rare arctic-alpine plants. It is a special place, and we are restoring it at scale.

There is a great deal happening here. We are creating 1,008 hectares of new native woodland, planting 1.5 million trees inside a 2,133-hectare enclosure protected by 38 kilometres of new deer fence. We have 520 hectares of degraded peatland going into restoration. We are re-meandering a straightened section of the River Lednock to bring back its floodplain and wetland. We run a small herd of Highland cattle for conservation grazing and we are building nature credits and carbon projects across the estate. Keeping herbivore numbers under control. We also have multiple long term lets, and will soon be bringing eco-tourism lets as well, which will require maintenance!

As Ranger, you will be our in-house lead on the day-to-day of deer control. Strathearn Wildlife will remain our specialist contractor, coming up through the season to take the larger numbers. Your job is the daily work between and alongside his visits: out on the hill, keeping deer moving and pressure on, culling to plan, and working shoulder to shoulder with Anton when he is on the ground. Alongside the stalking, you will be one of the small team who keep this estate running – fencing, property and building repairs, machinery, and the hundred other jobs that a place like this throws up. You will work alongside our Estate Ranger and Estate Manager. It is a role for someone who wants variety, responsibility and the chance to shape how a landscape like this is looked after for the next generation.

Key responsibilities

• Deer and herbivore control: carry out safe, humane, planned culling; move and manage deer across the estate; work alongside our specialist contractor; and help deliver the annual herbivore management plan and its records.
• Fencing: inspect and repair stock and deer fencing across the estate, keeping our woodland creation enclosure and its deer fence sound and effective.
• Property and building maintenance: keep our ageing built estate in good order – repairs and upkeep to houses, lodges, outbuildings and estate infrastructure, turning your hand to joinery, roofing and general building work.
• Machinery, vehicles and plant: operate and maintain quads, tractors, chainsaws and small plant safely and keep them well looked after and ready for work.
• Estate presentation and operations: help keep Invergeldie looking cared-for and running smoothly, from tracks and drains to gates, signage and lawns; the general upkeep of a working conservation estate.
• Health and safety: plan and carry out your work safely, follow risk assessments and safe systems of work, and look after yourself, your colleagues and estate visitors, including when working alone.
• Working together: support the Invergeldie team, our contractors and the wider Oxygen Conservation team, and represent the estate well with tenants, neighbours, visitors and the Comrie community.

Room to grow

We invest in the people who invest in this place. Wherever you're starting from, we'll help you build:

• Drone skills — we already use drones and thermal imagery to locate deer, check fences and monitor land, and there's real scope to take this further.
• Chainsaw certification (CS30/31) and a UTV handling certificate.
• Outdoor first aid.
• Trailer/towing (B+E) entitlement.
• Wider plant tickets — drystone walling, telehandler and beyond — plus any building or property maintenance trade skills you'd like to develop.
• Deeper experience of upland and conservation land management, including working alongside statutory bodies such as NatureScot.

If you already bring some of this, brilliant — it means less time training and more time on the hill. If you don't, we'll help you get there.

About Us

We are building the UK's first genuine natural capital portfolio — acquiring large landscapes, restoring them, and creating investable natural capital such as premium carbon credits, biodiversity units, renewable energy partnerships and ecotourism experiences. Oxygen Conservation was founded in 2021 by Oxygen House Group and Dr Rich Stockdale, with the mission of Scaling Conservation. We buy land at scale to deliver positive environmental and social impact, generating profit as a result, not as the purpose, of what we do. In just a few years we have grown to around 50,000 acres across twelve estates, with the ambition to protect and restore 250,000 acres by 2030. Our work has been recognised along the way: Start-Up of the Year at the 2022 Business Leader South West Awards, Team of the Year at the 2023 Edie Awards, and ESG Deal of the Year at the 2024 Insider South West Dealmakers Awards for our nature funding agreement with Triodos. Our founder and CEO, Dr Rich Stockdale, features in the ENDS Power List as one of the top 100 UK environmental professionals driving significant impact.

Key information

• Term: Full-time, permanent.
• Location: Invergeldie Estate, Glen Lednock, near Comrie, Perthshire. This is a role that lives and breathes the estate and would require you to live within a sensible commute of the estate.
• Closing date: Until we find someone awesome!