Senior/Principal Ecologist in Manchester

Shape the future of our cities and environments. We're proud to say it's thanks to our people's diversity of thought, expertise and knowledge. When you join us, you'll be a part of this genuinely collaborative environment, where everyone's voice is valued and treated equally. We're passionate about what we do, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. This is a great place to be.

Our ecology team strives to make a positive difference to the natural environment by working closely with other disciplines across our business to engage in projects from the outset, ensuring ecology is considered at the earliest possible stage. This collaborative working helps to drive forward nature positive schemes that we are proud of. Our award‑winning team of over 130 ecologists work across a range of exciting habitat creation, research, development and major infrastructure projects; we also design new innovations and help inform policy.

With this in mind, we provide an incredibly flexible and inclusive working environment with staff wellbeing being front and centre of all our decisions. We understand that not everyone chooses to take the university route in terms of education - we are open to taking on ecologists without a degree and we are working closely with the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) to make entry into the environmental industry more inclusive for all. For us, it is the experience, knowledge and your ability to fit in well with our existing team of ecologists that really matters.

Your role:

• Client facing/client interaction – The candidate will demonstrate an understanding of clients' requirements.
• Supporting on nationally important infrastructure projects, managing project programmes and budgets.
• Planning and undertaking field surveys; analysing and interpreting survey results.
• Designing and co‑ordinating ecological mitigation.
• Authoring and checking a range of ecological reports and licence applications.
• Interdisciplinary engagement – the candidate will actively seek to engage with other areas of the business, seeking opportunities to cross sell and leverage capabilities, preparing bids, supporting on strategic opportunities, building client relationships (internal and external) and driving work‑winning in the region.
• Candidate will proactively provide innovation on projects and within the ecology team.
• Candidate may coach, mentor and support other staff members in their development.
• This role will have tailored mentoring and support towards achieving career goals, such as Chartership.
• Appropriate training courses external and internal will be reviewed with your mentor and Practice Manager.

About you:

• Full Membership of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), or actively working towards this.
• Strong skills in report writing, including preparing Preliminary Ecological Assessments, Ecological Impact Assessments, Biodiversity Chapters for Ecological Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulations Assessment (including Appropriate Assessment) and Protected species survey licence(s).
• Strong working knowledge and experience of UK Habitat survey, habitat condition assessments, and the Defra Biodiversity Metric.
• Ideally project management experience including technical, financial and quality assurance aspects.
• Experience of working on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and familiarity with the Development Consent Order (DCO) process would be viewed favourably.
• A desire to contribute to the growth and development of the team.
• A full UK/EEC driving licence.

Rewards & benefits:

Explore the rewards and benefits that help you thrive – at every stage of your life and your career. Make the most of a myriad of opportunities for training and professional development to grow your skills and expertise. Combine our hybrid working culture and flexible holiday allowances to balance a great job and fulfilling personal life.

Additional information:

This role may require security clearance and offers of employment will be dependent on obtaining the relevant level of clearance. If this is necessary, it will be discussed with you at interview. We are committed to creating a culture where everyone feels that they belong - a place where we can all be ourselves, thrive and develop to be the best we can be. We offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements and employee resource groups to support all employees.