Green Spaces Development Officer FTC in Warwick

The Green Spaces Team is looking for a skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic individual who is passionate about nature, conservation, ecology, woodland/tree management and green spaces to join the team. The individual should be ambitious in their desire to make Warwick District a place that is rich in nature by delivering multiple benefits for wildlife and people, while also being keen to enhance our registered historic parks and gardens and areas of open space.

The postholder would be required to work on their own, sometimes in isolated locations, and to attend team meetings and work well with the team and internal and external stakeholders, for example, community groups. Candidates should have a passion and knowledge and experience of green space development and have qualifications or equivalent experience in environment, landscape, horticulture, woodland management, ecology, conservation, planning or other related subjects to enable them to perform well in this role.

The postholder should also be familiar with MS Office based applications such as Outlook, Word and Excel and be able to use maps to assist them in their daily work. Good levels of numeracy, verbal and written communication skills as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills at all levels is also required. You will also need to be able to plan/prioritise and sequence multiple and potentially conflicting priorities.

Main responsibilities:

• Undertake the submission of sites for Fields in Trust designation.
• Write the Parks Management Plans to secure Green Flag accreditation.
• Assist on woodland management policy and be involved in the development and management of parks and open spaces throughout the district to include ecological management, floral bedding, tree advice, play areas, local nature reserves, and other tasks as the service requires.

Snapshot of the essential criteria:

• Qualified to at least degree level or have equivalent experience.
• Extensive knowledge and experience of contract management, project management, maintenance of formal parks and open spaces and working and managing external contractors.
• Experience of working with a range of partners, including residents, volunteers, local groups, and other bodies/organisations.
• Extensive knowledge of integrating ecological and formal grounds maintenance to increase biodiversity.
• Experience of budget management/payment to external contractors.
• Extensive knowledge of services provided by other Service Areas in the Council, partner organisations and other agencies.
• Demonstrable experience of change management and service improvement.
• Demonstrable ability to present both written and verbal reports.
• The ability to manage and prioritise workload.

The postholder must have a full driving licence and access to a vehicle to undertake duties across the district. The postholder will work predominantly from home but must attend meetings at the office or sites within Warwick District as required.

Employment type: Fixed Term / Secondment – 2 years

Equality & Diversity: As part of being a Disability Confident employer we guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the post. To be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS), applicants must disclose that they have a disability and would like to be considered for the scheme.