Assistant Ranger

Job Snapshot

We are looking to recruit an Assistant Ranger to help in the restoration of Boothby Wildland, a
617 hectare ex arable farm in Lincolnshire. This position will report to the Ecologist Ranger
and will have responsibility for the day-to-day running of a number of key activities. This
will involve practical work such as habitat management and equipment maintenance, leading
volunteer groups, ecological monitoring and working with and supporting a wide range of
visitors.

Through carrying out a range of land management, conservation and visitor engagement activities
across the site you will significantly contribute to delivering our mission to create a natural
asset in this intensively farmed region of the UK, making Boothby Wildland an exemplar of
nature recovery underpinned by economic and social benefits. You will be responsible for
delivering communication of our nature restoration work to a wide range of audiences, through
events, guided walks and engagement with local communities, stakeholders and paying visitors.

Please note weekend working is required (approx. 2-3 days a month) and that travel to other
Nattergal sites will be required on occasion.

The Opportunity:

This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated, practical and resourceful person to
support key rewilding activities at Boothby Wildland.

There are two main areas of responsibility:

Habitat and access management

The postholder will help implement the agreed Boothby Wildland management and maintenance plan
in accordance with Nattergal policies and all statutory obligations, and in consultation with
the line manager and other relevant staff.

You will lead on various practical activities, particularly with regards to visitor access e.g.
maintenance of public footpaths and infrastructure, fencing repairs and signage installation
and maintenance.

You will be responsible for regular infrastructure checks needed for the 200ha beaver enclosure
as well as habitat management tasks such as annual topping of boundary areas, roadside hedge
cutting and woodland management.

Engagement

You will lead tours for paying visitors, building on the work already done to develop
eco-tourism as an income stream for Boothby. These will range from running Rewilding walks and
Beaver tours to more specialised activities (e.g. bird watching) and hosting corporate away
days.

Working with the Community and Volunteer Co-ordinator you also will help to safely deliver
accessible, enjoyable and rewarding opportunities for public engagement at Boothby Wildland.
This includes assisting in the planning and preparation of a variety of tasks for weekly
volunteer sessions, which you may lead or assist on as appropriate.

Likewise, you will assist in community events and projects, for example establishing and
managing a community orchard. You will also lead on Boothby’s camera trap programme, ensuring
they are deployed, retrieved and uploaded, using volunteer assistance where possible.

There will potentially be an opportunity pending your own interests and training desires, to
assist the Ecologist Ranger in the delivery of Boothby’s ecological surveying and monitoring
programme. A chainsaw license or willingness to work towards one, would be an advantage and
working as a second person for arboriculture work would be beneficial.

Person Specification

Experience Essential:

• Full UK driving licence.
• Relevant qualification or equivalent practical conservation experience
• Management and maintenance of visitor facilities, infrastructure (signs, paths, seats etc).
• Practical operations including experience in use of a variety of machinery, tractor
  driving, use of hand held power tools, equipment maintenance and practical work.
• Working with volunteers and confidently leading practical working groups
• High standard of people and presentation skills for leading engaging tours and talks across
  the site
• Good standard of numeracy and literacy and proficient in MS Office

Desirable:

• Certified training in brush cutter, NPTC chainsaw cs30.1, cs30.2 & cs31 (training
  provided if not)
• Trailer licence, or towing
• Use of tractor mounted implements advantageous
• First aid qualification and experience completing Risk Assessments
• Broad wildlife identification skills and a basic understanding of, or some experience in,
  conducting habitat and species surveys and using technology to collate and store data (training
  will be available)
• ATV certificate and experience of off-road driving
• Qualification in Aerial Rescue Tree climbing formerly NPTC cs38

Personal qualities

• Demonstrate a passion for nature and the outdoors, with an interest in and basic
  understanding of rewilding
• A practical person with good problem-solving skills who is happy to take on physical tasks
  and work outside in all weathers
• A willingness to learn new skills and keen to develop their knowledge of wildlife and the
  environment
• A friendly, outgoing person with excellent verbal communication skills, who is organised
  and comfortable meeting new people and speaking in front of groups
• A reliable, dependable and diligent person with a ‘can do’ attitude, who is capable of
  working as part of a team and has the ability to self- motivation to drive work forward without
  supervision.
• A positive, open-minded approach to the job and a willingness to take on new and varied
  tasks.