County Ecologist

Join us in advocating the beauty and diverse ecosystems of West Sussex in the role of County Ecologist.

Together, we can protect and nurture the environment and our cherished landscape.

The Opportunity

Salary: £38,626 to £45,718 per annum
Working Pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
Location: County Hall, Chichester and hybrid working
Interview date: 02 April 2025

As the organisation’s County Ecologist, you will provide professional expertise on ecology. You
will represent the County Council at relevant meetings and be an authoritative advocate for the
ecology and biodiversity of West Sussex. Additionally, you will take on the important
responsibility of advising other business units on the implications of their work, while
overseeing and directly providing specialist advice to the County Council regarding its own
developments and its vital statutory planning role as the County Planning Authority and Highway
Authority. You will supervise the work of other specialists and provide mentoring and
professional support as required, nurturing a shared commitment to fostering a vibrant
ecological future.

You will need to be able to travel independently to various sites, some in remote locations,
attend external meetings and work in other locations around the county. The role may
periodically require some limited physical demands and stamina, including climbing ladders and
working in hazardous or confined spaces when inspecting buildings on site visits. Occasionally,
you may be inspecting dilapidated buildings where due care and attention to the environmental
conditions and hazards are needed.

What are we looking for?

As the successful County Ecologist, you will be able to demonstrate a “can do” attitude, with a
passion for providing an excellent ecological service. Additionally, you will be able to
demonstrate the following:

• A strong team player with excellent customer service skills, able to communicate
  effectively, working with customers and communities to find solutions to problems.
• You will be able to demonstrate integrity, openness and an awareness of others.
• A strategic thinker with a flexible approach, able to anticipate problems and make informed
  decisions, particularly in relation to the professional preservation implications of planning
  applications.
• The ability to organise your own workload and provide support and supervision to other
  professionals where appropriate.
• You will be comfortable working over a range of activities in a busy environment, for
  example visiting sites, producing complex drawings, writing detailed reports, and managing
  conflicting demands and time pressures from deadlines linked to planning applications.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience
required, please refer to the Job Description on our website.

Working for us

As well as adding real value to our service users and our communities, as an employer we
recognise our employees are central in being able to achieve this. To recognise this we want to
help support your development and provide an great place to work ensuring you can fulfil your
full potential, have access to a range of benefits including:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of 27 to 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel,
  cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save
  over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our Staff discounts
  page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental
  Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans