Director of Country Operations

We are seeking a dynamic individual with strong people skills to provide leadership across all of BTO’s Country Offices and to manage operations in Scotland. Operational management for Wales and Northern Ireland is provided by the Heads of those teams. The post holder will be part of BTO’s senior leadership team, responsible for setting the direction and priorities of the organisation and attending Board meetings where they will represent BTO Country Operations. The postholder will directly manage an excellent team of senior Country Office staff members and work collaboratively with many others.

The role requires demonstrable experience in supporting, motivating, and leading multi-disciplinary teams and excellent people management and influencing skills. It will also require experience in developing strategic vision, setting measures of success, securing funding, and ensuring delivery of multiple and often complex projects. The post holder will need skills in, and a passion for communicating both internally and externally; a good science (ideally ecological) background, and an understanding of long-term monitoring and citizen science approaches to monitoring and research.

Ideally, the postholder will be based out of the BTO Scotland office in Stirling (which currently has the largest staff complement), but we would be willing to consider working out of the BTO Cymru offices at Bangor University or the BTONI offices in Lisburn, near Belfast, for the right candidate.

BTO operates flexible working, and a hybrid working pattern is available (60% office, 40% home). The postholder is expected to build and maintain strong relationships with colleagues across the BTO, and whilst communication by virtual means is used frequently, regular travel (several times a year) between each of the offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and to the English office in Thetford, Norfolk is required, as is frequent working in person at the postholder’s office base.

Find out more

See attached or navigate to ‘Supporting documents’ within the job details on our careers page to view:

• The full role description and person specification
• A message from BTO’s CEO, Juliet Vickery- ‘Intro to Director of Country Operations’.

Please note that, if you are the successful candidate, you will be required to provide documentary evidence of your right to live and work in the UK. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer visa sponsorship at this time.

What does BTO do?

BTO helps to secure the future for birds and nature, using our science, monitoring and data to inform good environmental decisions, inspiring others with the wonder of birds and empowering them to work with us. Our priority is to make a positive impact for birds, using our strong and objective science in partnership with others. We strive to work sustainably and to welcome everyone.

Our values

We are evidence-led, inclusive, collaborative and empowering.

Birds Science People; it is a powerful combination – will you be part of it?

What we offer

• £68,199 per annum
• Annual Leave: 25 days per year (plus bank holidays), increasing with service to 26 days after 5 years, 28 days after 10 years, and 30 days after 15 years (pro rata for part-time staff).
• Paid ‘journey days’ (up to 2 days) to staff who travel on holiday by land or sea instead of flying.
• Annual team away days
• Life assurance (four times salary)
• 11% employer pension contribution
• Employee Assistance Programme offering help and advice to staff and their families on matters related to bereavement, wellbeing, finances, relationships, family and more. This includes a number of free counselling sessions.
• Enhanced sick pay
• Enhanced Family leave- Maternity, Adoption, and Shared Parental Leave, 12 weeks at full pay. Paternity and Partner leave, 4 weeks at full pay.
• Health cash plan which enables staff to claim back some healthcare expenses, such as prescriptions, dental treatment and specialist diagnostic tests. It also offers: Discounts on gym memberships and various retailers, a virtual GP and prescription service, on-demand wellness content (fitness, yoga,meditation, sleep, mindfulness) and access to Health Lens, Eargym, and digital physiotherapy via Phio.
• Retail discounts through MyLifestyle.
• Cycling friendly employer- gold accredited
• Cycle to work scheme- spread the cost of purchasing a new bike and save money
• Discounts on: BTO books, Bird care from Vine House Farm (10% discount on orders placed on the website) and Opticron (15% off)
• Free access to BTO training courses
• Flexible working- A combination of home and office working and flexible start and finish times (where this meets business needs)
• Free eye tests and a contribution of £49 towards prescription glasses for VDU use only.
• Free car parking
• Effective job evaluation policy that recognises where staff increase their level of responsibility over time
• Coaching and mentoring scheme
• Staff groups and forums- First Aiders and mental health first aiders, Coaching and mentoring, Diversity working, Sustainability and Natural Working, Becoming Inclusive, Neurodiversity group, LGBTQ+ group and our staff group creating a positive and welcoming culture to work in.
• Commitment to creating an inclusive environment
• Commitment to sustainability

The closing date for receipt of applications is 23:59 on Tuesday 14th April and Interviews will be held remotely on Tuesday 5th May. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

If you have a disability or long-term illness that otherwise prevents you from meeting any of the essential criteria, please contact us to discuss whether a reasonable adjustment could be made.

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the vacancy.

We recognise that candidates from minority ethnic groups are under-represented in our organisation, and that there are often additional barriers present for people from these groups when applying for roles in the charity sector and beyond. We are committed to taking positive action to expand the diversity of our staff team, and if you meet the essential criteria for a role and are from a minority ethnic background, you’ll be guaranteed a first stage interview.

In cases where we receive a very high volume of applications, we may need to limit the number of Guaranteed Interview Scheme candidates progressing to interview.

Charity No. 216652 (E&W); SC039193 (Scotland)