Ecologist

Salary: £34,434 – £38,220 per annum pro rata
Grade: I
Vacancy Hours: 22.5 hours per week, part time
Contract Type: Fixed term
Contract Duration: Two years
Weekend Working: No
Location: Scarborough/Ryedale, North Yorkshire

Our Team

The Council’s Planning Services play a fundamental role in managing the natural and built environment, ensuring that the future development needs of the area can be accommodated to make it a better place in which to live and work.

The Environment & Design workstream comprises a multidisciplinary team of specialists, who support the Council’s role in place-shaping by working across the whole planning function. The specialisms include ecology, building conservation, archaeology, and landscape and urban design.

Role Summary

Our Ecologists promote the protection and enhancement of the County’s biodiversity, ensuring that it is an integral part of the Council’s growth and place making agenda.

You will provide specialist ecological advice to ensure statutory requirements and Council objectives are met. This includes providing advice on the impact of development proposals where these affect the natural environment, supporting the preparation of the Council’s Local Plan, and helping to shape the delivery of biodiversity net gain in North Yorkshire.

The role is hybrid in nature, with a combination of working from home and attendance at either our Scarborough or Northallerton offices. Occasional travel will be required across the whole of North Yorkshire.

Duties and Responsibilities

In this varied and rewarding role, you will:

• Provide expert ecological advice on planning applications, site allocations, and biodiversity net gain proposals, undertaking site visits where appropriate.
• Support the preparation, implementation, and review of the statutory local development plan, including assessing the impact on biodiversity of site allocations.
• Support the development of nature-positive policies and guidance for developers, landowners, and the public
• Help deliver ecological programmes and biodiversity projects with partners and communities
• Contribute to habitat creation and restoration, including work with the minerals and waste industry
• Deliver training and build in-house capacity on biodiversity and ecological matters
• Assist with statutory duties under the NERC Act 2006 and Environment Act 2021

Experience / Qualifications:

• Education to degree level in a relevant ecology/environmental subject
• Knowledge of current English nature conservation legislation, guidance, and planning policy.
• Knowledge of legislation and policy relating to biodiversity net gain and its delivery through the development management process.
• Knowledge of British wildlife habitats and species
• Experience in the provision of ecological advice in the UK planning system
• Experience of liaison and negotiation with stakeholders and partners
• Experience of managing workload within set deadlines; able to use own initiative to plan time effectively.

Contact and Apply

For an informal conversation about this opportunity, please contact Piran Borlase-Hendry, Environment Design Manager (Ecology): [email protected].

Applying is easy, simply click on apply now, register your details, remove your personal details from your CV and upload by midnight on Sunday 9th August 2026.

What can we offer you?

In addition to your salary, we offer a range of great benefits to help you financially and make life a bit easier.

These include:

• a local government pension scheme with a generous employer contribution
• salary sacrifice schemes
• employee discount benefits including shopping, supermarkets, gym discounts and more!
• travel loans
• Health Assured – confidential help and support for your wellbeing

Click on our Total Rewards Brochure to see the full range of benefits.

Key Dates

Closing Date: 9 August 2026
Interviews: week commencing 17 August 2026
Venue for Interview: Harrogate/Northallerton

NYC are committed to directly recruiting staff and will not accept applications nor services from agency suppliers in respect of our vacancies.

We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

North Yorkshire Councils’ purpose is to deliver services and facilities to the diverse residents and visitors of North Yorkshire. To ensure we deliver inclusive services we strive to have a diverse workforce where everybody can be themselves by respecting differences and embedding equality of opportunity. We celebrate diversity and recognise each other’s contributions; we therefore welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds.