Reserves Manager

This role is responsible for leading the Reserves Team to ensure that our reserves are managed
in a way that demonstrates best practice and to maximise conservation benefits for key priority
species.

This is a key role within HWT, managing the Trust’s 50+ nature reserves across the county,
including our flagship sites at Queenswood Country Park and Bodenham Lake. We are currently in
the process of re-assessing and re-aligning our nature reserves to ensure that they are
strategically aligned and support nature recovery within the county and further afield.

The role will need to balance intellectual leadership with practical land management oversight;
managing the Reserves Team, ensuring professional oversight of all our reserves, providing
guidance and support to our reserve’s volunteers and wardens, and providing advice and delivery
support to Reserves Officers and other colleagues.

Background:

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT) is one of the 46 Wildlife Trusts and is the leading wildlife
charity in Herefordshire. Our three-year 2023-2026 Strategy empowers us to have more nature
everywhere and sets out three main goals: to take action for nature; put nature in recovery and
sustain our future. As part of our goal to put nature in recovery goal our Nature Reserves need
to be managed in a way that ensures they are rich in wildlife and strategically aligned.

We want our reserves managed in a way that demonstrates sustainable land management, to
maximise conservation benefits for priority species and habitats, to integrate reserves into
larger ecological networks and to support the work of the Living Landscape projects and Nature
Recovery Networks.

The ongoing management of our nature reserves by our Reserves Management team and many
volunteers, to ensure that they remain havens for wildlife, is a fundamental part of HWT’s
activities. Across our reserve network we will employ different land management approaches
dependent on habitat type, species present and restrictions to the management prescriptions we
can deploy. The affects of climate change are already being felt locally, with observations of
changes in wildlife distribution, species life cycles becoming out of sync, and damage to
habitats occurring from excessive flooding or prolonged dry spells. Our reserve management will
need to adapt to address the affects of climate change.

Specific accountabilities

Professional oversight, leadership and delivery

Provide intellectual leadership in the development, implementation and review of the Trust’s
reserves management programme, ensuring its approach to land management is consistent with
land conservation and sustainability, explore new funding opportunities for our reserves
including Sustainable Farming Incentives and Biodiversity Net Gain, and work closely with our
volunteers and partners.

• Steer the long term, strategic vision and strategic review of our nature reserves, including
  their role within Living Landscapes and Nature Recovery Networks.
• Maintain oversight of all aspects of land management including relationships with legal and
  land agent contractors, the Trust’s Rural Payment Agency portfolio, Health and Safety and land
  acquisition.
• Manage our reserve network in a way that develops resilience to the affects of climate change.
• Ensure HWT complies with, and demonstrates that it meets, legal requirements and best practice
  relating to agreements, leases, contracts, agri-environment schemes, European Protected Species
  and other legal obligations
• To review the site acquisition policy and to keep the current suite of reserves under review,
  including prioritisation scoring to allocate resources.
• To assess potential new site acquisitions, against the agreed criteria.
• Keep up-to-date through continued professional development and networking of changes in land
  management funding.
• Explore opportunities to increase income through new funding schemes, grants and Biodivesity
  Net Gain.
• Liaise with colleagues to:
  • maximise the potential for people involvement in nature reserves, including oversight of
    physical access infrastructure, interpretation, events and learning opportunities;
  • ensure a coordinated approach is taken with volunteer tasks, shared machinery and tool use and
    maintenance;
  • create and build on opportunities to position our Reserves as key elements of living Landscapes
    and Nature recovery networks;

Management Accountabilities

As a member of the Management Team contribute to the effective management of Herefordshire
Wildlife Trust by:

• Contributing to the formulation of strategic policies for the Trust
• Providing strategic oversight of all land management issues in the Trust
• Providing advice and updates to the Senior Management Team and Trustees as required
• Ensuring the promulgation and delivery of HWT strategies within the Reserves Team
• Ensuring Trust finances are appropriately managed, by taking the lead on compiling and managing
  the team budget, seeking to achieve good value for money and achieve maximum leverage for
  external funding
• Ensuring best practice in the management of human resources, in accordance with HWT policies
  and procedures and adherence to the HWT Health and Safety policy and all related H&S tools.

Staff and Volunteer Management

Inspire the Reserves team of staff, volunteers and trainees to create a shared sense of purpose
and commitment to achieve HWT outcomes. Line manage the Reserves team effectively, by:

• Recruiting new staff, volunteers and trainees, providing individual counselling, mentoring and
  other support as appropriate;
• Ensuring that all individuals are working to clear objectives and undertaking staff
  appraisals within the Trust’s competency framework;
• Agreeing appropriate approaches and mechanisms to managing volunteer involvement
• Ensuring staff and volunteers undertake all work in accordance with organisational policies
  including those for Health and Safety and Equal Opportunities;
• Delegating responsibility where appropriate to manage team workloads and deliver timely
  results;
• Ensuring good communication between all relevant HWT staff, trainees, volunteers and
  Trustees

Financial management and fundraising

Oversee the production of robust and sustainable plans and budgets to ensure delivery of the
Trust’s Nature Reserve programme.

• Maintain oversight and control of budgets in accordance with the scheme of delegation.
• Review monthly management accounts and provide quarterly reports and forecasts;
• Ensure that accurate, up-to-date, and timely records are kept, to comply with contractual and
  procurement rules and/or legislation and funder’s reporting requirements.
• Identify and pursue opportunities for external funding and projects to support the management
  of Trust Reserves and to enhance the future range and scale of the Trust’s land management
  work;
• Maintain oversight of projects from start to finish, ensuring that project implementation is
  effective from impact, relationship and financial standpoints and to achieve effective project
  completion.

Other duties

• Undertake any other work that might be deemed necessary by HWT commensurate with the level of
  responsibility of this post.
• Work with the broader HWT team on any other activities that match your skills and abilities as
  agreed with your line-manager
• Promote HWT through participation in HWT events, provision of ‘good news’ briefings for
  internal and external communications and engagement with the media
• Encourage, develop and support Trust volunteer involvement in your work (this being regarded as
  a major resource that makes a vital contribution to the Trust)
• Undertake Health and Safety duties commensurate with the post and as detailed in the Trust’s
  Health and Safety policy; and ensure any volunteers, trainees or 3rd parties do like-wise
• Comply with all other organisational policies and relevant legislation e.g. Equal Opportunities
• Take advantage of formal & informal opportunities for personal & professional
  development, participate in appropriate training activities in consultation with your line
  manager
• Cascade relevant skills and knowledge to relevant staff and volunteers;
• Act as an ambassador for Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, constructing and maintaining positive
  relationships with volunteers, visitors and other organisations.
• Actively encourage those with whom you come into professional contact to become members of HWT
  (all staff are regarded as membership recruiters)

Benefits of working for Herefordshire Wildlife Trust

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

• 25 days holiday plus bank hols p.a. pro rata with incremental increase with length of service
  up to 30 days
• 5 % Employer pension contributions
• Non-contributory health care plan
• Sick Pay
• Free parking
• HWT work wear as relevant
• Training & development
• Work and live in a beautiful rural county with a relatively low cost of living

Deadline for applications is 28th June 2024.

If you have not heard from us within 1 week of the closing date, please assume that you have
been unsuccessful. Interviews with successful applicants will be held within 1 week of the
closing date.