Senior Ecologist

Futures Ecology is a small friendly consultancy started in 2019 with offices in both Leeds and Bolsover. We are looking for a Senior Ecologist to be based in our Leeds office (though the Bolsover location will still be considered for the right candidate) to help with our increasing workload. Our work is primarily in the north of England but we have upcoming projects around the UK.

We are looking for an experienced candidate with a minimum of four years consultancy experience who can independently project manage small and large schemes. Ideally the candidate will specialise in at least one of the following: badgers, bats (including tree climbing), botany or ornithology, as well being a licence holder for mitigation works or surveys.

Key Responsibilities:

• Project management – ensuring projects are delivered to a high quality and to required deadlines.
• Liaise and build relationships with clients, statutory bodies, and other stakeholders.
• Preparing and winning tenders / fee proposals for a range of schemes.
• Leading and designing protected species and / or habitat surveys.
• Mentoring junior members of staff.
• Writing and Quality Assuring (QA) Reports, including Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEAs), Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA), Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessments, Habitat Regulations Assessments and other technical reporting.
• Able to provide expert advice on the planning system and legislation as well as keeping up to date with any changes.
• Proactive in finding innovative solutions.
• A willingness to work flexibly and unsociable hours to meet survey requirements as and when required.

Skills / Qualifications

• At least four years’ consultancy experience (essential)
• A degree in an Ecology (or related subject) or equivalent experience (essential)
• Full, clean UK driving licence with business use on your insurance policy, and access to your own transport (essential)
• Knowledge and understanding of the planning system and current legislation (essential)
• CIEEM Membership, minimum of Associate, ideally Full Membership or above (essential)
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with confidence to liaise with clients (essential)
• Excellent and proven project management skills (essential)
• Experience in leading and undertaking either protected species surveys or habitat surveys (essential)
• Experience in writing PEAs / EcIA’s / Environmental Statement Ecology Chapters / BNG assessments (essential)
• Holder of one or more protected species survey licences or equivalent level of experience in the specialist field (e.g. FISC 4) (essential)
• Holder of a mitigation licence such as Bat Mitigation Class Licence (BMCL)
• Proficiency in QGIS / QFIELD and / or other GIS software
• Ability to work alone and as part of a team (essential)
• Flexibility to meet the needs of the business including irregular hours and travel (essential)
• Good organisational skills, proactive with a high level of motivation.

Every summer we have a large amount of survey work to undertake and everyone is expected to pitch in. We offer flexible hours and we also offer paid overtime or TOIL for hours worked on surveys over contracted hours. We do ask that you have availability for at least one evening per week (Monday to Thursday) between April and September.

Key Benefits:

Our team is our most valuable asset and we want to cultivate a friendly and happy workplace whilst also ensuring that your needs are being fulfilled. We invest in your CPD and encourage you to be active in your profession outside of work.

• Salary starting between £30,000 and £45,000, dependent on experience and skills.
• Flexible working
• CPD
• Paid professional memberships and licence fees, relevant to the role
• Paid overtime or TOIL
• Pension contributions
• Annual leave
• Discretionary performance related annual bonus
• Company funded social events
• Shut down over the Christmas period