Thomson environmental consultants: The independent, employee-owned consultancy, chosen by successful clients, admired by competitors, and the place to work preferred by top specialists.

With offices across the UK, our experts are committed to delivering our clients exceptional outcomes across a range of environmental services and ecological contracting.

We aim to be the most innovative, pragmatic and fast-growing environmental consultancy in the UK.

Our services include but are not limited to: terrestrial ecology, freshwater ecology, marine ecology, habitat management, arboricultural services, geospatial and data management, environmental impact assessments.

Our people make us who we are; we are commercial but not corporate, guided by our values of Respect, Integrity, Support and Excellence. Career growth and development is highly valued at Thomson, and we nurture talent, leading to rapid career-progression opportunities. Our people benefit from access to a diverse range of industry-accredited external trainings, as well as in-house training opportunities led by our specialists. The variety of projects we deliver across the breadth of environmental services encourages cross-team working and collaboration.

We’re looking a talent Ecological Consultant to join our growing Leeds team, enhancing our offering to clients, and building on our success.

Suitable candidates will have previous experience in commercial consultancy and have the confidence to undertake site and office-based tasks including undertaking protected species surveys, desk studies, preliminary ecological appraisals and report writing with minimal supervision. Variety and travel are key aspects of life as an Ecological Consultant at Thomson, so you’ll need to enjoy this part of the job, as travelling and staying away from home is a regular requirement, particularly during peak season. As with all ecological consultancy work, you will need to be a professional with the ability to communicate effectively and to maintain positive client relationships.

We’re interested to hearing from candidates already in an Ecologist level role as well as those who have gained experience in an Assistant Ecologist role and are now ready to step up to Ecologist level.

This is a permanent position, with a working split between our Leeds office, home and on-site work.

• have proven, previous experience in a similar role, ideally within a commercial consultancy
• a degree or postgraduate degree in ecology or a closely related subject
• have field skills in one or more specialist areas
• have prior experience of project management/coordination and/or coordinating surveys
• have working knowledge of relevant UK legislation, planning policy and, best practice guidance, and how these relate to projects with the ability to effectively communicate this to clients and stakeholders
• be an excellent communicator with the ability to write clear, concise reports
• have excellent time management skills and demonstrable ability to manage your own workload and effectively prioritise tasks
• ideally you will have one or more protected species licences e.g. GCN, bat or dormouse
• have a positive outlook a strong desire to succeed
• have a full UK driving licence, use of a car, and be willing and able to travel and stay away from home regularly
• have Associate membership to the Chartered Institute of Ecological and Environmental Management (CIEEM)

We promote a happy, friendly workplace and are guided by the company’s core values of Respect, Integrity, Support and Excellence. We excel at providing our people with amazing career progression and offer an extensive range of company benefits which include: 25 days annual leave, healthcare cash plan, enhanced stakeholder pension scheme, life insurance, discounted gym membership, paid professional memberships, clothing allowance, outstanding performance rewards, free parking and regular local and company social events!

One of the major advantages to working at Thomson is that our people is at the heart of everything we do. As an Employee-Owned Trust (EOT), all Thomson employees have a stake in the business and reap the reward of its success including performance-related annual bonuses. We also pride ourselves in providing market leading internal and external training opportunities which contributes to individual tailored career path ways.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As an equal opportunities employer, Thomson is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join Thomson.