Principal Ecologist

Job title - PRINCIPAL ECOLOGIST

Salary - Up to £43,000

Location - Sussex

Are you an experienced ecologist with a strong business acumen looking for a new challenge?

As a dynamic and growing business, we are looking for a self-motivated and positive-minded Principal Ecologist to join our friendly team in our Sussex office. The successful applicant would be involved in all areas of our work, managing a team of ecologists to find ecologically smart, commercially efficient and cost-effective solutions for projects on a variety of scales.

We have permanent roles (on a full or part time basis) available in our well-appointed converted Sussex barn in the heart of the South Downs National Park. The project-based nature of our work means that there will be a requirement for travel and occasional overnight stays to complete the contract.

Day to day, you would be managing individual contracts and supporting staff, drafting high quality reports and reviewing technical work, whilst supporting clients and their design teams to identify solutions to their problems. We’re keen to continue to grow our business, and you would therefore support the delivery of our business development strategy by costing and tendering for work, increasing invitations to bid, and finding new ways for the business to diversify and thrive.

This role would provide you with an opportunity to gain exposure to a wide variety of interesting projects and clients and develop skills in all aspects of consultancy work.  We would like to offer you the chance to help shape the future of our business as well as your own career.

Overview

Temple is one of the UK’s leading independent environmental consultancies, specialising in environmental assessments, planning, policy advice and sustainability. With a team comprised of some of the most talented people in the industry, we enjoy working on the most exciting and complex projects, where clients can leverage the full value of our insight and commitment.

Our current work portfolio consists of a range of projects that span pre-planning consent through to delivery of mitigation and post-planning condition discharges. We routinely work on Biodiversity Net Gain, Ecosystem Services Assessments and some of our recent innovative projects have included bat radiotracking and work with acoustic deterrents. Our clients include large and small housing developers, schools and universities and infrastructure developers. We also provide support to Local Authorities including assessment of local wildlife sites and planning application review. 

In the wider group we carry out a wide range of bespoke planning, technical and environmental assessment projects – everything from air quality monitoring, climate change policy analysis, through to expert witness support in relation to aviation noise. We also provide technical support to clients in the private and public sectors, at local and national levels both in the UK and overseas.

To be considered for the role, you will:

• Hold an appropriate degree qualification;
• Have a minimum of 8 years’ relevant work experience;
• Have excellent knowledge of UK and European environmental legislation;
• Have excellent fieldwork and report writing skills including protected species surveys, mitigation licence applications, ES chapters and ecological management plans;
• Be able to critically review own output and possess a minimum 3 years’ experience in reviewing others’ work;
• Be competent in the mitigation for one or more of the following key protected species: bats, badgers, breeding birds, dormouse, great crested newts, reptiles, and water voles;
• Able to be a named ecologist on a mitigation licence, and preferably be a Registered consultant on the class license scheme for one or more of the above species groups:
• Have proven project and staff management experience;
• Be confident and able to manage own workload and be able to delegate to and provide support to junior staff as appropriate;
• Be proficient in customer service and the ability to deliver and lead training events and workshops, both internally to Temple and externally to clients and other stakeholders;
• Hold full membership (or be eligible) of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and preferably CEcoL;
• Have proven qualities of a proactive self-starter with an ability to use own initiative when appropriate;
• Have a full clean UK driving licence.

Applications are particularly welcome from ecologists who have botany as a specialism and are, or could be certified at FISC level 4 or above or Class 2 Bat licence.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary on a scale commensurate with experience;
• TOIL (time off in lieu) policy and flexible approach to working hours to ensure a healthy work-life balance.
• 26 days annual leave (& bank holidays) plus an additional day for each year of service up to 29 days
• Enhanced maternity pay;
• Opportunities for career development across the business;
• Auto-enrolment pension scheme (after 3 months’ service);
• Cycle to work scheme;
• Socials, games nights and volunteering days through our staff engagement and development initiative;
• Dog friendly office
• Fun, friendly, and forward-thinking co-workers;
• Fantastic training 

Equal Opportunities

Temple is an Equal Opportunities Employer.  We provide a diverse and inclusive workplace and ensure that all of our staff respect and understand individual differences.  We positively encourage applications from suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignments, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation.