Wilding & Species Recovery Programme Manager

We are unable to recruit anyone who does not have a right to work in the UK.

Based at Tyland Barn, Maidstone and with regular travel across Kent. 

Globally and nationally wildlife is in steep decline. We appear to be reaching critical tipping points around the loss of biodiversity as well as around climate change, both being interlinked. Human society cannot prosper without wildlife and healthy ecosystems.

Kent’s wildlife needs to be restored to much higher levels. We can no longer allow common things to become rare. We can only do this by restoring large-scale habitat from degraded land. Doing this will contribute to solving global problems. But we won’t be able to do this unless we publicly aspire to a higher level of impact and show that we can deliver this.

The Job:

This unique role will make a real difference for nature in Kent and beyond!

The Wilding and Species Recovery Programme Manager will work alongside colleagues across all teams within the Trust and external partners to drive forward Goal 1 of our Wilder Kent 2030 Strategy.

You will lead a team of interdisciplinary staff that includes social scientists and ecologists, implementing jointly with other Trust teams, innovative wilding, species recovery and species reinforcements including Wilder Blean, chough and pine marten reintroductions, beaver and turtle dove. You will oversee the work of the project officers, ensuring that projects are delivered on time and to budget.

You will take a lead role in identifying key policy challenges and supporting advocacy (alongside senior staff colleagues) to key stakeholders and policy makers to enact positive change.

You will maintain and build relationships with a range of organisations and colleagues within the Trust, seeking to work in partnership to attract funding for new landscape-scale projects. 

With support from other Trust staff, you will prepare and submit grant funding applications to support the growth of the Trust’s work.

You: You are highly personable, passionate about making a difference, and organised. You are equally comfortable building relationships as you are writing strategies.

You are committed to supporting and empowering your team to enable them to deliver and grow.

You are passionate about landscape restoration and species reintroductions and the opportunities and barriers involved.

You are driven to ensure conservation recognises, and acts upon, the value of involving diverse stakeholders within landscape restoration and species reintroduction work.

Kent Wildlife Trust is the leading wildlife charity for Kent and Medway, supported by its members and staffed by committed professionals.  Join our team and help us create a Wilder Kent! In return we will inspire you, listen to you, value you, treat you equally and fairly, look after your health and wellbeing and encourage flexibility from day one, enabling you to draw on these benefits to be a better, happier and more productive you.

Contact details:

For an application pack please visit our website: www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/jobs

The Kent Wildlife Trust Group is Wild About Inclusion. To us, this means inspiring, empowering and engaging people from all backgrounds, cultures, identities and abilities, to change the natural world for the better.  It also means cultivating inclusive workspaces that are free from discrimination, where differences are celebrated, everyone can be themselves and flourish, just like nature!