Biodiversity Officer

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Biodiversity Officer in our Ecology Service.

 Ecology Section – Parks & Countryside

Location: Sheffield – Centre in the Park (Norfolk Park) and various sites around the city.

Sheffield boasts a breadth of treasured green and blue space across diverse landscapes, many of which are owned and managed by Sheffield City Council.

Sheffield Council is passionate about embedding a holistic response to the nature and climate emergencies, ensuring that the city maximises opportunities for nature recovery.

The Ecology Service provides advice to internal colleagues and external partners and local groups who manage and improve these green and blue spaces. The Service also provides professional ecological advice to internal departments including Planning, Capital Delivery Service and Property Maintenance and Repairs.

The Service also hosts the Biological Record Centre and coordinates the Sheffield Local Wildlife Site Partnership. The Service is responsible for reporting internally and externally on biodiversity activities as well as contributing to a robust evidence base.

As well as having excellent ecological knowledge, an ideal candidate would know how to assess the impacts of development on wildlife, how to mitigate or compensate for impacts and have a good understanding of key legislation including the Wildlife and Countryside Act, CROW Act and the Environment Act – including Biodiversity Net Gain and how to take this through into best practice land management.

To carry out this role you will be highly organised, able to manage projects, multitask and work well with internal colleagues and external stakeholders.

For an informal discussion about the post, please contact Ecology Manager Nicky Rivers [email protected] 

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.