Adventurer and Ecologist Wanted - Oxygen Conservation - Scotland/Edinburgh

Job description

Term: Full time, permanent

Location: Scotland/Edinburgh - but will be field based and must have the ability to travel to sites across the UK

Closing date: 13th June 2022 

Benefits: Salary 25-40k DOE plus company vehicle and private medical care

ABOUT US

Oxygen House is a family of businesses involved in projects that foster social, environmental and economic prosperity. The group is a mix of established companies and start-ups, with a strong and diverse portfolio of interests, including education technology, data analytics, sustainable property development, impact investment, renewable energy, and city planning. Oxygen Conservation is the newest of these companies and was founded with the mission of scaling conservation by growing natural capital.

We offer a complete landscape acquisition and management service, identifying unique natural capital value, prioritising environmental protection and regeneration. This approach provides long-term, capital appreciation and generates innovative green revenues. We prioritise forming strategic partnerships and working with local communities to implement conservation programmes, regenerative agriculture, rewilding initiatives and sustainable development.

We measure our impact through a series of site-based top trumps / metrics including; carbon sequestration, environmental improvement, landscape productivity, renewable energy generation and local socio-economic impact.

THE ROLE

We are seeking an exceptional Terrestrial Ecologist to join the growing Oxygen Conservation team. You will be dedicated, self-motivated, able to work in a fast-paced environment and team that prioritises conservation and restoration of the natural environment without compromise.

You will be joining a passionate team at exactly the right time to help catalyse change in the environmental space. You will report to our Environment Manager (an unashamed ‘fish and rivers guy’) and work closely with our GIS Expert, Award Winning Head of Natural Capital and Rural Business Manager.

Biodiversity across the UK is in significant decline, and we must act now to deliver appropriate mitigation at scale – understanding ecological baselines across a diverse portfolio of sites will be fundamental to that mission statement. You will be largely field based, confident working independently, taking road trips across the country in support of the rigorous due diligence process we adopt when screening new land acquisition opportunities. 

We work in partnership by default and with the best people without exception. This means working with land managers, owners, consultants, and regulators to research and prepare appropriate management strategies that allow us to scale conservation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensuring Oxygen Conservation remain at the forefront of environmental legislation and compliance.
• Awareness and understanding of species and habitat specific survey techniques, to include seasonal survey windows, and industry standard reporting guidelines.
• Ownership of industry best practice biosecurity protocols.
• Compliance with, and understanding of, Environmental Impact Assessments (EiA) and Habitat Regulation Assessments (HRA).
• Liaison with regulatory authorities and wider stakeholders, to include neighbouring landowners and partners.
• Ensuring portfolio and project compliance with The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations.
• Preparation and assessment of terrestrial ecology and landscape component to the Oxygen Conservation portfolio screening process.
• Terrestrial ecology and landscape characterisation input to Oxygen Conservation portfolio external funding programmes.

Requirements

ABOUT YOU

You will be a passionate and knowledgeable Terrestrial Ecologist that sees regulatory challenge and bureaucracy as an opportunity to learn, deliver change and work in partnership by default. First and foremost, we are looking for someone who is passionate about the natural environment and can demonstrate experience of working across a range of landscapes and habitat types. Experience of working with protected species, and the processes around obtaining the necessary licensing, is desirable but not essential.

The team at Oxygen Conservation will work with the right candidate to develop their skill set and support their continued professional development.

We believe great people make great colleagues and that having a genuinely diverse team makes us all the better. You might have skills in some but not all of the following areas, but we would love to hear from you if you think you can make a real difference to Oxygen Conservation:

• Membership of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).
• Experience using ArcGIS (ArcPro, ArcGIS Enterprise).
• Experience in designing and implementing a wide range of habitat and species-specific survey techniques.
• Broad landscape type classification.
• Excellent data collection / analysis, interpretation, and report preparation skills.
• Authoring and reviewing Preliminary Ecological Appraisals, Habitats Regulations Assessments, Ecological Impact Assessments and Biodiversity Chapters for Environmental Statements.
• Understanding of Environmental Permitting Regulations
• Ability to travel at short notice and willingness to work in an outdoor environment throughout the year.
• Training, ability, and confidence to work in / near water.
• Ability to risk assess and manage rapidly changing and dynamic work environments.
• Awareness of new thinking around biodiversity net gain and / or natural capital.
• Ability to communicate effectively to a wide group of stakeholders and resolve potential conflicts proactively.
• Ability to present complex data sets clearly and concisely to a wide range of audiences (both internal and external facing).
• Experience of working with protected species.
• Experience of designing and delivering environmental mitigation above and beyond industry standard requirements.
• Experience of creating habitat management plans and/or designing habitat creation and enhancement schemes. 
• Ability to interpret topographical survey data in multiple formats.
• A full valid UK driving licence.