The Westcountry Rivers Trust is an environmental charity that works across the South West to improve our rivers for the benefit of all. We work with EU grants, Water Company funded initiatives and government funding to deliver change both in our rivers and on the land that they drain. We are looking for a highly motivated individual to join our Operational team. This is a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to work for WRT, a dynamic and aspirational organisation at the forefront of environmental thinking and practical conservation in the UK today.

This role will provide a Team Leader position and additional support to the Operational team across a varied programme of work.

This role will support with a mixture of site based delivery opportunities on a range of WRT projects. The successful applicant will be a motivated, enthusiastic, team player who will be reliable and show initiative. This role is a mixture of site and desk based however there
may be the requirement to visit delivery sites on occasion. 

This role will support the Operations Team and other departments at WRT with the delivery of various catchment management outputs such as but not limited to, habitat creation and restoration opportunities, monitoring, natural flood management, arboricultural work and community engagement. Your role will be predominantly site-based working at various locations on our catchments throughout the South West, supporting on the delivery of on array of project outputs for the Trust. You will be responsible for leading a team of operatives to deliver a range of work safely and professionally on WRT sites. Reporting to the Operations Supervisor you will develop your knowledge and experience of working in the environmental conservation sector with a focus on enhancing freshwater environments. You will be encouraged to develop your leadership, mentoring and management skills and have experience of working in one or more of the following; river restoration, fisheries, arboriculture/forestry, ecology and construction & land management. A background and experience of working in arboriculture is essential for this role. 

Job Description: 

The Operations Team Leader will report into the Operations Supervisor. 

Responsibilities:

• Leading a team on site to safely deliver Trust work.
• Ensuring a high level of Health & Safety standards are maintained.
• Maintaining Trust equipment, machinery and tools.
• Engaging with the public, volunteers, landowners and other stakeholders.
• Developing junior members of staff and apprentices.
• Delivering toolbox talks and other training to team members.
• Obtaining high quality monitoring and evidence for project reporting.
• Drafting and writing project reports. 

Person specification:

Knowledge and Experience

• Experience of working outdoors in aquatic environments and remote locations.
• Maintaining arboricultural equipment such as chainsaws, brush cutters and other hand tools.
• Good understanding of industry Health and Safety standards and codes of practice.
• Previous experience of carrying out work with chainsaws and other hand tools and plant machinery.
• Experience of delivering tree planting, NFM and habitat management schemes. (D)
• Previous experience of supervising a team.
• Electrofishing and other fisheries and ecological monitoring and survey experience. (D)
• Experience of using various software from the MS Office suite.
• A background in river restoration, fisheries, arboriculture/forestry, ecology or construction. (D) 

Skills and Competencies

• Ability to plan and manage workloads including suitable delegation and supervision of tasks.
• Supervision of small-scale projects and outputs.
• Good communication skills.
• Experience of mentoring and training others.
• Able to use various online mapping software to check for TPO’s, statutory land uses and priority habitats and protected species.
• Some of our commercial clients may require you to undertake a medical exam including drug and alcohol tests from time to time prior to carrying out work on their sites.
• Ability to travel to sites throughout the southwest 

Qualifications/Membership

• Minimum of Level 3 qualification or similar in relevant subject.
• Arboricultural qualifications: 
  • NPTC 201, 202, 203, 206, 306, 308 
  • NPTC 301, 302, 307, 309 (D) 
  • MEWP(D)
• FAW+F
• Electrofishing Trained, Electrofishing Team Leader Trained (D)
• Qualification and experience of using plant machinery (D)
• Traffic management qualification. (D)
• Working to attain professional membership of industry organisation.
• B+E towing (D)
• LISS/CSCS card (D)

The above are Essential criteria unless indicated as Desirable (D) 

To apply: 

Submit your CV and a one page covering letter clearly marked as applying for the job of Operations Arb Team Leader using the apply link below.

Submission by: 5pm on Wednesday 17th August 2022
Interviews will be held on Friday 2nd September 2022