Overview

The BTO is one of the world’s leading impartial, scientific research organisations specialising in knowledge about birds. Although our focus is bird populations in the UK, we are working with others on a growing international programme and contributing to knowledge about taxa other than birds. Our scientific research and field work includes programmes and surveys involving up to 50,000 volunteers, each of whose individual contributions are vital parts of the accumulated scientific knowledge, providing an unrivalled national picture of birds in the environment. We are committed to developing and advancing the science of ornithology through the involvement of volunteers, innovative analyses and use of the latest data-gathering technology. Our volunteers are encouraged, organised and supported by an active and committed network of more than 150 volunteer regional representatives and survey organisers, our local ambassadors. We are interested in the context of changes in distributions and trends in wildlife populations in relation to their ecology and the habitats on which they depend. We are a major custodian of wildlife data, including over 120 million records of, mainly, bird species, and long-term datasets, some of which have been in place for at least 50 years. We are committed to making our information and data available so as to optimise their use for nature conservation, land management, policy making and applied scientific purposes. We publish scientific results and provide impartial scientific advice. We work in partnership with others in the academic and conservation science communities, with government departments and agencies, and with the private and voluntary sectors. We have a unique combination of professional scientists and volunteers, highly valued data and information, and modern surveys with web-based on-line data entry and retrieval. We are based at Thetford, Norfolk, UK, have offices in Stirling, Scotland, Bangor, Wales and are also represented in Northern Ireland. We are a charity employing around 100 staff and have an annual turnover of around £5 million.

Wetland Bird Survey National Organiser

Since 1969 the BTO has monitored non-breeding waterbirds on estuaries, initially through its Birds of Estuaries Enquiry and more recently through the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). WeBS uses volunteers to undertake counts of non-breeding waterbirds throughout the United Kingdom. WeBS is a partnership between the British Trust for Ornithology, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (the last on behalf of the statutory nature conservation bodies: Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Department of the Environment Northern Ireland) in association with the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust. As well as the main part of the survey – the WeBS Core Counts – the BTO also operates the WeBS Low Tide Count scheme, allowing the spatial distribution of waterbirds on individual estuarine sites to be assessed. Other associated surveys – such as the Non-estuarine Coastal Waterbirds Survey (NEWS) – are undertaken on a periodic basis. All of these counts make a vital contribution towards protecting and developing national conservation policies for the UK’s wetlands, including internationally important Ramsar wetlands and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designated for their waterbird interest. 2 The administration of WeBS is organised by a number of staff at the BTO working within the Surveys Team of the BTO’s Monitoring Group. The former, led by Associate Director Dr Andy Musgrove, coordinates the BTO’s key monitoring schemes as well as a rolling programme of special surveys, but also collaborates more widely with other Research, Development and Communications teams within the BTO and with a range of external organisations. There is now a vacancy for the role of WeBS National Organiser. This post, which will report to the Head of Surveys Dawn Balmer, is responsible for leading all aspects of WeBS, including engagement with partners and external stakeholders, scheme development, data management, annual reporting and ensuring the smooth running of the scheme in conjunction with colleagues.

Principal Responsibilities

1. To take responsibility for the organisation and co-ordination of the Wetland Bird Survey, ensuring that the work programme of the scheme is carried out to time and to budget; both through work undertaken individually and through oversight of elements undertaken by colleagues. 2. To act as the principal contact at the BTO for the other WeBS partner organisations, and to attend the WeBS Steering Group (usually alongside the Head of Surveys). 3. To be responsible, jointly with the Information Systems team, for ensuring all WeBS-related data are managed securely within the BTO’s Oracle database, and for ensuring the WeBS Online application is maintained and developed. 4. To be responsible, in collaboration with colleagues, for undertaking annual data analyses and the production of both paper and online annual WeBS reports. To provide annual WeBS summaries and data for the State of the UK’s Birds and to the International Waterbird Census. To promote the use of WeBS results through the electronic provision of data summaries and results to bird clubs, amateur researchers and NGOs. 5. To take responsibility for communicating results and other issues around WeBS to participants, partners, the media, the public and other stakeholders, for example through press releases and semi-popular articles in journals/newsletters, through social media and other online media, and through interviews on television or radio. 6. To promote WeBS through talks at scientific conferences and bird club meetings or events, and by organising and conducting training workshops. Required to use own initiative in this work, often undertaken in the evening or at weekends. 7. To take a key role in organising supplementary surveys associated with WeBS, such as the periodic Non-estuarine Coastal Waterbird Survey (NEWS) and the Winter Gull Roost Survey (WinGS). 8. To maintain and develop strategic working relationships between BTO and other monitoring, research and conservation partners, both domestically and internationally, including universities, research institutes, government departments and NGOs. In particular to engage closely with the Waterbird Monitoring Partnership, International Waterbird Census, and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement. 9. To lead the development of WeBS, including increasing operational efficiency and developing scheme coverage and effectiveness, in collaboration with the Head of Surveys and the WeBS Partners. 3 10. To develop WeBS-related research, e.g. through the BTO’s strategic research programmes (notably that relating to non-breeding waterbirds). Together with WeBS partners, national and international contacts and others throughout BTO, prioritise research topics, write proposals to seek for research funding, undertake research and write scientific papers and reviews around issues relating to non-breeding waterbirds. Much of this work is anticipated to be undertaken in conjunction with the BTO’s Wetland & Marine Research Team, headed by Dr Niall Burton. 11. To plan and undertake research and other projects involving the analysis of existing datasets to address applied problems. This will be done following programmes of work agreed with project managers in other research teams, especially the Head of Wetland & Marine Research, ensuring that high scientific standards are maintained. 12. To undertake statistical analysis and modelling of BTO data and to use personal initiative to design and implement analyses of these and other data sets. To learn and implement new statistical methods as required for particular projects. 13. To maintain a high level of expertise on waterbird ecology through reading current literature, attending conferences and engaging with the appropriate research communities. 14. To undertake such other duties as may be required commensurate with the level and purpose of the role.

Skills required

1. A first degree, and preferably higher, in biology, ecology or a related field. 2. Experience and ability in organising volunteer-based surveys, or able to demonstrate aptitude for such. Ability to work closely with volunteers and communicate enthusiasm to them. 3. Good project and people management skills, including to plan and co-ordinate the delivery of projects and the ability to liaise with external contacts (WeBS partners, national and international contacts, scientists, industry, funders). 4. Good background knowledge of, and a strong interest in, UK waterbirds, their habitats and associated conservation issues, and, in particular, waterbird literature and research. 5. The ability to write clearly and concisely for semi-popular and popular audiences. Experience in report layout, design and production would be an advantage. 6. Good communication skills; the ability to lecture to a wide range of audience types, from scientists to the general public, and to be interviewed effectively on TV or radio. Ability to deal with the media, often concerning sensitive/political issues. 7. Knowledge of (or aptitude to learn) SAS and/or R, GIS and SQL for data management and manipulation. Understanding of relational databases. 8. Expertise in a range of computer packages including word-processing, spreadsheet, graphic and presentational software. Ability to learn the use of new computer packages as required. 9. Good statistical knowledge and experience of statistical techniques. The ability to learn new methods of statistical analysis and modelling, and to apply them to extensive datasets. 4 10. An ability to produce research reports to a good standard and to deadlines (reporting the results of statistical-based research, surveys and literature reviews). Experience in scientific research and publication in peer-reviewed literature. 11. Ability to work as part of a small team, which requires good interpersonal skills. Good personal organisation and time management skills. 12. The ability to work in the field on an out-posted basis with a minimum of supervision

Salary Scale

This is a full-time, permanent post with a salary of £25,345 rising to £28,161 per annum over two years. The annual leave entitlement is 25 days per annum, plus bank holidays. The post-holder will qualify for life assurance and be automatically enrolled in the BTO pension scheme (11% employer contribution) when eligible.

Applications

The completed application form should be supported by a CV and the names and addresses of two employment referees (one of which should be your current or most recent employer and preferably your line manager). It should be forwarded to Nicki Read, PA to Director of Science, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU. Applications may also be submitted confidentially by email to jobs@bto.org stating the job title in the subject line. The closing date for receipt of applications is 1pm on Wednesday 12 August 2015. It is anticipated that interviews will be held in Thetford, Norfolk, on Thursday 3 September 2015. For further information, please contact Dawn Balmer or Andy Musgrove on 01842 750050 during working hours (e-mail: dawn.balmer@bto.org; andy.musgrove@bto.org).