Overview

This is a full-time position at Real Wild Estates, the UK’s only specialist business for ecosystem restoration land management.  More information about Real Wild Estates is viewable on our website and via our brochure, which can be downloaded from www.realwildestates.com.

Real Wild Estates (from here on RWE) is a unique business specialising in delivering financially-viable nature recovery at scale, across the UK, with a focus on large ecosystem restoration projects.  Advising upon and managing upwards of 20,000 acres of UK land, with predicted strong growth within the next calendar year, we are seeking a talented ecologist with big-picture aspirations for nature recovery.

Working under the Director of Nature Restoration Benedict Macdonald, this is an exciting chance for someone with the right attitude and mindset, as well as expertise, to shape large areas of UK land as we see a wave of landowners, NGOs and communities seeking nature restoration services.  You will also be a part of the wider RWE team, which works nationally across the UK, covering all aspects of nature-based land management including property sales and land buyouts for nature, ecotourism, real estate management and natural capital.

JOB DESCRIPTION & RESPONSIBILITIES

As Nature Restoration Manager, you will be pivotal in helping our clients turn land back to nature – benefiting biodiversity, the local community & economy, and increasing climate resilience.  Your day-to-day role will be to carry out a wide array of roles and responsibilities centered around implementing nature restoration on large-scale land holdings.  This job will involve key roles as follows.

• Coordination of baseline and ecological surveys for sites we manage.
• Taking both a support and lead role on managing large sites for ecological recovery on behalf of clients, upwards of 500 to over 5000 acres.
• Taking a lead role on grants and schemes including Countryside Stewardship and ELMs as well as liaising between landowners and our Head of Natural Capital on financial forecasting.
• Meeting prospective clients and landowners to explain the benefits of ecosystem restoration and the services that we provide.
• Securing, sub-contracting and managing a range of ecological restoration specialists including contract foresters, graziers, deer-control & other specialised services.
• Develop site-specific community and stakeholder engagement strategies, especially in areas where there are cultural sensitivities to ecological restoration, and also develop social metrics as indicators of success in a restoration project.
• Support the Head of Nature Restoration with daily activities including research, report writing, detail-focused briefings on specific areas of ecology & scheduling visits.
• Lead on RWE’s social media ecological engagement via our Twitter account and LinkedIn to engage new stakeholders, clients and the public with what we do.
• Help innovate new ecological restoration strategies for landscapes.
• Support the wider growth and development of the land management side of the business, alongside the wider team at RWE.

DESIRED SKILLS, EXPERIENCE & OUTLOOK

• As a highly-educated, driven individual with a proven track record of team work and delivering outcomes, you will be passionate about ecological restoration, not merely conservation, and ambitious and positive in your environmental outlook.
• With several years of post-university experience under your belt, you will now be looking for a long-term employer where you can grow and develop your career, as the nature restoration business in the UK takes off apace.
• An excellent degree in natural sciences or zoology is desirable but not essential provided you demonstrate expertise in ecology and have a strong, proven ecological track record.
• Practical on-the-ground experience of the natural world is highly valued; we are a business that constantly innovates solutions to wildlife decline but before we can begin working with estates, a deep understanding of British wildlife, its threats and the ecology of its species is necessary.
• Specialism in a particular area is welcomed provided this comes second to a holistic understanding of the natural world. Ideally your practical experience will have covered being able to reach out to and contract relevant experts, especially in the field of baseline surveys, and you demonstrate the ability to bring on and work with new ecological partners.
• Your previous roles will have demonstrated the ability to work calmly under pressure, deliver to deadlines, where needed put in the extra hours and passion to get a critical project over the line, and strong people skills both within and outside the organisation.
• You will relish working with new clients and even challenging clients, who really want to make sure that their best interests are being served by a potential partnership with RWE. You will be accustomed to working as a two-person team on a daily basis, and also within a wider organisation.
• You will have experience working with farmers, landowners and land managers from a range of social and cultural backgrounds.
• Overall, your outlook is positive, ambitious, determined and pragmatic. You are passionate about seeing nature restoration succeed here in the UK, by involving a wide array of stakeholders and partners, and understanding the importance of people and community to making this vision a reality.
• Even if you do not match all of the above criteria, we welcome aspirational candidates who fulfil, or could grow to fulfil, most of the above criteria, attitude and mindsets.

CONTRACT & PAY

Salary: £40k + dependant on expertise & experience.

Start Date:  As soon as possible

Probation Period: 3 Months

Contract Type:  This is a permanent fixed term position subject to ongoing performance, working hours of 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday

Location:  Remote-working presently but easy in-person access to Bristol and Bath, but also Oxford and London, ideally living within or close to the south-west, as well as field visits to sites we manage across the UK.  Site visits will occur across Mainland UK.

NEXT STEPS

Please send us a full cover letter and CV, including references or testimonials, to ben.macdonald@realwildestates.com although an additional short video testimonial is also welcomed.  Candidates will be shortlisted as soon as the review process is complete, leading to two interviews, the first with Director of Nature Restoration, Benedict Macdonald, and the second with the wider team.

Full details on www.realwildestates.com/ecological-restoration-job-vacancy/