Overview

Site Manager – North Highland Reserves
Reference: MAY20231986
Location: Forsinard Flows
Salary: £36,577 – £39,267 Per Annum
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Benefits: Pension Scheme, Life Assurance Scheme, 26 days’ Annual Leave

We’re looking for somebody with the knowledge, passion and energy to lead RSPB Scotland’s management at our three North Highland Nature Reserves, Broubster Leans, Dunnet Head and Eilean Hoan. If you have an enthusiasm to save nature and inspire people, are well organised, focused, resilient and a great communicator, then this could be the job for you. Experience of land management in remote areas would be welcome, but we are more interested in who you are and what you want to achieve. This is an exciting opportunity to leave a lasting legacy across these incredible landscapes.

The North Highland Reserves are Broubster Leans – a beautiful, farmed wetland reserve seven miles from Thurso, Dunnet Head – a stunning seabird cliff and heathland site, 13 miles east of Thurso, being the most northerly point on the British mainland and Eilean Hoan – a small island hosting both breeding seabirds and wintering Barnacle geese, three miles east of Durness in Sutherland. As part of the North Highland and Hebrides Team you will lead our work in terms of the planning and implementation of our ambitious conservation management and visitor objectives, looking after these three reserves with differing conservation challenges, making sure they deliver for nature and people.

You will be:

  1. Responsible for the production/delivery of reserve management plans.
  2. The main point of contact for the local community, neighbours and other external parties in order to build /maintain good relationships.
  3. Working with the Rural Surveyors to ensure that the reserve infrastructure is well-maintained and compliant.
  4. Responsible for developing, organising and controlling on-site activities to maximise conservation outcomes, future visitor experience and income potential.
  5. Compiling and managing the site budgets to ensure financial compliance and delivery of RSPB objectives

Essential skills, knowledge and experience: 

  • You will understand the ecological & survey requirements of key species and habitats.
  • You will have knowledge of project and budget management.
  • You will be able to demonstrate putting HSE/cross-compliance/risk management knowledge into practice.
  • You will have great interpersonal and communication skills.
  • You will be able to demonstrate a track record of managing land.
  • You will be able to demonstrate a track record of managing people (contractors and/or volunteers).
  • You will have a suitable licence allowing you to drive vehicles on UK public roads.

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

  • A degree or equivalent qualification in a relevant subject.
  • Boat use certification.

Closing Date: 12:00, Friday 23rd June 2023
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position on 10th July 2023.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.

This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship – the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

No agencies please.