Principal / Associate Ecologist

Our client is an extremely successful multidisciplinary practise specialising in Environment and Planning. Their Environment and Planning team is growing, and this is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Ecologist to support this developing, expanding business area and to work on a wide variety of projects.

Responsibilities

• Working with internal and external teams liaising with clients, Natural England, County Ecologists, Local Authority planning officers, and stakeholders.
• Working on a wide range of utility and built development projects.
• Assisting with development and design proposals, including master planning and construction methodologies.
• Assisting with gaining the necessary consents and licenses in order to deliver medium / large scale infrastructure, energy, residential and commercial projects.
• Offering Ecological advice and provide innovative mitigation solutions enhancement consideration across a range of sites and schemes with varying levels of Environmental and Ecological sensitivities.
• Liaising with clients, consisting of engineers, developers, landowners, you’ll provide ecological advice on how to facilitate development on their project.
• Providing all the necessary assistance to unlock utility project development in SSSI, SAC. SPA, RAMSAR including applying for SSSI Assents and other permissions.
• Feeding into Environmental Impact Assessment Screening, Scoping and chapters working with internal and external specialists and environmental stakeholders.
• Advising on potential ecological site constraints and advise on solutions/mitigation measures and have a commercial awareness on delivery and viability of projects.
• Providing ecological support to our client’s team, complete licence applications, and be the technical lead for ecological surveys.

Requirements

• A degree in an environmental related discipline.
• Full member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environment Management (CIEEM).
• Detailed understanding of Ecological Impact Assessments, planning regulations, nature conservation legislations.
• Good knowledge of legislation and policy requirements associated with Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Protection Areas (SPA) and other relevant designations.
• Ideally, you’ll hold at least one licence to survey Protected Species and you may specialise in a particular field of ecology.
• You may have excellent botanical identification skills (British flora) and habitat surveying skills.
• Some experience working within a consultancy environment, public sector or conservation body delivering projects for utility and / or built development.
• You’ll be familiar with GIS systems and understand environmental technical disciplines at a high level allowing you to coordinate and project manage their input into the delivery of the project.