Overview

Are you looking for a new opportunity for 2021………….We are looking for an enthusiastic ecological consultant to work in our ecology team.

The opportunity:

Wharton Natural Infrastructure Consultants are based in Coughton, Warwickshire with clients across England and Wales.

As a result of our increased client base and instructions, we are looking for an ecological consultant to join our ecology team.

The new position is aimed at a self-motivated, individual with great communication skills who wants to develop their career, provide ideas to the business and implement ecology projects.

At Wharton you will be working as part of a multi-disciplinary team that has a great work ethos and shared values. You will be working on projects varying in scale throughout England and Wales.

Our team provide ecological, arboricultural, landscape and topographical surveys to a range of clients, and we work on a wide scale of projects from homeowner extensions through to planning applications for thousands of homes. We are a small and tight-knit team who look out for each other and always work together to provide pragmatic solutions for our clients.

Company benefits include:

  • Have an extra day of annual leave for your birthday.

  • Bring your dog to work (providing they’re well-behaved and get on with the current Wharton Canines!).

  • Take part in our quarterly team activity days to celebrate success over the previous financial quarter. Previously this has included things such as ‘Go Ape’ and cocktail making masterclasses.

  • One day per quarter to volunteer for a wildlife charity or organisation of your choosing.

  • Have access to our Employee Assistance Programme [1].

  • Have critical illness and life insurance cover [2].

  • Be part of our project bonus scheme [3].

  • Actively develop and achieve your personal goals and targets [4].

The role:

The main responsibility of the position is to work in the ecology team delivering projects from start to finish, managing sub-consultants, and supporting the marketing department with business development as required.

Working within the ecology team, you will be undertaking a range of field survey work for habitats and fauna (e.g. UKHab, bats, badger, GCN, reptiles, otter, water vole, and nesting birds) across the UK. You will also manage and analyse field survey data and write technical reports. Due to the openness of the company we encourage active discussion around making improvements to processes and input to marketing where necessary. If this sounds like the perfect job for you give us a call, we’d like to chat to you.

Ultimately, we’re looking for someone who is driven to find solutions and who will be a good fit with our company culture and values. We take our professional work very seriously, but we’re also a fun and engaging team to work with, so a good sense of humour and a friendly personality will help! 

Skills required for the position:

The successful applicant will:

  • be an excellent communicator and organiser, being able to communicate technical detail to clients and work on multiple projects at once

  • have excellent report writing skills and experience in helping with writing a range of technical reports including preliminary ecological appraisal reports, species survey reports, ecological enhancement plans, construction and ecological management plans and low-impact ecological impact assessments.

  • be diligent and accurate in your work, well presented, trustworthy and punctual.

  • be willing to learn, grow and provide a consistently high level of service, as part of our motivated team.

  • be computer and IT literate with experience in using Microsoft Office products, with good language skills and an understanding of time management.

  • be confident in providing ideas and feedback to improve our service and internal processes

  • hold a Bachelor’s degree and ideally a post-graduate qualification in ecology or an ecology-related subject

  • be experienced in delivering habitat and protected species surveys.

  • be a member of CIEEM (or other relevant professional body) or working towards membership

  • have an in-depth understanding of legislative and policy issues relating to ecology and the planning process.

  • Class 1 bat and Class 1 great crested newt licence preferred (or be working towards this)

  • have proven consultancy experience (minimum 3 years full time experience)

  • have experience in assisting with preparation and delivery of European Protected Species Mitigation Licences and ecological impact assessment reports (desirable).

  • excellent organisational skills and an ability to meet deadlines on time and within budget.

  • have a full UK driving licence and your own car are essential as travelling is an integral part of the role.

Most importantly, be able to provide solutions to our clients.

Duties of the position:

The applicant will be involved with, but not confined to:

  • Preliminary Ecological Appraisal and Ecological Impact Assessment, inclusive of the provision of appropriate ecological advice in accordance with the mitigation hierarchy.

  • Botanical and/or protected species survey (multi-species and licensed surveyors preferred).

  • Bat surveys, including the collation and analysis of data from building inspections, emergence / re-entry surveys, transect surveys and static bat recording.

  • Protected species development licensing.

  • Habitat design and management plan writing.

  • Ecological Clerk of Works duties.

  • GIS mapping using QGIS and technical report writing, ideally with track record of producing professional consultancy reports.

  • Client interfacing and delivery of projects to time and budget.

Salary range:

£25,000 – £30,000 DOE

Final salary and package will be based on qualifications and experience. This is a position initially based on a 39.5 hour working week and 3 month probationary period.

If you want to develop your career, join a dynamic company, which is ISO9001 compliant, please send your CV with a covering letter of experience to Peter Wharton (peter@wnic.co.uk). If you wish to discuss the opportunity and role further please call Peter or Matt Wall on 01789 459458.

[1] Provided by Croner and includes health & lifestyle services, legal information, home life services and work life services.

[2] Introduced once 3 month probationary period is successfully completed.

[3] Take a percentage of any new business you bring to the company and discretionary monthly profit shares.

[4] We like everyone to have their own individual goals, whether that be having the opportunity to take your children to school, to travelling the world for a few months. We aim to make things happen.