District Ecologist

Overview

As District Ecologist with Forestry England in Yorkshire, you will play a leading role in helping nature recover across some of England’s most treasured landscapes. You’ll provide expert ecological advice that shapes how we manage our forests for wildlife, people and climate, ensuring we protect designated sites, conserve protected species and deliver nature recovery at a landscape scale. Working closely with colleagues across the district and national organisation, you’ll develop and implement management plans for protected sites, guide the ecological aspects of operational and long-term forest planning, and help create resilient, nature-rich forests for future generations.

Covering a varied district, including over 1,000ha of SSSIs and 2,000ha of ancient woodlands, the District Ecologist role will coordinate the planning and delivery of nature recovery operations on protected sites. You’ll design and oversee monitoring programmes, analyse evidence to inform land management decisions, manage nature recovery projects and contracts, and build strong partnerships with conservation organisations, landowners, and academic institutions. The role will also involve supporting volunteering and exploring new ways to engage with the public to improve our understanding of the forests we care for. You’ll be part of a supportive Yorkshire team as well as a wider national network of ecologists and nature recovery specialists, with opportunities to develop your expertise in ecology, monitoring, conservation management and sustainable forestry.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities:

• Take a leading role in designing, coordinating, and delivering Yorkshire district’s nature recovery work, working with specialists with a range of ecological and operational skills.
• Provide expert ecological advice to inform operational plans, forest plans, and other enquiries, to ensure our statutory duties for the environment are met and that legal/UK Woodland Assurance Standard compliance is maintained.
• Create, implement, and monitor designated site management plans (including SSSI management plans).
• Procure, set-up, and manage contracts and operational delivery projects.
• Manage existing nature recovery projects and provide support as required for new projects. This will include identifying projects in the nation’s forests suitable for funding opportunities.
• Deliver strategic ecological monitoring and analysis, supporting the district’s developing evidenced-based and natural capital approach to making decisions.
• Build and maintain good relations with partners in statutory and NGO conservation organisations.
• Build and maintain better links with local academia to support an evidence-based approach to management of the nation’s forests.
• Provide ecological support to the district colleagues working on planning applications, post-minerals restoration projects, infrastructure upgrades, renewables projects, development mitigation and biodiversity offsetting opportunities.
• Support and grow volunteering in district by organising ecology/nature recovery volunteering sessions and citizen science programmes.
• Line management of an Assistant Ecologist, and possibly other staff.
• Any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Where You’ll Work

The post will initially be based at Forestry England’s Yorkshire Office in Pickering. It will move to the Dalby Forest Office in spring/summer 2028. Regular travel around Forestry England’s estate in Yorkshire will be required. There will be occasional trips outside of Yorkshire for Forestry England-wide meetings, which may require an overnight stay.

The duties of this post require the applicant to regularly travel to remote locations that are not accessible by public transport. You will therefore need to hold a full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK and be willing to stay away from home. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Essential:

• Ecology or environmental degree, or equivalent professional experience.
• Good wildlife identification skills, especially for protected species.
• Able to design and deliver robust survey and monitoring programmes.
• An effective communicator, both written and spoken.
• Able to manage a complex workload, effectively prioritising and meeting deadlines.
• Able to analyse data and evaluate evidence to produce succinct reports.
• Up-to-date knowledge of environmental legislation, particularly biodiversity, and experience of its application to land management.
• Experience working with volunteers.
• Excellent team and partnership working, with a track record of interdisciplinary working.
• Experience working with local stakeholder groups, including landowners; non-governmental organisations; charities; and local government.
• Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
• A full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK.

Desirable:

• Competent using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Competently analyse data using Python, R or similar.
• Experience or understanding of the UK forestry sector, the UK Forestry Standard and UKWAS certification.
• Experience managing small nature recovery projects.
• knowledge of biodiversity net gain and/or experience with the planning system.
• Strong ecological knowledge of key ecosystems found within the district.
• Membership of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).

Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.