Overview

If you have strong IT and data management skills and a background in conservation, land management, life sciences or similar, then this might be the rare opportunity you have been looking for to combine your interests …

Who are we?

Exegesis SDM Ltd is a well-established and respected software consultancy with an impressive portfolio of information management applications used in the environmental and conservation sectors.  We get to work with committed staff in most of the UKs conservation and related sectors including Natural England, the National Trust, English Heritage, Wildlife Trusts, Central Government and over a hundred local authorities. In fact, most of the major UK conservation and land management organisations use one or more of our solutions and we also have several important conservation clients in Europe and S Africa.

One of our leading applications is the ‘Conservation Management System’ (CMSi), a comprehensive, map-based solution for the planning and management of protected areas.  CMSi is used extensively by Natural England and other national and local organisations across the UK. It is also used by state level and charitable organisations in several countries to manage thousands of protected sites. CMSi comprises desktop, web and mobile components and benefits from an active and well-funded development programme.

The position we are recruiting to will report to the relevant company director and have overall responsibility for the management of the CMSi product and team. Check out the links if you would like to know a little more about some of your potential future colleagues:

CMSi Consultant, Dr Anne Brookes

CMSi Consultant, Jo Silverwood

CMSi Consultant, Simon Allen

CMSi Web Lead Developer, Dr Andy Brewer

CMSi Mobile Lead Developer, Dr Hartmut Tschauner

CMSi Project Manager, Patrick Beasley

CMSi Architect, Dr Laine Skinner

Further information on CMSi can be found at www.esdm.co.uk/cmsi and about Exegesis at www.esdm.co.uk

So, why might you want to work with us?

We have great clients doing great work for wildlife, conservation and communities. We enjoy (well, most of the time), building and supporting tools to help them and they seem to like what we do.
You enjoy IT and working with data and have an empathy for the work our clients are doing
CMSi has a long pedigree and the present application has benefited from multi-million Euro investment over recent years. As well as being used by many smaller organisations, it has been adopted at a national scale by Natural England,  Staatsbosbeheer  and Natuurmonumenten in the Netherlands and by CapeNature in South Africa.
Our main office is based in a National Park – a great location if you value countryside, outdoor activities and avoiding life wasting commutes. You can also work remotely if you prefer.
Don’t be fooled by the cuddly nature of our clients and their work. Typically, they require (and we give) a lot for their money and that drives creativity, efficiency and sheer hard work. We see this as a positive.
You will be responsible for product strategy and planning, functional design and the management of CMSi throughout its lifecycle. You will also be responsible for coordinating the work of the product team.

It’s not that easy to describe what this means in terms of day to day activities. This is partly because our consultants enjoy a high degree of autonomy and roles tend anyway to evolve around each person’s strengths and interests. Nonetheless, the role is likely to include many of the following:

Coordinating the day to day work of the product team
Defining and maintaining the product strategy and roadmap
Working with our clients to prepare functional specifications
Working with our development team to help prepare technical specifications
Providing remote support services to users
On-boarding new organisations
Developing and delivering user training courses
Installing and maintaining CMSi on our own and client servers
Testing new releases
Undertaking data migrations
Keeping in close contact with the user community
Preparing example management plans and training datasets
Ensuring efficient product administration
Maintaining an awareness of relevant policy and good practice
Promotional, sales and management of commercial aspects
Relax, we do not expect any one person to cover all bases, but as a product manager and team leader you will be responsible for ensuring all bases are covered and as part of a small team, you can expect to be actively participating in many of these activities.

Who are we looking for?

You need to:

Understand the importance of rational, evidence-based and adaptive conservation management, i.e. you ‘get the point’ of CMSi
Be positive and problem solving
Have excellent written and verbal communication skills
Be self-motivated, organised and disciplined
More specifically you must have:

At least 1 years’ experience in the management of conservation /amenity sites or have other experience related to the management of property, habitats or species
Excellent IT skills to including at least 3 of the following:
I.          Strong database skills, e.g. querying using SQL, database management, etc.

II.          Training skills including preparation and delivery of IT training, in person or online

III.          IT user support/help desk experience

IV.          IT development skills including any of: system design, programming and testing

V.          GIS skills. Advanced use of ArcGIS, MapInfo or QGIS

VI.          Server management experience

VII.          Configuring web mapping applications such as MapServer and GeoServer

Graduate qualifications in a relevant discipline
What will you get?

To be part of a successful IT and environmental consultancy
To provide solutions that make a difference (normally for the better) to the environment and for conservation
A high degree of autonomy with the ability to shape your own job and if you have some good ideas, to help determine company direction
Money.  £36,000 – £44,000 is pretty much the remuneration range and you can expect to be towards the top if you have great IT skills and a lot of relevant experience. At the lower end you still have to be good and with bags of potential.  We also pay overtime.
Flexible working arrangements with option to work remotely
Subject to performance, there is potential for the holder of this position to be recruited to the company board.

Contract and location

This is a full time and permanent position. Our head office is in the Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. Remote working is also an option. Occasional visits to client sites will be required.

What next?

We would like to receive applications from suitably qualified candidates that are truly interested in working with us and for this reason we ask that all applications include:

A CV
A covering letter detailing your IT and data management skills
Any work-base location preferences
The application closing date is Monday 11th January 2021 and interviews (remote) will be held in week beginning Monday 1st February. Applications will however be reviewed on receipt and earlier interviews offered if appropriate. Please email applications to Michelle Lewis,  MichelleLewis@esdm.co.uk

If you would like to discuss the position before applying, please contact Jon Young,  JonYoung@esdm.co.uk,

Thank you for your interest.