Overview

Role type: Permanent
Location: Bristol, London, Manchester, Oxfordshire (Harwell)
Closing Date: 31/10/2020

Ricardo are looking for an experienced Senior level terrestrial ecologist, to join our small team of ecologists who sit within our diverse and highly skilled environmental service sector.

About Ricardo

Ricardo Energy & Environment is a leading sustainability consultancy combining energy, climate change, environmental, and chemical risk expertise with strong IT and economic capability. With unrivalled sector insight and a reputation for producing innovative solutions, we offer a stimulating and rewarding environment in which to work.

We are acutely aware of the importance of our roles in safeguarding and enhancing our environment and fully believe in our mission to create a world fit for the future.

Our environmental team has worked tirelessly to support key clients with essential work throughout the Covid-19 outbreak following a smooth transition to home-based, and where necessary, flexible working patterns. Our ecology team is looking to re-enforce and grow our dynamic and experienced team as we look to support clients entering periods of significant investment in environmental services.

Ricardo are also committed to maintaining and developing a positive and encouraging environment for our staff to thrive in, providing regular company-wide and team-specific communications, actively seeking feedback from our employees and our customers, and encouraging staff to provide regular feedback to their colleagues.

What will I be doing?

The position offers a diverse role, supporting projects and clients across the UK and occasionally beyond, predominantly in EcIA and HRA, whilst also carrying out projects encompassing both biodiversity and protected species focus.

Your role will involve project management and implementation of ecological assessments, plus the coordination of associated surveys, consultation, and mitigation in support of our clients’ proposals and operations. You will also be expected to hold or to apply for and oversee protected species mitigation licences for your areas of expertise.

You will be involved in managing the technical work of more junior staff and sub-consultants and (depending on experience) managing projects and their direction too. There will also be team leadership opportunities as the team expands.

The nature of the role and the dynamic of the team provides a wealth of opportunities to explore your interests and carry out a range of tasks and functions within terrestrial ecology, as well as a range of related disciplines. There is also a degree of flexibility over which facets of the role you become most invested in: be it a more technical focus; project management; developing bids and tenders; or, a more generalist role. Conversely, there will be times where you need to be adaptable and open-minded regarding the work you undertake, particularly during busy periods of large projects or bids.

We work for a range of clients including government departments, councils, utility companies, and not for profit organisations as well as commercial and infrastructure clients. This provides a varied scope of works and regularly offers particularly interesting project work or the chance to develop novel approaches.

There is also the opportunity to take on a range of management, technical and pastoral roles within the team and the wider company. For example, we recently took the opportunity to train volunteers in each of our offices to undertake roles as mental health first aiders, to support the wellbeing of our staff throughout the company.

Whilst the key competencies and desirable experience are listed below; the list is not exclusive and we are willing to discuss applications from candidates who are particularly strong in certain areas, but who may not meet all the criteria listed below.

Key competencies and experience:

A degree in a relevant subject, such as ecology or other biological sciences, and/or a relevant postgraduate qualification
A good understanding of UK wildlife legislation and the planning process
Excellent report writing skills
Membership of CIEEM (with the demonstrable capability to achieve full membership if not already achieved)
Experience in EcIA, preferably in support of EIA
Experience of HRA of projects and/or plans
Broad ecological survey experience with demonstrable proficiency in particular protected species surveys and/or habitat surveys and providing mitigation recommendations
At least one protected species survey licence (not including GCN)

Desirable

Multiple protected species survey licences (ideally in both England and Wales)
Experience of applying for and holding licenses for protected species mitigation/conservation
Experience of writing thorough and complex reports and assessments, such as HRA stages 1 – 4 and Environmental Statement chapters
A track record of successful project management
Experience in the preparation of ecology proposals and tenders
Experience of ecological assessment for the water sector
A chartered member of a professional body (e.g. CEnv or CEcol)

You will need to be:

A self-starter, as you’ll be part of a small and very busy team. Excellent team working skills are therefore essential together with strong communication skills, a sound understanding of ecological impact assessment, and good attention to detail.

Whilst fieldwork skills are needed for this role, there will be a large component of office-based coordination, data analysis, client contact, and report writing.

This is a fast-paced and challenging environment offering you the opportunity to make your mark. You will have support from the wider business for your career to develop into a wide range of future opportunities within Ricardo Energy & Environment.

What we can offer you:

In return for your commitment, drive, and enthusiasm, we offer an attractive benefits package, a personal development plan, and the opportunity to make a difference in a challenging and rewarding field.

Ricardo Energy & Environment is an equal opportunities employer.