Natural Capital Consultant

Nicholsons is seeking a commercially astute land management professional to help rural landowners and developers turn natural capital opportunities into resilient, investable and environmentally credible long-term outcomes. Working alongside our experienced technical team and sector partners, you will advise on land-use choices, commercial viability, environmental risk and delivery, helping clients secure sustainable returns while enhancing the long-term resilience of rural land and businesses.

Join a multidisciplinary practice where natural capital is approached as a practical land-management and commercial proposition:

• Deliver Trusted Advice:
  Provide clear, evidence-led advice that balances environmental ambition with land-use constraints, investment priorities and deliverable outcomes.

• Collaboration and Growth:
  
  Work closely with experienced colleagues, sharing knowledge and supporting a culture of learning, inclusion and development across the business.
• Interdisciplinary
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Work closely with sister disciplines in ecology, arboriculture, forestry, landscapes and design, contributing to a holistic approach to project challenges and opportunities.

• Commercially Relevant Projects:
  Advise on land management and development projects that create viable income, manage risk and deliver measurable environmental value.
• Sector Influence:
  Use Nicholsons' industry relationships to inform emerging practice, contribute to policy discussions and help clients navigate a changing natural capital landscape.

• Advise landowners and developers on their natural capital baseline, identify commercially and environmentally viable opportunities, and assess how these can be developed through established and emerging ecosystem-services markets.
• Build trusted client relationships and lead the evaluation of land-use options, revenue models, delivery risks and practical routes to implementation.
• Maintain a strong working knowledge of established and emerging markets, including carbon sequestration, Biodiversity Net Gain, flood protection, nutrient neutrality and regenerative agriculture.
• Translate technical and market insight into clear reports, client recommendations, knowledge sharing and training across the wider business.

• Demonstrate sound professional judgement, creative problem-solving and a record of taking complex land or environmental projects from opportunity assessment through to delivery.
• Bring practical experience in rural estate or land management, with a sound understanding of farm and estate economics, land-use trade-offs, tenure, regulation and the commercial realities facing rural businesses.
• Have a working knowledge of natural capital, environmental land use and the developing policy and market mechanisms that shape investment decisions.

• Have a good understanding of planning policy as it relates to the environment, in particular, in terms of Biodiversity Net Gain, Environmental Impact Assessments and Green Infrastructure.

• Working knowledge of hydrology, including catchment processes, surface-water management, flood risk and the interpretation of hydrological data in rural land-use projects is desirable.

• Have good working knowledge of GIS mapping.
• Have strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to build positive working relationships.

• Combine commercial understanding with strong project management, including the ability to test business cases, manage delivery risk and communicate recommendations with authority.

The candidate could come from an environmental science, forestry, landscapes or land management background.

This is a full-time position, Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week.