Hop Spots Project Manager

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Role:Hop Spots Project Manager

Team:Communications and Outreach

Location:ARC Head Office, Boscombe, Bournemouth, with regular travel throughout Dorset and Hampshire and occasional travel to Merseyside and East Anglia

Salary:£40,000 - £42,000 per annum

Working pattern:Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Contract type:Fixed term for approximately four years, withan anticipated start date as soon as possible

Closing date:13/11/2026
Shortlisting:Throughout, to be completed by20thNovember
Interviews:Interviews are expected to be held in person at ARC’s Boscombe office in the latter half of November, with exact dates to be confirmed. Shortlisted candidates will be given as much notice as possible.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receivea sufficient number of suitable applications, so we encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity to lead
Hop Spots
, Amphibian and Reptile Conservation’s national education programme for England, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Hop Spots is an ambitious four-year programme designed to reconnect children and young people with nature through environmental education, conservationtrainingand wellbeing-focused engagement. The programme will work across three distinct regions of England – Dorset and surrounding areas,Merseysideand East Anglia – each selected for its importance for amphibians and reptiles and the opportunities it provides to engage children, youngpeopleand communities with nature.

At the heart of the programme is a learning pathway that supports children and young people to
Connect with, Learn about and Act for amphibians,reptile sand the natural environment. Through this, Hop Spots will promote nature connection and its benefits for wellbeing and development, place native species at the heart of environmental education, and help young people develop conservation skills and explore future opportunities in the environmental sector.

As Hop Spots Project Manager, you will have overall responsibility for leading and managing the delivery of this ambitious national programme. You will lead a geographically dispersed project team and oversee delivery across all three project regions, while providing national oversight to ensure the programme aligns with best practice and delivers resources and learning that can be shared across the UK. Working closely with colleagues, project partners, schools, colleges, universities, communityorganisationsand other stakeholders, you will ensure activities are delivered consistently and to a high standard.

You will line manage three Hop Spots Education Officers, based in Dorset and surrounding areas, Merseyside and East Anglia, together with two interns who will join the programme in its later stages. You will work closely with the Education Officers and key delivery partners, including theN
ational Trust, Green Seftonand the Zoological Society of East Anglia
, to coordinate education,outreach and engagement activity across the programme.

This is a varied and rewarding role offering the opportunity to lead across all aspects of project delivery, including team management, partnership working, programme coordination, budget management, monitoring and evaluation,communications and reporting to funders. You will also oversee key consultancy contracts, including the project’s independent evaluator and videographer, and ensure learning, feedback and evidence of impact are captured throughout the life of the programme.

Based at ARC’s Head Office in Boscombe, Bournemouth, you will work closely with colleagues across ARC’s Communications, Reserves, Species, Science, Finance and Administration teams, ensuring that Hop Spots is integrated with ARC’s wider conservation,engagement and organisational priorities.

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