Director Ecology & Biodiversity

We are a team of enthusiastic and collaborative planners, designers, environmental consultants, engineers and health & safety professionals. Our client base includes public and private sectors. We have grown significantly over the last few years and now employ 200 individuals across the UK. Teamwork and a people-first culture are at the heart of everything we do and we wish to engage an enthusiastic professional to join our team.

We are seeking to recruit a Director of Ecology & Biodiversity (EB) to join our growing team to lead technical excellence and business growth. We are keen to hear from applicants with a wide range of backgrounds/specialisms and would welcome applications from existing Associate Director / Director of Ecology looking for their next challenge in a values-led consultancy. The position will be hybrid with the opportunity to work in one of our many UK offices and may require travel, occasional overnight stays throughout the U.K., and further afield depending on project requirements.

We are a flexible employer and are willing to consider flexible working arrangements that are desirable to you.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the right candidate to take on a wide variety of challenges, including management of people, clients and projects, technical leadership, business development, commercial management, delivery of training etc.

We are proud to provide clients with real-world, pragmatic, and focused advice which seeks to support our clients as well as providing benefits to biodiversity.

The Role

This role is for a Director of Ecology & Biodiversity who will have responsibility for leading and developing our ecology team across the U.K. and beyond. Responsibilities will include contributing to the delivery of the company’s net profit, and growth goals through co‑ordinating and managing a technical business group, fit‑for‑purpose, aligned with the current business strategy and business plan. You will work with our EB Managers in England and Scotland to ensure technical and operational excellence across our EB Group as a whole.

The selected candidate will work within a supportive and passionate team focusing on business development, successful project delivery, and client satisfaction.

We are keen to hear from applicants with a wide range of backgrounds/specialisms; wide range of competencies are beneficial for this role. These may include:

• Habitat survey and assessment.
• Protected Species surveying, mitigation, and licensing.
• Ornithological survey and assessment.
• Leading and managing ecology, ornithology and ECoW teams.
• Production of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) chapters.
• Production of Habitats Regulations Appraisals (HRA) and Appropriate Assessments (AA)
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
• Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW), construction support, and delivery of pragmatic solutions.
• Ecological project management.
• Biodiversity net gain, and ESG

We are keen to hear how your professional experience can help us to deliver high quality ecology projects and support our team growth. We will expect applicants to be able to demonstrate some or all of the following:

• Excellent understanding of U.K. wildlife legislation, good practice guidance for ecological surveys and assessments and the planning process across the U.K.
• Strong background/specialism in one or more areas of ecological survey and assessment (e.g., plants/habitats, birds, other protected species).
• Strong project management abilities across a range of project types e.g., EcIAs for development, EIAs, Construction ecological support, habitat monitoring and restoration, BNG and ESG
• Experience of reviewing and coordinating EIA chapters.
• Experience of reviewing HRAs and AAs
• A successful track record of leading ecology project teams in the U.K.
• Strong people and interpersonal skills to motivate and support our ecology team.
• Strong report writing skills and communication with clients and other staff members.
• Experience of managing frameworks for ecological services
• Experience of managing project budgets and financial reporting.
• Experience of line management/ supervision of staff up to senior…