Chief Executive; Team Leader) Rewilding Affric Highlands

• Location:
  
  Scotland (Inverness) | Hybrid
• Type of contract:
  Employment contract (full time 35hrs)
• Duration:
  Permanent with 6-month trial period
• Salary: £53,000-£59,000 pa depending on experience
• Reporting to:
  Rewilding Affric Highlands Board

This is an opportunity to lead one of the UK’s most ambitious rewilding initiatives and help shape the future of nature restoration across the Scottish Highlands.

Affric Highlands is a large-scale and long-term rewilding initiative stretching across more than 200,000 hectares in the Scottish Highlands. It was established in September 2021 as the ninth member of Rewilding Europe’s network of large, iconic rewilding areas, building on three years of work under Trees for Life’s pioneering East-West Wild project. Rewilding Europe and Rewilding Affric Highlands work in close collaboration to deliver the vision, mission and objectives of Rewilding Affric highlands under a co-production model.

The Affric highlands Team Leader plays a key role in delivering Rewilding Europe’s Strategy for 2030 and will work closely with the Rewilding Europe Central team to help achieve this.

Rewilding Affric Highlands is ready to enter the next phase and require a Chief Executive (Team Leader) able to lead on the longer-term strategic development of the charity and create a resilient, high-performing organisation.

The Chief Executive’s main role is to oversee and coordinate all aspects of development, design, planning, implementation, management, fundraising and reporting of Affric Highlands as one of the 11 rewilding landscapes of Rewilding Europe and Network, which serve as large-scale rewilding demonstration examples for the European-wide initiative. The Chief Executive oversees a small team of staff with regards to rewilding, communication and enterprise development.

She/he is the main spokesperson on behalf of Rewilding Affric Highlands and the Affric Highlands landscape in the country or region, and towards the Rewilding Europe central team.

Internally the Chief executive works very closely with the Rewilding Affric Highlands Board and Rewilding Europe central team The Chief Executive represents Rewilding Affric Highlands as a member of the Rewilding Europe Network Executive Team. Externally this role interacts and builds positive relationships with a variety of local stakeholders and partners, such as government institutions, local authorities, media, hunting community, landowners, protected area managers, NGOs, donors, politicians, opinion leaders, entrepreneurs, farmers and others.

The main responsibilities of the Team Leader include:

• Drive Affric Highlands forward as a large rewilding initiative in all its aspects, in line with Rewilding Europe’s Strategy 2030, and deliver tangible and meaningful rewilding outputs and impact at landscape scale.
• Design and develop the overall vision, 5-year strategy, objectives, deliverables, activities, yearly work plans and budgets, including timely and adequate (technical and financial) reporting and monitoring of the rewilding results and impact.
• Provide confident organisational leadership, bringing a pragmatic, delivery-focused approach to organisational development and operational improvement.
• Develop and maintain close relationships and constructive dialogue with key stakeholders and establish and formalise strategic partnerships with these on rewilding, communication or enterprise development.
• Work very pro-actively to identify and secure rewilding, business, and communication opportunities on a day-to-day basis, and ‘’make them real’’ by concrete steps and
• Work with the team to create an enabling environment for a successful Affric Highlands rewilding initiative, g. in terms of policy,…