Green Space Development Officer FTC

About WDC, overview of the team and the role

Our planet is currently facing an ecological emergency where biodiversity has been massively depleted by decades of habitat loss, neglect, development, pollution and changes in climate. In response to the Council has produced a new Biodiversity Action Programme (BAP) and are seeking ambitious targets as part of the emerging Local Plan for example in relation to tree canopy cover targets. WDC is the leading organisation to enhance biodiversity in Warwick District, which is a strategic goal of the Council.

There are 550+ Ha of green spaces across the district that have the potential to be improved, managed and maintained for biodiversity and to the high standard that our communities demand, where there is an increasing desire to ensure these spaces remain in perpetuity as public open spaces, given development pressures.

The role will lead on the Fields in Trust Project and writing the Management Plans for some of our premier parks. The role will also be involved in some of our biodiversity work, while also including aspects of Woodland Management, and working with internal and external stakeholders involved in biodiversity, nature conservation and trees.

We are a small friendly team, and the role will be a key role to enabling us to move forward with a number of high profile and priority projects and be the lead officer for both the Fields in Trust Project and for the Management Plans.

The Green Spaces Team is looking for a skilled, motivated, and enthusiastic individual who is passionate about nature, conservation, ecology, woodland/tree management and green spaces to join the team. The individual should be ambitious in their desire to make Warwick District a place that is rich in nature by delivering multiple benefits for wildlife and people, while also being keen to enhance our registered historic parks and gardens and areas of open space.

The postholder would be required to work on their own, sometimes in isolated locations, and to attend team meetings and work well with the team and internal and external stakeholders for example community groups.

Candidates should have a passion and knowledge and experience of green space development and have qualifications or equivalent experience in environment, landscape, horticulture, woodland management, ecology, conservation, planning or other related subject to enable them to perform well in this role. The postholder should also be familiar with MS Office based applications such as Outlook, Word and Excel and be able to use maps to assist them in their daily work.

Good levels of numeracy, verbal and written communication skills as well as excellent interpersonal and communication skills at all levels is also required. You will also need to be able to plan/prioritise and sequence multiple and potentially conflicting priorities.

The primary role of this post is to undertake the submission of sites for Fields in Trust designation, to write the Parks Management Plans with the aim of securing Green Flag accreditation, assist on woodland management policy and be involved in the development and management of parks and open spaces throughout the district to include ecological management, floral bedding, tree advice, play areas, local nature reserves, and other tasks as the service requires.

• Qualified to at least degree level of have equivalent experience
• Extensive knowledge and experience of contract management, project management, maintenance of formal parks and open spaces and working and managing external contractors.
• Experience of working with a range of partners, including residents, volunteers, local groups, and other bodies/organisations.
• Extensive knowledge of integrating ecological and formal grounds maintenance to increase biodiversity
• Experience of budget management/payment to external contractors.
• Extensive knowledge of services provided by other Service Areas in the Council, partner organisations and other agencies.
• Demonstrable experience of change management and service improvement
• Demonstrable ability to present both written and verbal reports
• The ability to manage and prioritise workload
• Customer focused.

Fixed Term/ Secondment - 2 years

Name:
Helen Hancox

Job Title:

Green Spaces Team Leader

Email: H

Telephone:

As part of being a Disability Confident employer we guarantee to interview anyone with a disability whose application meets the essential criteria for the post. By ‘essential criteria’ we mean that you must provide us with evidence in your application form which demonstrates that you meet the level of competence required for each competence, as well as meeting any of the qualifications, skills or experience defined as essential in the person specification.

To be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS), applicants must disclose that they have a disability and would like to be…