Principal Ecologist

Job description

**Hours: 37 **hours per week**

**Contract: Permanent**

It’s a great time to join North Somerset Council as our lead Ecologist.

North Somerset has a landscape of huge nature conservation value, with a significant number of designated sites including: 4 Special Areas of Conservation, 56 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 2 National Nature Reserves, 13 Local Nature Reserves, the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and 204 Local Wildlife Sites.

Our vision is to be a greener Council and to demonstrate this we have declared an ecological emergency, started to improve biodiversity in our parks and open spaces, and published our first Green Infrastructure Strategy. There are lots of exciting areas to be involved in and to have a positive impact on how we manage ecology across North Somerset.

Our passionate and newly restructured team will be delivering actions from our ambitious Green Infrastructure Strategy across North Somerset, through services such as ecology and landscape, parks and open spaces, rights of way, trees, sustainable wetlands and flood management.

You will have a wide variety of opportunities including: leading on advice for the emerging Local Plan including developing supplementary planning guidance, helping introduce and deliver Biodiversity Net Gain, collaboration on nature recovery networks, wetland restoration, nature parks, engaging with colleagues and partners across the West of England and being part of a wide-ranging project to better understand our greater horseshoe bats.

You will have experience in a similar role and hold a relevant qualification to level 6 or above.

A local authority post also has the benefits of a generous pension scheme and holiday allowance, agile and flexible working conditions including hybrid working, an Employee Assistance Programme for staff health and wellbeing and access to schemes such as salary sacrifice.

**Want to know more and apply?**

**Anticipated interview date: Thursday 16 March 2023