Assistant Ecologist

At AtkinsRéalis, our team of over 130 ecologists work throughout the UK to deliver a diverse range of challenging and exciting projects that benefit our clients, biodiversity and society. Our ecology team also won the inaugural CIEEM Large-Scale Consultancy of the Year Award in 2018 and has been highly commended in the same award category each year thereafter.

We are proud to promote nature-based solutions across a range of market sectors; collaborating with clients to positively contribute to the carbon net zero agenda and biodiversity and climate emergencies. We are particularly passionate about the implementation of biodiversity net gain on our projects and have placed ourselves at the forefront of this approach.

We positively encourage pushing boundaries, promoting innovation, knowledge sharing and working inclusively across our diverse team. We are fully committed to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We want everyone to feel respected, empowered and able to realise their full potential as important members of our team.

Joining us, you will have the opportunity to contribute to nationally significant and high-profile projects, with many of our projects winning awards for biodiversity enhancements, innovation, and knowledge sharing.

**What you will be doing**
- Providing ecological support to a varied range of projects across different sectors and collaborating with our multi-disciplinary teams;
- Planning and co-ordinating field surveys, analysing and interpreting survey results;
- Undertaking field surveys and managing survey data;
- Authoring ecological reports, including Preliminary Ecological Appraisals;
- Undertaking mapping using QGIS; and
- Assisting with bid preparation and building client relationships.

**About you**

Ideally, you would have the following qualifications and/or attributes:

- A degree in ecology, biology, zoology or closely related field (desirable but not essential);
- Experience in UKHabitat survey (Field Identification Skills Certificate (FISC) level 3 +, or demonstrable experience equating to this level would be desirable);
- Survey skills for one or more protected species, ideally with a focus on Scottish species (a protected species licence(s) would be desirable);
- An understanding of Scottish and UK wildlife legislation, planning policies, licensing requirements and best practice survey techniques;
- Experience of producing ecological reports, including Preliminary Ecological Appraisal Reports;
- Strong collaborative behaviours to interface with multi-disciplinary teams and other stakeholders;
- Willingness to complete field surveys and travel to different parts of Scotland (and occasionally other parts of the UK when required);
- Excellent communication skills; and
- A full valid UK/EEC driving licence.

**What we offer?**
- Competitive salaries and a huge range of other benefits;
- Paid overtime and/or TOIL system;
- 25 days annual leave, plus paid bank holidays, plus the ability to buy up to 15 extra days;
- Part-time and/or flexible hours contracts.
- Paid professional memberships;
- Paid for individual iPhone and use of digital hardware for work purposes;
- Tailored training and mentoring schemes to advance your career;
- Opt-in flexible benefits such as medical insurance, gym membership, cycle-to-work scheme, child care vouchers, charitable giving, additional pension contributions;
- And so much more

Our team are proud to promote nature-based solutions across a range of market sectors; collaborating with clients to positively contribute to the carbon net zero agenda and biodiversity and climate emergencies. We are particularly passionate about the implementation of biodiversity net gain on our projects and have placed ourselves at the forefront of this approach. We positively encourage pushing boundaries, promoting innovation, knowledge sharing and ensure staff have time allocated to get involved in our technical network and innovations.

AtkinsRéalis are committed to promoting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We have a commitment to identify and recruit from the most diverse talent pool and develop new and improved ways to sponsor talent from underrepresented groups. We have a range of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion network groups encouraging an inclusive workplace where all employees can flourish, including Embrace (supporting minority ethnicities), Enable (supporting visible and invisible disabilities) Equilibrium (for LGBT+ colleagues), Menopause at Work, Neurodiversity (for variations in learning, attention and other mental functions), ParentNet, and Empower (providing professional support by and for women).

Here at AtkinsRéalis, well-being is at the forefront of everything we do. We recognise that there is more to life than work and that making time for the other things is crucial for health and happiness. Therefore, if working from home, working part-time or having flexible start and finish times will help with this, we are more tha