Ecology Lead

At Hammersmith & Fulham, we are ambitious in reforming the council to ensure this is a place for everybody. Within the Environment Department, we offer a wide range of services to help make the borough an attractive place, one that is safe, clean and green and one in which our residents take pride.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council declared a climate and ecological emergency in summer 2019 and have set an ambitious net zero carbon emissions by 2030 target. The Council aims to be a leader amongst local authorities on environmental issues and the Climate and Ecological Emergency Unit is responsible for developing and delivering the Council’s response to the climate and ecological emergency.

The Climate and Ecological Emergency Unit require a Ecology Officer to provide high-level support and advice to the Leader of the Council, Cabinet Member for Environment, Senior staff, partners and stakeholders on the Council’s approach to the ecological emergency in the context of addressing the climate and ecological emergency.

The Council declared this alongside the climate emergency, acknowledging the loss of biodiversity, habitats and natural capital in the context of addressing the climate and ecological emergency. The Ecology Officer will develop the Council’s strategies, policies and actions to recover biodiversity, improve natural capital and work with colleagues to increase green and blue infrastructure to tackle the climate and ecological emergency and help to achieve the Council’s net zero carbon emissions for the borough by 2030.

The post holder create the plans, policies and projects to manage, protect and enhance biodiversity, species and habitats with reference to local, regional, national and international legislation and strategies on ecology, biodiversity and natural capital. The role requires strong collaboration and partnerships with community stakeholders to further the delivery of the Council priority of addressing the climate and ecological emergency and build capacity within communities across the borough in relation to ecology, biodiversity and natural capital.

The successful applicant must understand, communicate and plan the actions needed to move forward on biodiversity loss and recovery, habitat renewal and other ecological initiatives. Working with partners including academic institutions, consultancies and organisations to develop and implement innovative policies and solutions on ecology and biodiversity is essential.

Developing projects and programmes required to deliver the strategy and actions with financial and budgetary oversight, procurement, contract management, contractor or consultant management, implementation, monitoring and evaluation is a key part of the role. Additionally, the role requires building expertise within the wider Council of the ecological emergency, building awareness and capability of ecology, biodiversity and natural capital.

Our mission is to be the best council. To do this we need the best people to help build our vision. If you’re looking to develop your career in a fast-paced, professional environment whilst making a difference, then we look forward to hearing from you.

**Role Responsibilities**:
**The role responsibilities are as below**:

- To work strategically across the organisation to proactively engage with colleagues in Parks, Housing, Transport and Highways to increase involvement in the ecological emergency agenda.
- Research and advise the Council, partners and stakeholders on biodiversity recovery, habitat loss and renewal, increasing green space and infrastructure, habitats and species
- Be able to integrate ecological co-benefits with other priorities by working with different disciplines.
- To work with local, regional and national policy groups to coordinate the approach to the ecological emergency, determine strategic priorities and integrate agreed policies.

Please refer to the
- **Role Profile **for more information.

**People Values**:
How we act defines who we are. At the heart of our organisation is a common approach to defining ‘who we are’. We are looking for people who can build this into everything they do.

**We are fair**

We treat everyone with compassion, dignity and fairness. We value the views and opinion of others, and promote benefits and opportunities for all.

**We are caring**

We care about our borough and doing things well. We focus on standards and continuous improvement; learning from our mistakes and celebrating success.

**We are collaborators**

We work together for a better society. We work with our residents, businesses, schools, third sector and others for better outcomes for everyone.

**We are driven**

We will only settle for the very best. We seek to continually improve and put our residents, customers and businesses at the heart of everything we do.

**Recruiting for Attitude**:
Your skills and ability are important however, we recruit as much for attitude as we do experience. We are loo