Consultant Ecologist

Overview

Binnies are recruiting for a Consultant Ecologist to have a key role in our Chester-based team area within our growing Ecology team (a CIEEM Registered Practice). We have a strong focus on high quality survey and assessment combined with biodiversity enhancement and restoration across our portfolio of work at all scales and sectors including flood, coastal and maritime, water utilities, transport and renewable power.

This key role would also support our growing portfolio of work in England and Wales including natural capital projects and Solutions By Nature; our RSK joint venture providing nature-based solutions via blue-green infrastructure to the water industry.

You would be a key part of our national Environmental team and work with our ecologists, landscape architects and other specialists to drive the quality of our surveys and assessments across diverse projects including new reservoir development, river restoration, catchment management, SSSI assessment and coastal management.

We are developing new approaches through our Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), GIS and Digital Ecology specialists to optimise the use of technology in collecting data; this role would benefit from and learn from the outputs of these exciting work areas. Depending on your skill sets and interests there would also be the opportunity to undertake wider ecological assessment, design and survey work.

The successful applicant will be able to author concise and accurate reports to industry good practice guidelines, including methods and results of surveys and Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (or equivalent level reporting). There will be support to learn and input to Ecological Impact Assessment and Habitats Regulations Assessment, as relevant to your specialist interest areas.

Our focus for this role is to support our growing and varied project workload in the West of England and Wales and it is expected that frequent site attendance to support these projects will be required. You would be welcome in our excellently-located Chester office as a full time or hybrid worker.

Binnies is an Ecological Registered Practice (CIEEM) and Landscape Practice (Landscape Institute) and holds the IEMA EIA Quality Mark, which is a benchmark of our high standards in EIA delivery.

To support Binnies in our ambitions for our Ecology team, the role would involve:

• Working with the Binnies ecology management team to deliver high-quality ecological surveys and reporting, alongside supporting the development of more junior team members.
• Providing advice on survey requirements to clients and internal project management teams.
• Discussing proposed survey protocols and site-specific survey plans with internal project teams, including the writing of site and task specific risk assessments.
• Leading survey teams for specialisms you are qualified and/or licenced in, including the management and analysis of recorded data.
• Authoring technical reports or report sections for work you have undertaken.
• Authoring Preliminary Ecological Appraisals and contributing to Ecological Impact Assessments and Habitats Regulations Assessments (with support from more experienced colleagues).
• Working with our BNG, Nature Recovery, GIS and Digital specialists to maximise use of technology to optimise surveys and reporting.

If you would like to discuss the role in advance of making a formal application, please contact our Ecology Team Leader Owen Peat

The role is suitable for an Ecology professional with several years’ experience and working towards full membership of CIEEM or equivalent. You should possess and be able to demonstrate the following qualifications, skills and knowledge:

• Have an ecological/environmental related degree.
• Experience of undertaking habitat survey of non-complex sites, preferably using UKHab (or Phase 1 in Wales).
• Experience of working under statutory survey licences (carrying out survey work under your own licence or accredited under someone else’s).
• Competence and experience of utilising standard survey guidance, survey techniques and appropriate survey equipment.
• Competence in the development of risk assessments…