Aquatic Ecologist / Fish Biologist, Ecology Team

EnviroCentre Limited has an exciting opportunity for a Senior level Aquatic Ecologist to join a long-established team who currently undertake a range of freshwater ecology surveys. You will be involved in planning and overseeing the delivery of a range of projects in accordance with current legislation and best practice guidance.

You will provide high quality, objective freshwater ecology advice and practical land management to clients, commensurate to your experience and knowledge. You will be responsible for ensuring that your projects are managed effectively to meet deadlines and project budgets within other constraints and requirements (e.g. health and safety).  

The types of projects you will be expected to lead on include river and habitat restoration, fish passes, development, energy and infrastructure projects. There will also be a requirement to support the general workload of the wider ecology team, where appropriate.

You will support the growth of the company including maintaining a strong reputation for high quality, pragmatic and professional freshwater ecology advice.

The senior’s role can often require 'out of hours' working associated with surveys. There may also be an occasional requirement to work away from home for short periods depending on the survey location. A senior is expected to be flexible to accommodate the workload. The standard working week is 35 hours. Longer working hours are regularly required during the summer months with time off in lieu (TOIL) / Overtime to compensate for additional hours worked, in accordance with Overtime/TOIL policy.

Responsibilities of this role include, but are not limited to:

• Carry out fieldwork and manage fieldwork carried out by others, including the management of resources required.
• Undertake data analysis, management and production of outputs as required.
• Lead on the design and execution of freshwater ecology surveys in accordance with appropriate professional and technical standards.
• Managing Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW) jobs to deliver onsite freshwater ecology/ ecological auditing mainly on infrastructure projects in Scotland.
• Act as Project Manager with responsibility for delivering projects within timescale and budget maintaining key performance indicators.
• Providing advice on survey requirements, mitigation, enhancement and management to internal and external clients with support from the senior team.
• Plan budgets and work plans for upcoming projects and ensure that all active projects are completed on time and to budget.
• Pursue quotes and discounts from suppliers to ensure best value for our business.
• Provide up to date and accurate project forecast for invoicing and resourcing.
• Produce, and oversee the production of, technical reports and other bespoke documents.
• Provide specific support relative to your own discipline to the other teams.
• Provide general support to the ecology team, outside of own specialism, as required

Role Requirements:

• Proficient in undertaking fish habitat assessments
• Team Lead electrofishing qualification
• Experience in planning, co-ordinating and leading freshwater projects
• Report writing, data management and data analysis
• Commercial awareness from experience in consultancy
• Work well in a team within a fast-paced environment
• A degree in ecology, biology, environmental science or a related discipline.
• Membership of CIEEM or another relevant organisation
• A full, clean, UK driver’s licence.

Desirable Qualities:

• Freshwater pearl mussel licence holder
• Established professional network
• Experience in surveying for additional freshwater species including otter, water vole and beaver
• Experience of freshwater macro-invertebrate sampling
• Mapping skills

What EnviroCentre can offer you:

We invest in you and your success. We support our people to innovate, collaborate and achieve their next career steps.

Become part of our highly respected team and you’ll be working alongside technical experts in a range of environmental disciplines who take pride in the quality of service that we offer at every stage of the project lifecycle.

In return, we offer a competitive salary, hybrid working and all the benefits of working for a dynamic and growing organisation including generous holidays, a training allowance, company pension contributions and more. This post is offered full-time, but we welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part-time working.

We actively promote diversity, equality, and inclusion within and outside our organisation and encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates from all sections of society.

We are committed to provide reasonable support or adjustment in our recruitment processes. If you need support or you have any question relation to this role, please contact Lesley Stewart on 0141 341 5040 or via email at lstewart@envirocentre.co.uk

To apply, please complete the Job Application Form, which can be downloaded from the careers section of our website, and return this along with your CV to Lesley Stewart at Recruitment@envirocentre.co.uk.

You can learn much more about EnviroCentre at www.envirocentre.co.uk