a contract: permanent
salary: £40,778 – £45,092
hours: 37
location: Hereford

The role

Herefordshire Council is looking for a passionate and inspiring Principal Environmental Scientist.

What will you do?

Joining a multi-award winning team, including the LGC Environment Award 2024 and the RTPI Award of Excellence in 2024, you will act as a key advisor primarily on environmental gains and biodiversity matters and your key duties will include:

• Lead a team of technical officers to promote the conservation, promotion and sound management of the wider natural environment, across both council-owned properties and the district as a whole.
• Act as a key advisor on net gains for the environment and biodiversity, providing technical advice internally and externally.
• Providing technical advice for both planning and nutrient mitigation regarding environmental issues.
• Providing conservation consultations and developing best practices regarding these matters.
• Work collaboratively with other teams across the Council to address the climate and environmental emergency recently declared by the Council.
• Deputizing for the Natural Environment Team Leader regarding natural environment matters when necessary.

About you

As a Principal Ecologist, you will have:

• Detailed knowledge and experience of applying UK and EU wildlife regulation and environmental best practice, supported by a working knowledge of planning policy.
• Experience providing technical advice for the assessment of environment and habitat regulations in relation to major and/or complex planning applications.
• Act as lead technical advisor for the environment, training and mentoring the team on technical issues.
• Ability to manage a team of ecologists and promote the professional development of staff.
• To liaise with planning colleagues, the wider authority and external bodies including local nature partnerships as well as key stakeholders including Natural England and the Environment Agency. In 2019 the Natural Environment Team Herefordshire Council declared a climate emergency and committed to reducing our impact on the environment and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030. This declaration has now been expanded to include a climate emergency, providing an exciting opportunity for the Natural Environment Team. To lead the way in developing new initiatives across both the council and the wider district through our work with local nature partnerships.

We provide

Competitive salary, leave entitlements, and access to a contributory pension and employee benefits scheme, which includes:

• Salary ranges from £40,698 to £45,004
• Registering with the Local Government Pensions Scheme (LGPS)
• Career progression: clear paths for advancement
• Annual Leave: 31 days annual leave (pro rata) plus public holidays. You can also purchase an additional 10 days per year during the order period
• Flexible working: including the possibility of job sharing, part-time working hours and flexible working.
• Employee Assistance Program: Access 24/7 support and counseling
• Pay professional membership fees (depending on role requirements)
• Choose the perks that suit you – Our benefits include access to a range of retail, leisure, holiday and health benefits. This includes savings, cash back and discounts.

Why choose us?

Herefordshire is a big-hearted, welcoming and friendly town. We have strong, independent communities and idyllic countryside, located in the south-west Midlands and on the Wales border. The county lies between Worcestershire and the Malvern Hills to the east, and the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) in Wales to the west.

Historically Herefordshire was the gateway to the marches. We embrace participatory action. We are a member of the Marches Forward Partnership, a cross-border collaboration between Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Powys and Shropshire who are working collectively to secure funding for investment in the region.

The Council’s priorities over the next four years are set out in the Council Plan, with four main areas;

the people: We will enable residents to fulfill their potential, be healthy and be part of great communities that support each other. We want all children to have the best start in life.

place:We will protect and enhance our environment and ensure Herefordshire is a great place to live. We will support the right housing in the right place, we will support access to green spaces and we will do everything we can to restore the health of our rivers.

growthWe will work to create the necessary conditions for sustainable growth throughout the country; Attracting inward investment, building business confidence, creating employment opportunities, enabling housing development along with providing appropriate infrastructure.

transformation: We will be an effective board that embraces best practice, delivers innovation through technology and demonstrates value for money.

Not meeting all parts of the job description?

Herefordshire Council is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment that reflects the communities of Herefordshire. If you are looking to the next stage of your career and have a broad base of fieldwork experience, we can provide supportive and welcoming opportunities to help you develop your professional, managerial and supervisory skills.

Reasonable adjustments

Our recruitment process is done in partnership with Hoople Resourcing. If you require any reasonable modifications or alternative methods to the online application process, please contact the Resources Team via email: (email protected).

Creating an inclusive workplace

We encourage our employees to feel empowered and use their voices to help embrace diversity, promote inclusion and shape our organization. We have eight employee networks, groups of colleagues who often share identities, life experiences, or cultures and provide support and community. They also play an important role in promoting employee voices at Herefordshire Council. The commitment to listening to people’s views and needs is an integral part of the Council’s values.

For more information about our employee network groups, please see our dedicated recruitment website: www.spiritofherefordshire.com.

Obligations, covenants and legal obligations

The following candidates will be interviewed if they meet the essential criteria for the position they are applying for:

• Those who indicate that they have a disability. This is part of our commitment to the Disability Confident programme.
• Those who indicate in their application that they are a veteran of the Armed Forces or Reserves. This is part of our pledge to support the Armed Forces Charter.
• Those who indicate in their application that they have left Herefordshire care. This is part of our commitment to supporting young people who leave our care.

We take our commitment to protecting and promoting the wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults very seriously and expect all our staff, visitors and volunteers to share in this commitment.

We are committed to protecting and promoting the wellbeing of children, young people and vulnerable adults. If you are offered this position, it will be subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service check.

How to apply

To apply for a position, please upload an up-to-date CV and complete the application form demonstrating your experience, skills and abilities for this role.

For further information or to arrange an informal discussion about the role, please contact: Richard Vaughan, Head of Environment, (email protected)

Make sure to include a reference to the job description and person specification or role profile! If you are successfully shortlisted, Hoople Resourcing will contact you via email to arrange an interview and/or assessment. They will confirm the date, time and location of your interview, so please monitor your email inbox – and check your spam/spam folder too. Good luck, we look forward to meeting you!

about us

The Council’s plan sets out how we will make our contribution to a better and more successful Herefordshire, please see the link below to find out more:

Herefordshire Council Plan 2024-28