A fantastic opportunity to work with nature in a unique landscape.  We are looking for a conservationist with energy, vision and a passion for wildlife and people. 

You will lead a team to create a new space for nature at one of our newest wetland reserves at Lydden Valley and restore wetland habitat and engage with people at the RSPB’s oldest reserve in the wild shingle landscape of Dungeness. 

We are more interested in who you are than what you have done; you will be an inspiring leader who can communicate with a wide variety of audiences, be well organised and deliver results.

The reserves you will be nurturing are home to rare and amazing plants and animals and you will be supported by RSPB ecologists to ensure they deliver the biggest impact for nature.  We want our reserves to be bigger, better and more connected to the surrounding landscapes. 

At Dungeness you will help us transform the visitor experience, seeking to engage new and more diverse audiences, connecting people to nature and building support for our mission.

Dungeness, an RSPB reserve since 1931, is home to an internationally important range of animals and plants - from bitterns to bumblebees to Nottingham catchfly, Dungeness is one of the most biodiverse sites in the UK, while Lydden Valley, a newly acquired reserve that has been restored in the last two years thanks to a £1.2m Wetland Improvement grant, provides a rich mosaic of wetland habitats with an established population of beavers.  

Your role

• Developing and leading the RSPB’s vision for Dungeness and Lydden Valley.  Over the next five years, this will focus on the following key work areas…
• Designing and implementing a new vision for visitors at Dungeness, seeking to overhaul and refresh our infrastructure and innovate to engage with new audiences.
• Completing the delivery of our new wetland reserve at Lydden Valley, working out how to get the best for nature out of the newly created habitats, adding new areas of habitat and benefiting from the existing population of beavers.
• Restoring wetland habitat at Dungeness and increasing populations of bitterns and breeding waders.
• Leading the acquisition of new land acquisitions to extend the reserves and working with partners to deliver landscape-scale conservation.
• Leading the reserve team and volunteers, ensuring they are inspired, have clarity of purpose, are safe and have what they need to do their jobs.
• Delivering the key elements of reserves management; budgeting, health and safety, compliance, management planning, fundraising, reporting and public relations.

We are looking for people with the following skills and experience;

• Leadership: leading, inspiring and developing teams.
• Excellent communication skills: inspiring support from people and partners.
• Well organised: prioritising work and delivering results.
• Ecological land management: understanding how land can be used to deliver the best results for nature.
• A passion for wildlife conservation: being inspired by the job you do.

This is a Permanent, Full-Time role. We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from 13th December 2021. Should you have any questions about the role please contact Alan Johnson, Area Manager for Kent & Essex at alan.johnson@rspb.org.uk 

As part of this application process, you will be asked to complete a full application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience requested.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Before applying for this role, we recommend reading through the candidate guidance notes attached to the top of this advert.