Ecology Officer

at  Cambridgeshire County Council

About the role
The Environment Act has increased the statutory biodiversity duties for Local Authorities and to meet this demand we are looking for an Ecology Officer who will play an integral role within the Biodiversity & Greenspaces Team helping to deliver the biodiversity duties of the Council.
The post will work closely with the Principal Ecology Officer, colleagues within the Biodiversity Team and other Departments such as Planning, Rural Estates, Flood Risk, Highways and Education. Duties will include the assessment, review and provision of professional responses to a wide variety of planning applications (including pre-application).
The projects across the Council are diverse, ranging from County Council owned nature reserve management, natural flood alleviation schemes (nature-based solutions), improving biodiversity on highways verges, assessment of council owned land for conservation management improvements and nature recovery projects.
What will you be doing?
As a member of the County Council’s Biodiversity Team, your main role will be to help meet the County Council’s new biodiversity responsibilities. Working with the Principal Ecology Officer you will collaborate with other members within the Natural & Historic Environment Service as well as other departments such as Planning, Climate Change, Rural Estates, Flooding, Highways and Land & Property.
Key aspects of this role will include:

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO CHAT ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY PLEASE CONTACT DEBORAH AHMAD AT DEBORAH.AHMAD@CAMBRIDGESHIRE.GOV.UK OR 07391730740 OR PHIL CLARK AT PHILIP.CLARK@CAMBRIDGESHIRE.GOV.UK OR 07826 858286

About you

To be successful in this role we are looking for someone who:

• Is confident in assessing complex technical ecological information.
• Can demonstrate an understanding of ecological planning issues as your work will include prioritising responses to planning applications, compiling reports, and providing planning advice.
• Is confident in providing habitat management advice for the County Council’s owned nature reserves and other biodiversity sites to contractors and the nature reserve Friends Groups.
• Is confident in working with local communities and advising colleagues on the Council’s major projects.
• Has experience in developing and implementing new policies.
• Can make informed and independent decisions with minimal supervision.
• Is pro-active and shows initiative to develop new ideas.
• Can manage workload effectively to meet strict deadlines while being a part of a dynamic and busy team.
• Is computer literate with experience in GIS systems and using databases.

About us
You can find out more about the Natural & Historic Environment Service here:
Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network ‘IDEAL’ and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Some examples of adjustments could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/jobs-and-careers
Our benefits

We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…

• A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
• Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
• Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
• Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
• Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
• Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
• Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
• An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes

• Is confident in assessing complex technical ecological information.
• Can demonstrate an understanding of ecological planning issues as your work will include prioritising responses to planning applications, compiling reports, and providing planning advice.
• Is confident in providing habitat management advice for the County Council’s owned nature reserves and other biodiversity sites to contractors and the nature reserve Friends Groups.
• Is confident in working with local communities and advising colleagues on the Council’s major projects.
• Has experience in developing and implementing new policies.
• Can make informed and independent decisions with minimal supervision.
• Is pro-active and shows initiative to develop new ideas.
• Can manage workload effectively to meet strict deadlines while being a part of a dynamic and busy team.
• Is computer literate with experience in GIS systems and using databases