Wader Project Officer

Job Description

The Wader Project Officer will help to maximise the impact and applicability of local projects by providing advice on comparable approaches and methods for monitoring. This will include guidance on how best to assess abundance and breeding success but, importantly, will extend beyond wader-focused fieldwork to include the collection of information on management practices, predator activity, habitat and vegetation structure, soil characteristics and invertebrate abundance. This will enable a better understanding of the causes of change, and responses to interventions, while also making it easier to integrate results across projects.The Officer will work with volunteer networks, helping to develop and extend these to reach new audiences. They may arrange or take part in the testing and development of novel field methods aimed at improving our understanding of key knowledge gaps, such as survival rates of young birds before and after fledging. The Project Officer will play a key role in developing an online ‘Wader Information Hub’, together with stakeholders, to ensure that it serves their needs in delivering effective action for waders.We believe that the work of this postholder will contribute to:• A greater understanding across the UK of the reasons for declines in breeding waders and of the actions required to support sustainable populations;• Effective communication of evidence, recommending the best tools and conservation strategies to relevant stakeholders which can then be incorporated into land use policy;• Maintenance and further development of local and national efforts to understand and achieve realistic solutions for conserving breeding waders;• More effective collaboration between organisations and individuals focusing on the study, management and conservation of waders; and ultimately;• Land managers, agencies and others across the UK delivering conditions that can retain sustainable populations of breeding waders.What You’ll Bring To The Role:• A degree or equivalent experience in biology, ecology, environmental science or another relevant discipline.• A sound knowledge of breeding waders in the UK and survey methods and a background in wader ecology/ population biology would be a distinct advantage.• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability and enthusiasm to interact effectively and courteously with a wide range of people to promote collaborative work on waders. A strong ability to motivate people from diverse backgrounds is essential (some queries may be of a sensitive/political nature and will need to be handled in an entirely objective manner).• Proven ability to effectively manage the delivery of a programme of work and bring relevant people together to fulfil project aims would be highly desirable.• Intermediate word processing and computing skills, including a good working knowledge of Windows and the standard Microsoft Office packages (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) are essential.• Intermediate experience of the statistical analysis of data and their presentation in scientific papers and reports is desirable, as is knowledge of databases, GIS and statistical software (R or SAS; some support from BTO Research Ecologists will be available).• Some experience of online data portals (from developer but particularly user perspectives) would be desirable, as would experience of interacting constructively with IT specialists to facilitate portal or similar developments.• Experience of good data management practices and electronic file management (including data security) is essential, as are methodical approaches to working with data, statistical information and scheme administration.• Previous experience of motivating or training volunteers or other groups would be highly desirable.• The flexibility to carry out some weekend and evening work, and a current driving licence, are essential. Travel throughout the UK on a regular basis will also be required.Salary and Benefits:A starting salary of £23,749, rising to £26,388 over two years.Annual leave entitlement on starting is 25 days plus bank holidays (pro rata if part time). The post holder will qualify for life assurance (four times salary) and be automatically enrolled in the BTO group personal pension scheme, benefiting from an 11% employer contribution.Other benefits include Employee Assistance Programme, discounts on BTO books, flexible working and social events.How to apply:Please submit an application form, CV, covering letter and complete the interview task below (this should be submitted in a separate document, as part of your application).The BTO is considering a range of methods suitable for collecting information about wader productivity, and you would like to get as many people using one of these methods as possible. In no more than one side of A4, describe how would you approach this for A) a community group who has been doing their own data collection using their own methods for the last 2 years; B) a farmer who has expressed interest in ‘doing more for waders on his 25 hectare farm’; C) a gamekeeper who is keen to show that predator control is benefiting the waders on the estate.You may have experience of the following: Project Officer, Project Manager, Junior Project Manager, Assistant Project Manager, Project Coordinator, Project Support Officer, Project Management, Project Planning, Charity, Charities, NFP, Not for Profit, etc.Ref: 95148