Head of conservation jobs in edinburgh, scotland
About you
You have a passion for nature conservation and want to see more scaled up and urgent global action for plants and fungi. You will have some level of botanical knowledge and experience in the global conservation or environment sector, with the ability to work cross-culturally and effectively engage with key stakeholder and partners. This will include working with our existing partners and those in the Global IPA network (GIPAN).
You will be able to demonstrate good programme development and management skills, have some knowledge of capacity building through e.g., training and knowledge and skill sharing, and can confidently build a programme of work that integrates locally led action into conservation activities.
This role offers the opportunity to develop and implement a programme of work that has a critical role in protecting and restoring wild plants and fungi and to promote sustainable and ethical conservation practices globally.
About the role
Plantlife pioneered the development of the Important Plant Area (IPA) criteria to identify the best sites of international significance for wild plant diversity – there are now 3,000 globally. These sites have rare and threatened plant species, exceptional botanical richness and threatened habitats. Once identified, IPAs help to target conservation actions and sustainable management of plants.
Plantlife has continued to be a proud advocate of the IPA programme and expanding the network of IPAs and increasing the delivery of management and actions at these sites are now key priorities of the Global Programme’s five-year plan. This has created an exciting opportunity to join the Global team in a new role – Global Important Plant Area Manager – to shape and oversee the strategic development of the IPA programme.
Working with the Head of Global, the postholder will be responsible for strengthening and expanding the IPA programme, building capacity (e.g., through training) and working with partners (e.g., Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) to increase the number of IPAs identified. The role will also help to support the global plan of delivering more conservation action across IPAs, focusing on a “whole of society” approach.
To apply for the role or view the full recruitment pack, please visit our website. We look forward to hearing from you!
Please note we do not accept CV's.
Thank you!
Commercial Marketing Manager - Maternity Cover
Reference: JUN20251816
Location: Flexible in UK
Contract: 12-month fixed term, maternity cover
Hours: Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
Salary: £39,205.00 - £41,856.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Holidays, Pension and Life Assurance
We are looking for a 12-month maternity cover Commercial Marketing Manager to join our team to lead the planning and delivery of the RSPB's commercial marketing activity. Reporting into the Head of Commercial, this role will focus on supporting our Commercial functions including our reserve Visitor Operations, eCommerce, Trade and Product Licensing.
Whether it is leading national campaigns to drive footfall to our key visitor sites, working with our visitor experience consultants to promote events on reserves, driving sales through our online shop or maximising the value of our licensed products, your expertise will help drive both income and engagement for the RSPB.
If you are working in a commercial marketing role and want to apply your skills to help save nature, we'd love to hear from you.
Key activities will include:
- Delivering the annual marketing strategy for Visitor Operations (including destination and reserves marketing for visitor experience and events, retail, food & beverage), Trade and Licensing to achieve financial and engagement outcomes.
- Developing an annual plan for commercial marketing, promotions and campaigns across the organisation.
- Leading the delivery of commercial marketing activity ensuring that this is aligned and embedded within the overall RSPB communications and marketing plan.
- Identifying innovation and testing opportunities to expand and improve commercial marketing campaigns that maximise return on investment.
- Providing reporting, analytics and insight on marketing performance to key stakeholders to inform decision making at both strategic and tactical levels.
- Responsible for setting and managing an annual budget for commercial marketing to ensure income objectives are achieved.
Essential skills, knowledge and experience:
- Experience of developing and delivering a marketing strategy and/or plan
- Experience of applying marketing principles and best practice into delivery
- Experience of working within a Visitor Experience, Trade or retail/eCommerce marketing role
- Ability to translate a corporate strategy and/or overarching marketing strategy into operational plans to deliver impact
- Experience of developing collaborative external and internal relationships with key stakeholders to secure positive outcomes for the RSPB and for nature.
- Excellent written and verbal skills to present, influence and represent the directorate and the organisation.
- Experience of managing a budget to meet income targets and deliver strong ROI.
The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.
Closing date: 23:59, Mon, 14th Jul 2025
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position on 24th July 2025.
Interested?
If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.
We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application.
The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
This role is not eligible for UK Visa Sponsorship - the successful applicant will need to have a pre-existing Right to Work in the UK in order to be offered an employment contract.
As part of this application process you will be asked to complete an application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above. Contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.
No agencies please.
Registered Charity
More than 1000
The RSPB brings people together – people like you – to protect the things that matter to us all.
Thank you!
This is a unique opportunity for an experienced leader to help diversify the environmental sector by scaling a Black-led nature organisation to be able to demonstrate leadership on a national scale and promote and serve the interests and needs of ethnically marginalized communities in accessing nature.
Our Ambition
We’re on an exciting journey of growth. Our vision is to become a nationally recognised, well-resourced Black institution for learning about and caring for nature.
We aim to:
- Be the go-to resource for people of colour learning about the natural world and accessing outdoor spaces with confidence.
- Be the go-to resource for mainstream environmental organisations seeking to understand Black and Brown perspectives on nature.
- Strengthen networks and community among POC-led nature organisations across the UK.
Our operating income for 2025-2026 is £230,000. Our ambition is to generate an income of over £1 million by 2027-2028, growing to a 15+ staff team.
How the COO will support our vision
The role of Chief Operating Officer is central to helping us achieve our ambitions, ensuring that Wild in the City has the resources, infrastructure and working environment to achieve its annual plans, long term aims and deliver high-quality programmes.
We are not expecting the COO to implement the key areas of operations alone, we will work together to prioritise and generate the resources to build a team to cover the functionality required for steady growth. We are also motivated to ensure that the role’s salary is reviewed to meet market expectations as the role grows, dependent on funding.
This role needs an exceptional candidate who enjoys making a role their own, who is motivated by turning strategy into impactful action and who finds fulfilment in supporting others to achieve.
The COO will ensure that;
- We secure ongoing, long term financial resources, creating stability and underpinning growth, and scaling into operations in multiple regions, nationally
- We grow our staffing to provide a steady infrastructure and achieve our strategic objectives, including creating operations, fundraising, communications and research teams, and increasing our field team.
- We retain our relational, open, authentic, personable, dynamic, collaborative, innovative culture as we grow.
Who We're Looking For
We are looking for a dynamic and dependable Chief Operating Officer (COO) to help realise our vision.
We’re seeking an emotionally intelligent, commercially competent, and values-driven leader who can bring clarity, stability, and energy in a fast-paced and mission-led environment. You will thrive in turning strategy into action and impact, and in driving Wild in the City forward in scaling our delivery and leadership on a national scale.
You will bring:
- Proven experience in operational and strategic leadership
- Strong financial and commercial acumen, including income generation, budgeting, and long-term planning
- A successful track record of managing people, partnerships, and multi-disciplinary teams
- Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across staff, volunteers, partners, and board members
- Emotional resilience, sound judgement, and a calm, authentic presence
- A genuine connection to our mission and values
We welcome people from all backgrounds to fulfill the role of COO. We are mindful of the lack of diversity within senior leadership in the environmental field and encourage those from Global Majority backgrounds to apply.
Why Join Us?
This is an exciting time to join Wild in the City, we hope that you will make an application. As COO, you’ll play a central role in shaping the next chapter of our development - growing our influence, supporting Black leadership in nature, and helping transform access to the natural world for communities of colour.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.