We are looking for an enthusiastic Nature and Wellbeing Manager to lead our exciting new project expanding RSPB's flagship 'Nature Prescriptions' Programme into Wales building on the expertise and experience of our Scottish and English colleagues.
Nature and Wellbeing Manager
Reference: APR20247410
Location: Flexible in Wales
Salary: £32,022.00 - £34,377.00 Per Annum
Hours: Full Time, 37.5 Hours per week
Duration: Fixed Term, 22 months
Benefits: Pension Scheme, Life Assurance Scheme, 26 days' Annual Leave
We have a wealth of evidence that individuals with a greater connection to nature experience improved mental wellbeing, greater vitality and happiness, and deeper life satisfaction. Research also shows that increasing your connection with nature can positively impact a range of conditions, including stress, anxiety and depression, as well as outcomes for some physical health conditions too.
RSPB 'Nature Prescriptions' are designed to encourage and prompt people to connect to nature in support of their goals for better wellbeing. We believe that everyone, no matter where they live or the challenges they face, has the right to access nature, and to feel this strong connection to the natural world. Inspiring and enabling healthcare professionals and others in the NHS to prescribe nature, is a key route for the RSPB to enable more people from more diverse communities to access the natural world. In so doing we hope that those who feel more connected to nature, will want to act to save it.
Working with healthcare professionals and local communities in Cardiff and surrounds, you will use co-design to create materials in different formats that will support those who need it most. This is a great opportunity to work with a brilliant team of friendly and enthusiastic colleagues across the UK who have successfully implemented this approach elsewhere.
We're looking for a someone who is:
- Passionate: About connecting people to nature to improve their health and wellbeing.
- Courageous: In sharing this passion to enthuse healthcare and other professionals.
- Inquisitive: A natural curiosity to explore and understand and meet people where they are.
- Bold: Willing to contribute innovative ideas, particularly when addressing health inequalities.
- Collaborative: Fosters a collaborative, enjoyable and solution focused way of working with partners.
- Comfortable Challenging the Status Quo: Nature Prescriptions offer a way of improving wellbeing outside of the typical medical model of healthcare.
Key tasks will include:
- Lead the development of and promote the delivery of three new RSPB Nature Prescriptions to people living in diverse communities within Cardiff and the surrounding area.
- Develop relationships with key stakeholders in the NHS, health care and social care professionals to inspire and enable them to feel engaged and supported to co-create and prescribe a Nature Prescription, and to connect RSPB with the health sector to help create doors for future work.
- Engage with local healthcare professionals and community groups to co-design Nature Prescriptions materials with local people, community groups and healthcare professionals so that they reach a large diversity of people, and those that need and can benefit the most.
- Develop the project plan and ensure that the right governance structure for project management is in place and RSPB internal project management practices are followed, so that the project stays on track, comes in on budget and risks are identified, escalated, and managed within tolerances.
- Work with local environmental networks to build a picture of nature-based activities available and identify opportunities for partnership working.
- Lead on developing ways to evaluate and measure the impact of the project, including engaging with those prescribing and local communities to gather stories and case studies that demonstrate the benefits to wellbeing and connectedness to nature.
- Build internal relationships with RSPB employees and volunteers working with nature prescribing and nature and wellbeing across the UK.
- Develop a strategy and plan for Nature and Wellbeing work legacy aiming to learn from the work done in Scotland and England and from the communities and health care professionals in Cardiff and surrounds to support development of future work in Cardiff and beyond.
Essential skills, knowledge and experience:
- Experience of working within or alongside the health and wellbeing sector.
- Project management experience with experience of leading on and developing and delivering projects with diverse communities.
- Experience of developing external partnerships and balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders.
- Experience in delivering workshops or training, ideally with a co-design element.
- Excellent verbal and written communicator able to communicate nature and wellbeing messages in a way that is understood by a range of audiences and that engenders their support.
- Excellent planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage and deliver a varied workload.
- Skilled in using Microsoft 365 suite including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.
Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience:
- Experience of SharePoint management.
- Experience of recruiting and managing volunteers.
- Welsh speaker or learner.
Closing date: 23:59, Friday 17th May 2024
We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from 3 June 2024.
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.
The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
The RSPB is a licenced sponsor. 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 provide a copy of your CV and 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.
Job Title: Ecologist
Advertised Salary: £32,427
Base Location: Home-based with requirements for national travel.
We're the charity who look after and bring to life 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, because we believe that life is better by water. Every role across the Trust plays its part in transforming our canals and rivers into spaces where local people want to spend time and feel better, bringing wellbeing benefits to millions.
We currently have an opportunity for an experienced Ecologist to join our Environment and Climate action team within the S&I Directorate and is responsible for delivering the Trust’s strategy and policy on all environment and climate related sustainability issues, including environmental compliance as a minimum, improvement of our protected sites and achieving a net gain in biodiversity across our canal network.
The Ecologist will be responsible for providing professional technical input into the Trust’s strategic activities around nature recovery. This includes collecting and analysing information and data to support a long-term action plan to move more of our protected sites towards favourable condition and support projects that increase biodiversity and the abundance of protected species across the network.
The Canal & River Trust is in an ideal position, as a large landowner with blue and green corridors connecting habitats across the landscape, to carry out environmental enhancements using our local volunteer workforce to ensure that we improve habitats and support biodiversity. Planting the right trees in the right places, reconnecting old hedgerows and restoring or creating wildflower meadows and linear species-rich grasslands to provide a safe haven for wildlife and a destination for people to retreat to from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Reconnecting people with the nature on their doorstep and offering them opportunities to get involved in looking after ‘their patch’ through guided walks and talks.
Our aim is to support the work of the Trust as a whole, while conserving and enhancing the environment of the inland waterway network. Finding simple and innovative solutions/methods of work to ensure that the modern-day use of the waterways, their historical importance, the Trust’s legal obligations and strategic priorities are met through sustainable development, conservation and enhancement of the natural environment.
Location
The role will be based working from home, with the expectation to attend main regional hubs either at Milton Keynes, Birmingham, or Little Venice (Paddington), for collaborative working. This is a national role, requiring collaboration with teams in all six of the Trust’s regions. There will be an expectation that the successful candidate will be able travel to attend meetings or fieldwork throughout the regional waterway network.
Knowledge, Skills/Qualifications & Experience
Key accountabilities:
- Provide ecological technical advice as requested. This includes input into Trust EMS standards and tools and nature recovery projects.
- Contribute to the Trust’s Nature Recovery Strategy and associated sustainability initiatives, with a view to increasing biodiversity across the Trust’s network
- Contribute to national programmes of engagement with customers, volunteers, stakeholders and the general public to promote the value of waterways and the work of the Trust to increase the Trust’s reputation and influence and secure additional resources for our work, focusing on our key sustainability priorities.
- Work with regional ecology teams to implement relevant inspection/monitoring and maintenance programmes for environmental/soft estate assets within their geographical remit, (re-)prioritising work to suit available resources and within delegated authority levels.
- Contribute to the implementation of an environmental management system (EMS; including associated processes & standards) especially with responsibility for monitoring national uptake
- Collaboration with regional teams to maintain ecology and nature recovery performance data (e.g. GIS layers, ecological baseline and species location data)
- Assist in the development of environmental training & competency
- Contribute to corporate targets on raising public awareness of and support for the Trust especially through interest in our environmental assets.
- Contribute to external engagement and fundraising nationally to secure additional resources for the Trust, especially through interest in our environmental assets
- Displaying the Trust values and behaviours at all times
- Ensuring that diversity and inclusion are integrated into all aspects of Trust life and promoting inclusion by challenging behaviour, practices, actions, or decisions that are counter to the objectives of the Trust’s policies and values
Knowledge, Skills & experience
- Degree or equivalent in relevant discipline.
- Associate member of relevant professional institution, e.g. CIEEM, CIWEM, CIWM, IEMA, etc
- Proven postgraduate experience in application of technical knowledge within a business environment.
- Able to negotiate effectively with internal and external contacts to achieve desired outcomes for the Trust.
- Able to support other areas of the Trust’s business in an appropriate manner, taking account of overall business priorities.
- Knowledge of, and practical experience of operating within, UK & European environmental policy and regulatory frameworks
- Experience of operating within a customer service environment
- Understanding of Trust governance, financial controls and systems of compliance
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
What We Offer
Compensation is made up as follows: £32,427. Additionally, we also offer a competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, great holiday entitlement (increasing with years of service) and numerous other employee benefits.
- 25 days paid holiday, increasing to 27 days after 3 years.
- Competitive contributory DC Pension scheme arrangement, where we will double your contribution to a maximum of 10%.
- Annual £200 personal learning & growth award to spend on any learning related activity – hobbies; aspirations etc.
- Free access to specialist counselling on a range of issues – health; financial; lifestyle; well-being; domestic & neighbourly matters.
- Access to a range of employee benefits including – store discounts; boating holiday discounts; holiday purchase scheme.
- Expansive maternity/paternity provisions.
- Progressive access to learning tools and CPD.
- 2 days paid volunteering leave, volunteering for local community project work.
At the Trust we care passionately for our waterways, and as importantly, for those who look after and use them. We strongly believe that a diverse workforce brings with it a diversity of ideas, thinking and ways of working which enhances what we do as a Trust. We are striving to represent the diverse communities that we are a part of. All candidates will be treated on the basis of their merits, skills and abilities and solely by being assessed against the requirements for the job.
We believe that continuous personal & professional development are important, and through many Trust internal & externally supported development programmes we are pleased to support your ongoing growth and development in this role.
The client requests no contact from agencies or media sales.