Big Chalk Programme Lead

Working as the first Big Chalk Programme Lead will offer you a fantastic opportunity to take the Big Chalk programme along the next steps towards being an effective, enduring, high profile and highly respected programme delivering nature recovery at an unprecedented scale.

Calcareous (chalk and limestone) landscapes in the south of England are the most species-rich habitats within the UK. When combined across the whole landscape, these habitats, make it the best place to allow wildlife to recover and adapt to climate change. Given the rarity of Chalk geology on a world scale, this is a programme of global importance.

Big Chalk is a big idea aiming to realise one of the best opportunities to achieve nature recovery and help wildlife adapt to climate change offered by the English landscape. Covering 19% of England, Big Chalk has the primary objective of building a robust nature recovery network over a vast area. This will be achieved by identifying opportunities to transform these landscapes by the application of the Lawton principles at a hitherto unimagined scale. While the Big Chalk programme has a focus on nature recovery, it will strongly embed enhancement to wider landscape characteristics, the historic a cultural heritage and the health and well-being of the community.

We are looking for an experienced, highly professional, motivated and passionate individual to engage with Big Chalk’s partners and other key stakeholders so that, by the end of March 2025, Big Chalk will comprise of a well-known, respected and vibrant community of practitioners, with important delivery achievements and an inspirational and widely supported programme for the future. Big Chalk will have started to deliver one emblematic project across the whole of the Big Chalk area and this will be backed up by a series of potential projects being developed to feed into a pipeline for future funding opportunities. The Big Chalk programme will have secured important policy influence and objectives, an enhanced evidence base, a stronger programme and partnership and a NLHF Landscape Scale (Integrated Landscape Initiative) project grant.

You will have an enthusiasm for the restoration of landscapes at the scale and pace that the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis demand. With experience of nature restoration, nature-based solutions &/or landscape management and a record of working collaboratively across networks, you’ll be great at building positive relationships and driving programmes to deliver outcomes in a given timeframe.