Principal Conservation Scientist - International
Reference: FEB20213119
Location: Flexible
Salary: £34,643.00 - £38,632.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days Annual Leave

We are seeking a Principal Conservation Scientist to develop and take forward a broad portfolio of applied ecological research in support of RSPB’s international conservation objectives and collaborate closely with BirdLife International, and BirdLife partners. Depending on skills and experience, you will develop, manage, or contribute to work in the following areas: conservation of globally threatened species, site based conservation, global commodities consumed in the UK (e.g. cocoa), land use and land cover change (especially along the east Atlantic Flyway), international conventions and conservation legislation, and nature based solutions.

You will be a nationally or internationally recognised scientist with a track record of publishing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. You will have experience of designing and delivering scientific studies, and of winning external research funding. You will demonstrate an aptitude to build and maintain effective working relationships both within the RSPB and with external partners including universities and research institutes, but also key conservation organisations and project specific stakeholder groups. You will develop a scientific programme to underpin the key conservation challenges and opportunities facing the RSPB internationally, relating to species conservation, site conservation and landscape and regional scale land cover change and conservation planning.

This is an exciting opportunity for a conservation scientist to contribute to RSPB’s international conservation science programme at a crucial time in the biodiversity and climate crises.

The location of this role has flexibility, with the post being based in RSPB offices in one of Cambridge, The Lodge, or in Edinburgh. Although advertised as a full time position, we will consider applicants who wish to work part time.

What is the role about?

• Informing and steering a research programme in multiple fields that will inform RSPB’s international conservation policy and practice.
• Through impactful scientific communication, providing scientific advice and enhance RSPB’s scientific reputation through the production of peer reviewed science.
• Being RSPB's expert in focal areas, developing and maintaining scientific and technical expertise in those specialist areas, to identify emerging issues and associated research questions, to underpin RSPB's conservation activity.
• Designing, costing and managing the delivery of multiple projects, to provide the evidence base to underpin RSPB's conservation activity and minimise the reputational risk of lack of evidence underpinning our work.
• Recruiting, managing, and developing multiple staff across all grades up to senior conservation scientist (and volunteers and students), to ensure the RSPB has the knowledge and skills required to deliver excellence in conservation science, and develop capacity at all levels, including in partners.
• Identifying, building and maintaining effective relationships with external partners, particularly universities, research institutes, government and NGOs in the UK and internationally and knowledge of BirdLife International and the BirdLife partnership.
• Working closely and contribute to the functioning of the International Conservation Science team and the RSPBs Centre for Conservation Science.
• A high level of engagement and provision of scientific advice and to the wider RSPB policy and practice communities and BirdLife International.

What we need from you:

Essential

• Extensive post-PhD experience as a scientist, managing scientific projects, budgets and staff and a broad knowledge of conservation issues and practice, and conservation science.
• Ability to effectively manage multiple line reports and several projects, good interpersonal skills, and knowledge of key legal and practical requirements for ensuring health and safety of staff and volunteers, sometimes in difficult field conditions, for instance tropical rainforests.
• Ability to be self motivated and work efficiently and to prioritise own working schedule. This necessitates the ability to plan and organise their own work and manage the work of others they are line-managing.
• Specialist and up–to–date knowledge of  statistical analysis and modelling to enable innovative, robust analysis and interpretation of any type and size of data set and good knowledge of at least one programming language (e.g. R, Python, JavaScript)
• Collecting, collating, manipulating, analysing large and complex data-sets that can pass international peer-reviewed standards of scrutiny and audit.
• Ability to influence others through production of high impact written material: for example peer– reviewed papers in scientific journals (demonstrable outstanding track record of scientific publication in internationally recognised journals), reports to funders, books and book chapters, but also written material for any media channel with a demonstrable outstanding track record of scientific publication in internationally recognised journals.
• Knowledge and proven success of how best to win external and internal funding, for both UK and International work.

Desirable

• Broad and deep knowledge of UK and international species ecology and ecological principles.
• Knowledge of how to provide strategic leadership and guidance on multiple fields for the organisation.
• Good interpersonal skills in order to develop and maintain excellent relations with internal and external stakeholders.
• Novel advanced scientific techniques to be learned and applied as necessary, in particular skills relating to mapping and modelling land cover and land cover change.
• Ability to train and coach others in complex data collection techniques in sometimes difficult conditions in the UK or abroad.

Closing date: 23:59, 28 March 2021

To Apply and for More Information:

If you would like to apply and find out more about this position, please click the apply button to be directed to our website where you can complete your application for this position. 

No agencies please.

Senior Conservation Scientist – International
Reference: FEB20213113
Expiry date: 23:59, 28 March 2021
Location: Flexible
Salary: £30,817.00 - £34,472.00 Per Annum
Benefits: Pension, Life Assurance, 26 days Annual Leave

We are looking for a Senior Conservation Scientist to input into RSPB’s Flyways and Migrants programme. The Flyways and Migrants programme aims to undertake and facilitate research into the causes of population decline of priority migratory birds of the East Atlantic Flyway (non-passerines and passerines) and contribute to the development and testing of conservation solutions to prevent and reverse their declines across the annual cycle. This programme is likely to require conservation actions to address the main threats in key habitats, sites and landscapes, including nature-based solutions that support sustainable livelihoods and ecosystem services.

You will be RSPB's lead scientist on the population ecology, habitat use and distribution of RSPB priority migratory landbirds along the East Atlantic flyway. You will develop and maintain scientific and technical expertise in relevant specialist areas, to identify emerging issues and associated research questions to underpin RSPB’s conservation activity. You will manage and develop staff through recruitment and management of multiple staff across grades up to conservation scientist (and volunteers and students as appropriate), to ensure the RSPB has the knowledge and skills required to deliver excellence in conservation science.

You will develop, design, cost and manage the delivery of multiple projects, to provide the evidence base to underpin RSPB’s conservation activity. This includes development and implementation of research projects on populations, habitats, and management options and solutions for migrant birds along the flyway. Initially you will undertake legacy work on pied flycatcher home range and resource use in two Liberian non-breeding sites with contrasting land use, utilising existing radio-tracking and tree species data collected over two seasons.

You will work in close collaboration with RSPB Flyway and Migrants programme colleagues, other RSPB scientists working on migrants, the BirdLife partnership and other conservation organisations.

You will ideally be based near either our David Attenborough Building, Cambridge or The Lodge, Sandy, however our Scotland HQ in Edinburgh could also be considered.

Essential skills, knowledge & experience:

• A PhD or similar level of experience in a relevant subject, broad knowledge of conservation issues and practice, and conservation science, gained through experience of taking responsibility for the management of a range of scientific projects and initiative and scientific horizon scanning to conceptualise and propose innovative projects to answer novel and important conservation questions using science.
• Broad knowledge of current scientific issues that is relevant to conservation and how to assess their applicability to current or future projects.
• Specialist and up-to-date knowledge of how to apply complex statistical modelling procedures to enable innovative, robust analysis and interpretation to any type and size of data set. In particular an ability to programme in R or SAS, and Python.
• Ability to be self motivated and work efficiently and to prioritise own working schedule. This necessitates the ability to plan and organise their own work and manage the work of others they are line-managing.
• Collecting, collating, manipulating, and statistical interrogation of large and complex data sets that can pass international peer-reviewed standards of scrutiny and audit and ability to influence others through production of high impact written material; for example demonstrable track record of scientific publication in internationally recognised journals, reports to funders, books and book chapters, but also written material for any media channel.

Desirable skills, knowledge & experience:

• Track record of research and publication associated with the field of migrant birds, ideally Afro Palearctic landbirds.
• Experience of use and analysis of satellite remote sensing data including class cation for land cover assessment.
• Use of GIS for land cover and land cover change modelling, ideally including carbon storage data.
• Ability to translate conservation science into conservation practice, through prescriptive writing and verbal coaching in the field, to influence others, including government and across the BirdLife partnership.
• Knowledge of how to provide practical and scientific expertise and guidance in a particular scientific area and be RSPB- and externally- recognised expert or specialist in at least one particular scientific area.
• Ability to work in extreme conditions in the field, either in the UK or abroad.
• Project design, to a robust scientific standard forecasting the necessary time scales, which could be annual, several years or unknown and a broad and deep knowledge of the appropriate data collection methods, and the ability to develop new ethically-sounds methods as and when necessary to answer novel questions.
• Knowledge of how best to win external and internal funding, for both UK and international work.
• Ability to train and coach others in complex data collection techniques in sometimes difficult to conditions in the UK or abroad.
• Knowledge of key legal and practical requirements for ensuring health and safety of staff and volunteers, sometimes in difficult field conditions, for instance cliff-nesting seabird colonies, tropical rainforests.

Closing date: 23:59, 28 March 2021

To Apply and for More Information:

If you would like to apply and find out more about this position, please click the apply button to be directed to our website where you can complete your application for this position. 

No agencies please.

Senior Evaluation Officer,

Research & Monitoring Unit

(SUS3125)

£27,528 per annum

37.5 hours per week – based in Edinburgh

About the Roles

At Sustrans we are proud of our commitment to creating happier places and healthier lives for everyone. Our Research and Monitoring Unit plays an important part in supporting our vision by providing evidence on sustainable and active travel that ultimately influences and shapes policy, practice and behaviour across the UK.

We now have a fantastic opportunity to help us make a difference by joining our team as a Senior Evaluation Officer. We have two roles, one focussing on Infrastructure projects (working primarily with Sustrans colleagues and local authority partners on projects across Scotland) and one working on Behaviour Change projects (evaluating Sustrans work with schools, workplaces and communities).

Your role will see you supervising the delivery of a range of high profile monitoring, evaluation, analysis and research projects whilst providing support and direction to members of your team as a line manager.

About You

We are looking for excellent communicators and creative thinkers with the ability to manage and motivate people, getting the best out of others. You will use your exceptional analytical skills and draw on your previous experience of both project management and a wide range of qualitative and quantitative research methods to apply them to real world projects. So, if you have a track record of scoping, designing, budgeting and reporting on research and evaluation projects, this could be the role for you.

Apply today by following the instructions for our online application process. 

Interviews

Closing date for the receipt of completed applications is 9am on 23 March 2021.  Interviews will take place via MS teams during the week commencing Monday 29 March 2021.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Sustrans is committed to reducing inequality, valuing diversity and enabling inclusion.

We welcome applications from people from all parts of the community, particularly where we are under-represented. Currently, this includes people who identify as having a disability, and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.

As an employer, Sustrans is happy to discuss flexible working opportunities.