Seasonal Project Assistant England’s National Nature Reserves

Seasonal Project Assistant

England’s National Nature Reserves

Job type:  Short Term Appointment – 4-5 months

Location: 4 positions, 1 each at Lower Derwent Valley (Yorkshire); Cotswolds Commons (Gloucestershire); Stiperstones (Shropshire); Leeds Beckett University – Headingley Campus (Yorkshire).

Salary: £30,487 pro rata

Hours: Full time: 37 hours per week; flexible to include some early mornings, evenings, weekends and bank holidays as required

Natural England, the Government’s adviser for the natural environment in England, is looking for four Seasonal Project Assistants to work at several of its National Nature Reserve (NNR) properties across England. In partnership with Leeds Beckett University (LBU), the roles will support Natural England’s project ‘Responsible Recreation in NNRs: An examination of behaviour and interventions’, and will involve facilitating a positive welcome and experience for our visitors, encouraging responsible use of our most important sites for nature, and monitoring interventions designed to encourage responsible recreation behaviour.

The team

There are four local roles available, three based at one of four NNR sites (Lower Derwent Valley (Yorkshire); Cotswolds Commons (Gloucestershire); Stiperstones (Shropshire)). There is also one role based at Leeds Beckett University – Headingley Campus (Yorkshire). Working as part of the NNR site management team, you will be expected to be flexible, working largely outdoors, on-site, working from our office / reserve base at the relevant NNR. You will be managed on a daily basis by the NNR site management team and also have regular meetings (online) with the LBU team to support your role in project assistance for the Responsible Recreation in NNRs project.

Job description

Your work will include:

Welcoming visitors to our reserves and encouraging them to follow the Countryside Code.

Helping visitors to the National Nature Reserve to learn more about the wildlife and history of the reserve.  

Reporting and recording anti-social and illegal activities (e.g. arson, fly tipping, reckless cycling, motorcycling, vandalism). You are not expected to tackle these issues directly.

Community engagement activities with local parishes and groups, ranging from primary schools to parish councils and community interest groups.

Helping to deliver and monitor some targeted interventions aimed at encouraging responsible recreation behaviour at the site. This may include visitor monitoring, visitor surveys, access audits, community engagement, events, wildlife monitoring, and other activities as required. Guidance and training will be provided as needed.

You will:

Have a passion for nature and National Nature Reserves (NNRs). A basic knowledge of access legislation and the Wildlife and Countryside Act would be desirable.

Be willing and able to work outside, travelling independently to a variety of NNRs and engaging with site users for much of your working day. This may involve negotiating uneven terrain, slopes and gates/stiles.

Be prepared to work flexibly and undertake some early morning and evening work, weekend work and Bank Holidays.  Have excellent attendance and timekeeping.

Be able to listen and communicate effectively to a wide variety of audiences, ensuring your language and communications are inclusive for all visitors.

Have a desire to learn more about the reserve, its special features, visitor and access management, public engagement and partnership working.

Be able to arrange and lead events that engage the public and encourage people to take positive actions for the natural environment.

Be willing and able to use IT resources (Microsoft Word, Excel, OneDrive, Teams) to record site and visitor activities and communicate this regularly with the LBU team.

Be self-motivated, organised and enthusiastic and used to working without direct supervision, having a confident and innovative approach to developing ideas and projects.

Have a full UK driving licence (business insurance may be required).

This position will close on the 13^th September 2024 (23:59) although it could close sooner if suitable candidates are identified.

For more information and to apply

Vacancies.leedsbeckett.ac.uk