Project Assistant

Salary: £23,100 per annum + 9 % employers pension contribution
Hours: Full Time, 40 hours per week. Flexibility required (some evening & weekend work)
Closing date: Midnight Wednesday 24th July 2024
Contact name: Melissa Hoskings, Head of Operations
Contact email: [email protected]

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust’s (the Trust) has grown its pipeline of projects over the last year
and as such the Trust needs to expand its team. The Trust is looking for a dedicated and
enthusiastic individual with a good knowledge of rivers and a passion for the environment to
fill the role of Project Assistant. The successful post holder will join a small but very
ambitious team to deliver a wide array of multi-benefit projects.

The work of the Project Assistant (PA) will be diverse and include tasks such
as carrying out catchment field surveys (ecological, water quality, fisheries, Natural Flood
Management) under supervision of more senior staff, assisting with the delivery of river
habitat restoration, community engagement and events, school education, citizen science, land
management schemes and leading river cleans with volunteers. Additional tasks the PA could be
involved with includes assisting with desktop research, inputting to reports, GIS and
delivering workshops. The job holder will have a strong passion for nature conservation and an
awareness of the environmental issues facing our rivers, whilst enjoying engaging with local
people.

Prospects will largely depend on your ability to learn quickly and deliver the Trust’s
charitable objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Actively promote the Vision, Mission and work of the Trust.
• Understand the projects that the Trust is delivering and how they fit into the Trust’s
  strategy.
• Comply with health and safety and CDM management within the Trust.
• Assist with the delivery of a number of various workstreams including river restoration,
  community engagement, education, citizen science and land management projects with support from
  senior staff.
• Work directly with stakeholders, e.g. landowners, teachers, volunteers, scientists.
• Provide administration support for senior staff, e.g. developing maps, field survey sheets
  or materials for workshops and events.
• Identify funding opportunities and prepare funding applications for small new projects.

Please note, this job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of
work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be
interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications
required of employees assigned to the role.

Candidate Profile:

Essential Competencies required

• A passion for nature conservation and an awareness of the environmental issues facing our
  rivers.
• Confidence to engage and build relationships across organisations with differing objectives
  and priorities.
• Ability to organise and lead some elements of projects e.g. leading a survey or group task
  with staff, members of the public or volunteers.
• Capability to carry out basic (BART designed) walkover surveys under supervision.
• Experience of GIS or other mapping tools.
• Experience of producing communications content for different audiences and different media.
• Able to represent the trust with the public, follow procedures, follow countryside code
  etc.
• Recruit and lead a volunteer group over multiple sessions.
• Mentor volunteers/ interns and maintain their safety.
• Good personal time management & organisational abilities.
• Will ensure that the Trust’s policies and procedures (in particular H&S) are complied
  with.
• Good level of problem-solving skills and initiative.
• Good level of taking initiative and ability to work on their own on site and at home.
• Work to budgets e.g. assessing value for money, raising purchase orders, organising small
  purchases.
• Create and manage a budget for a low-value small-project.
• Willing to undertake relevant training as per the Trust’s request.
• Completed Basic Safety Training.
• Report on specific project activities to partners & represent the Trust well when
  speaking to partners.
• Submit small grant applications with support from a Project Manager.
• Full UK driving license and access to vehicle with full business insurance cover.

Desirable competencies

• Knowledge of the Bristol Avon Catchment.
• Experience in organising and managing volunteers or groups of people.
• Environmental surveying experience (habitat surveys, water quality, land management etc.).
• Experience of working for a small organisation and the public or voluntary sectors.

General Notes

• The position will be working from home with travel around the Bristol Avon Catchment.
• This position will from time to time require work during evenings, weekends and public
  holidays to meet the needs of the post.
• You will need to be physically fit as the position will require occasional full day
  walkover surveys and implementation of river restoration in all weather conditions.
• We expect you to carry out your job responsibilities in an environmentally aware manner,
  ensuring as little damage to the environment as possible. Our aim is to ensure all resources
  are utilised effectively and efficiently. You will be expected to apply ‘sound value for money’
  principles and follow procurement guidelines in undertaking purchasing or supply of goods and
  services.

Interested parties should submit a CV and a one page covering letter explaining why you would
perform well in this role and what you could bring to BART. These should be sent to: [email protected]

Interviews for this post will take place during w/c 29th July 2024.

Please note, due to limited resources you will only be contacted should you be successful in
gaining an interview. We would like to thank you for your interest in this position.

Thank you for your interest in applying for a role with the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust
(BART).