Project Officer – Ouse Washes Landscape Recovery Project

We are looking for an enthusiastic and creative person to work on developing a 4,000ha
Landscape Recovery Scheme project in and around Ouse Washes, in Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. We
are passionate about tackling the joint nature and climate crises. One way we are doing this is
through collaborations that enable and support farmers to restore and manage more farmland for
nature. Read on if you share our passion, like variety, and can bring energy to a project to
deliver landscape-scale, environmental and social change.

What’s the role about?

The Ouse Washes Landscape Recovery Scheme will develop a 20-year habitat restoration project;
creating wetlands and restoring habitat at landscape-scale, across 4000 ha within and adjacent
to the Ouse Washes SSSI. The project aims to deliver sustainable land management for nature
whilst also reducing carbon emissions and taking opportunities to address flooding and water
quality challenges.

We are offering the exciting opportunity to be Project Officer for this regionally significant
project. As a fundamental member of the project team you will provide support to the Project
Manager on tasks considered essential to the success of this project.

By applying and developing your knowledge, skills and experience, you will carry out the
following activities during this development phase project;

• Creating habitat restoration plans for approximately 1000ha through collaboration with
  farmers, other landowners and project habitat restoration advisors.
• Writing our Land Management Plan which needs to clearly describe restoration and management
  activities and estimate costs for our ambitious 20-year implementation phase.
• Developing our Monitoring and Evaluation Plan to demonstrate the significant environmental
  and social benefits of the proposed project.
• Managing contractors and consultants to deliver project outputs on time, particularly
  baseline surveys including biodiversity net gain and hydrology.
• Writing our Site Access Plan including auditing existing public rights of way and
  identifying potential enhancements.
  
  Facilitating advice sharing to support landowners and farmers to find affordable ways to
  rewet and restore parts of their land to help nature recovery.
• Working with our Community Engagement Officer as necessary on stakeholder engagement
  planning to ensure that this project delivers real social benefits such as increased
  accessibility and inclusivity of nature spaces, or opportunities for people to access nature to
  benefit their physical and mental health.
• Carrying out other necessary tasks considered essential to the success of the project.

We are looking for somebody with:

Essential skills, knowledge and experience;

• Experience of successfully working with a wide range of stakeholders, including land
  managers, through clear and effective communication.
• Ability to supervise contractors carrying out fieldwork
• Ability to independently collect baseline survey data.
• Experience of producing good quality written materials for external partners, including
  project reports and presentations.
• Experience of working with GIS (Geographical Information Systems) along with general
  computer literacy – Microsoft Office including Outlook, Word, Excel, Publisher, Teams and
  transferable skills for the use of other online packages to produce reports.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and effectively manage your own time.

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience;

• Ecological knowledge and experience of species or habitat surveys
• Experience of financial administration including submission of claims evidence and
  procurement of services
•  Experience of developing and delivering monitoring and evaluation plans for environmental
  indicators such as species recovery and carbon accounting
• Good understanding of the role of nature-based solutions in delivering multiple benefits. 
• Knowledge and experience of successful habitat and species recovery projects, especially in
  a wetland environment.
• Ability to proactively identify and solve problems.

There will be a series of open briefing sessions for this position: Please email
[email protected] if you would like to come along to any of the following open
briefings/discussions about the role:

17.00-17.30 Wednesday 5th June 

10.00-10.30 Friday 7th June

19.00-19.30 Tuesday 11th June 

This is a Fixed Term role until 31 March 2026, Full Time role for 37.5 hours per week. The RSPB
reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent
on business needs at the end of the contract term.

We are looking to conduct interviews for this position from 25-27th June 2024 . For further
information please contact [email protected] 

As part of this application process you will be asked to complete an application form including
evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of
Offenders Act 1974.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone
feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a
world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People
of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate,
sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled,
we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Contact us to discuss any
additional support you may need to complete your application