Conservation Adviser

We have an exciting new vacancy for a Conservation Adviser to join our Conservation team. If you are looking for a role focused on our local environment and you love engaging with equally passionate people, then we want to hear from you!

We own and lease nearly 3,000 hectares of land. Our sites and landholdings range from small pumping stations to large treatment works, reservoirs and farmland. Wessex Water and our tenants occupy more than 290 hectares of SSSI and over 900 hectares designated as either a Local Wildlife Site or a Local Geological Site. Our Conservation team ensures that this land is well-managed for nature.

You will be encouraged to have a voice, be free-thinking and empowered to work in a high-performing team. You will have a genuine opportunity to make an impact, and we will actively invest in your professional development.

Although based in Bath, this role will require you to travel throughout the Wessex Water region regularly. We offer hybrid working, allowing you to work from home some of the time, if preferred, as well as in our office.

What you'll do

As a Conservation Adviser, you will be involved in all aspects of delivering conservation land management, as well as providing advice to the wider business to support the delivery of our biodiversity land management commitments. You will liaise with teams across Wessex Water and with external stakeholders, including volunteers and community groups.

Day to day, you will progress project work, which may include desktop assessment, procuring and overseeing services from contractors and consultants, general project management and reporting to our regulators.

You will also undertake surveys, prescribe and oversee management and implement monitoring to conserve and enhance habitats and species of biodiversity importance, or areas of geological or heritage importance, on our sites.

What you'll need

To be successful in this role, you will be highly motivated by nature conservation and will have experience in the conservation, ecology or environmental sector. A Biological Sciences, Environmental Management degree or similar is desired; however, this is not essential, depending on experience.

You will work well within and across teams, and you can work alone, including in the field. You will be positive, pragmatic and forward-thinking, with a flexible approach to problem-solving and achieving solutions.

Some required skills, knowledge and experience include:

• a demonstrable experience in delivering nature conservation, ecology or environmental projects
• an understanding of and experience in ecological surveying, habitat identification and classification, monitoring, data analysis and recording
• knowledge of UK ecology, habitat management, conservation issues and policy
• having effective communication skills (written and verbal) and being able to build positive, lasting relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
• using problem-solving skills and the ability to work from your own initiative to achieve agreed goals within a dynamic environment
• basic IT skills, including familiarity with Microsoft packages (GIS skills would be an advantage)
• a full UK driving licence; you will travel around the Wessex Water region, which in some cases can be very rural.

What you'll receive

• A combined pension contribution of up to 20%.
• Career progression and professional development opportunities.
• 25 days' holiday rising to 28 with length of service.
• The opportunity to sell up to five days of holiday every year.
• The opportunity to buy up to ten days of holiday each year (subject to conditions).
• A healthcare package that allows you to claim back healthcare costs.
• Life assurance of up to eight times your salary.
• The opportunity to lease a new electric car through salary sacrifice (subject to conditions).
• Cashback and discounts from more than 3,000 retailers.
• One paid volunteering day each year.
• Enhanced family leave and pay arrangements.
• Access to an interactive health and wellbeing platform.
• Support from trained mental health first aiders.
• A £1,000 referral fee if you recommend someone who is successfully recruited by us.

Who we are

• YTL UK is part of the international YTL Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The UK companies include:
• Wessex Water – one of the top-performing water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, serving 2.9 million people across the South West
• YTL Developments – a major UK developer currently redeveloping a 350-acre former airfield into an award-winning, exciting mix of houses, apartments, schools, commercial space, restaurants and hotels, to make a truly sustainable new community
• YTL Construction UK – a top 20 UK contractor providing fully integrate