6885 - Seasonal Warden - Reading

Natural England; Reading; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

Natural England is seeking a hands-on wardening role on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. You will engage with visitors, deliver educational activities and support communications, while working with partners and landowners to protect sensitive wildlife.

The role involves events, surveys and data collection, with some weekend or early morning work as needed, and will require travel to support activities across the TBH SPA and partner sites.

Qualifications

• A relevant qualification or experience in education, countryside or animal management, nature conservation, or a related discipline.
• Knowledge of lowland heathland habitats and the development and pressures affecting them.
• Experience engaging with the public, outdoors in conservation or countryside access roles.
• Knowledge of Natural England's purpose and how this work contributes to its aims.
• Experience engaging with children and with dogs or dog walkers.

Responsibilities

• Engage with the public on the SPA and educate visitors about ground-nesting birds and related conservation messages.
• Organise and deliver onsite events, pop-ups and wider engagement activities.
• Support communications with social media content, articles and newsletters, and assist with data collection.
• Work with Heathland Hounds project to reach dog walkers and promote responsible behaviours.
• Undertake administrative tasks and maintain records like visitor logs and surveys.
• Develop relationships with stakeholders and landowners to support events and engagement programmes.

Skills

Public engagement

Outdoor education

Stakeholder relations

Conservation

Education

Relevant qualification in education/countryside/conservation

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

PowerPoint

Teams

Outlook

Job description

PLEASE NOTE: The office is Heather Farm, Woking, Surrey GU21 4XY.

You must be able to travel to the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (TBH SPA) daily, with the role requiring occasional weekend/early morning and evening work. The TBH SPA and local partners fall within parts of Berkshire, Hampshire and Surrey.

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.

Recovering Nature– Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.

Building Better Places– Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.

Improving Health and Wellbeing– Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.

Delivering Security through Nature– Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at:

Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK.

The Team

The team provides an on-the-ground wardening service on the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (TBH SPA). Working closely with the Special Protection Area (SPA) landowners and managers and other key partners (including local authorities, Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB, Ministry of Defence, Forestry Commission, and The Crown Estate), the team engages directly with the public through engagement and education to raise awareness amongst visitors of the importance and sensitivity of this internationally important heathland site.

The Thames Basin Heaths Partnership (TBHP), hosted by Natural England’s Thames Solent Area Team, is fully funded from developer contributions, and is overseen by the Thames Basin Heaths (TBH) Joint Strategic Partnership Board (JSPB), a body comprising eleven local authorities, and Hampshire and Surrey County Councils.

The Role

Responsibilities for this Warden role will be engaging with the public on the SPA and at events, to raise awareness about the SPA's importance, spreading wildfire awareness and promoting Suitable Accessible Natural Greenspace (SANG) sites as alternatives.

Additionally, this role will provide support to the team’s communications and monitoring functions, through providing social media content, writing articles, and collecting data through surveys.

The role requires some involvement with the Heathland Hounds project – a sub team of the TBH SAMM project, focused on interacting with dog walkers – who are a key audience to which the projects key message ‘paws on paths’ is aimed, to encourage behaviour change and ultimately protect the SPA and reduce disturbance to its protected species.

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities

• Warden the SPA and engage and educate the general public about ground-nesting birds, wildfire awareness and the use of SANGs.
• Provide a consistent SPA/SANG message, including the use of promotional and educational materials.
• Organise and deliver onsite events and pop-ups, and support the delivery of a wider engagement programme, including facilitating activities during Heath Week.
• Assist with educational activities both on and off the SPA, including events, workshops and guided walks as required.
• Develop and maintain relationships with stakeholders, partners and landowners to support the delivery of events, pit stops and pop-ups.
• Contribute to social media content, website blogs and newsletter articles.
• Be willing to learn and adopt new ways of working and new technologies.
• Undertake administrative tasks as required.
• Participate in monitoring activities, including visitor surveys, warden engagement logs and people-counter data collection, ensuring data is entered promptly and accurately.
• Undertake other duties and activities as required.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• A relevant qualification or experience in education, countryside or animal management, nature conservation, environmental science, on-the-ground wardening, or a related discipline.
• Knowledge of lowland heathland habitats and the development and recreational pressures affecting them.
• Experience of, and confidence in, engaging with the public, particularly gained through working outdoors in a nature conservation or countryside access-related role.
• Knowledge of Natural England's purpose and how this work contributes to its aims and objectives.
• Good written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage effectively with a range of internal and external partners.
• Ability to use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook and other technology as required.
• Experience of, and confidence in, engaging with children in an educational setting.
• Experience of, and confidence in, engaging with dogs and dog walkers.
• Knowledge of countryside access, rights of way and nature conservation issues.