Planning Ecologist

Leicestershire County Council; East Midlands; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a leading authority as a Senior Ecologist to provide vital ecological advice and support for biodiversity initiatives across Leicestershire. This role is crucial in implementing Biodiversity Net Gain legislation and enhancing the county’s natural environment. The position offers a competitive salary, hybrid working options, and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to produce professional work, meeting performance deadlines.
• Experience working with the public sector.
• Experience in site monitoring methods is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert advice on ecology and biodiversity matters.
• Develop approaches to mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain requirements.
• Assist in site monitoring programme for habitats.

Skills

Professional work relating to the natural environment

Expert advice to stakeholders

Knowledge of ecological survey methods

Understanding of Biodiversity Net Gain policies

Education

Degree in a relevant environmental or biological subject

Job description

Job Description

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: County Hall Leicester

Worker Category: Hybrid worker

Job Title: Senior Ecologist

Salary: Grade 11 £38 700- £41 373 (with Annual Pay Award pending) PLUS "Golden Hello" recruitment incentive of up to 10% of annual agreed salary during year one*

Working Hours: 37

Contract Type: Permanent

Closing Date: 5pm Monday 11th August 2025

Interview Date(s): week commencing Monday 1st September 2025 and week commencing Monday 8th September

Would you like to join our growing team as a Senior Ecologist? Would you like to take part in the new requirements for mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain, including the site monitoring programme for BNG sites?

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Ecologist at Grade 11 to provide expert advice to LPA partners for ecology and biodiversity matters, in relation to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and protected species throughout the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and committed individual to join our team to develop our approach to the additional requirements of mandatory BNG.

As such, the post holder would provide specialist planning advice from pre-application stage through to discharge of conditions; and will be joining at an exciting time, when we are starting our site monitoring programme, monitoring net gain which is being created on sites throughout the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. The posts will also be fundamental to developing the link between BNG and new "opportunity areas" identified in our draft Local Nature Recovery Strategy. We are also developing our recording processes for the BNG data and newly created, restored and enhanced habitats with our in-house Local Records Centre (LRERC), which is part of our team.

We have further team growth planned for 2025/26. It would be an exciting opportunity for a more experienced, senior ecologist to be part of our expanding Ecology and Biodiversity Team. We can make more of a difference than ever before, both to the quality of our natural environment and to increasing its connectivity throughout the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland.

*This post attracts a "Golden Hello" recruitment incentive of up to 10% of the annual agreed salary during year one, with a payment return on a declining scale if the successful candidate does not remain in the post.

About You

To apply for this post, you must be able to demonstrate:

• a degree or equivalent in a relevant environmental or biological subject
• an ability to produce professional work relating to the natural environment, working as part of a team and meeting performance deadlines
• having experience of working within or with the public sector
• being able to offer expert advice to stakeholders or clients in relation to complex ecological or planning matters, working independently
• Knowledge of ecological survey methods and requirements for species and habitats appropriate to the planning system
• Knowledge and understanding of the principles and application of Biodiversity Net Gain legislation, policy and practice
• Experience of site monitoring methods and requirements would be an advantage

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equal opportunities, and the ability to apply this to all situations.

In addition, we expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the interview process.

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.

Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the Our Working Styles page on our career site.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Vanessa Evans Team Manager Ecology and Biodiversity

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity, and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services, we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ+ communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job, please click on the apply button. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above. For more information, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Employee Service Centre: https://emss.org.uk/support

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About Us

About Leicestershire County Council

Leicestershire County Council is a Disability Confident, Menopause Friendly, Mindful Employer, Fostering Friendly, Forces Friendly, and Cycle Friendly organisation. In August 2021, we also signed up to the Race at Work Charter. We are strongly committed to promoting equality and opportunity, championing employee wellbeing and investing in staff training and development.

Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire.

For further information on what it's like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us