Senior Ecological Consultant

Thomson Environmental Consultants; Wales; On-site; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

An environmental consultancy based in Cardiff seeks a Senior Ecological Consultant to lead projects and manage a team. The role involves preparing tenders, ensuring high-quality outputs, and fostering client relationships. Ideal candidates will have an ecology-related degree, strong project management skills, and experience with protected species licenses. This position offers a competitive salary starting from £34,000 per annum along with various benefits and a supportive work culture.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

Healthcare cash plan

Enhanced stakeholder pension scheme

Life insurance

Discounted gym membership

Paid professional memberships

Clothing allowance

Outstanding performance rewards

Long service awards

Free parking

Regular social events

Qualifications

• Experienced Ecologist with an ecological or related subject degree.
• In-depth knowledge of ecology, legislation, and survey techniques.
• Advanced field skills in specialist areas are preferred.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and guide a team of Ecological Consultants.
• Lead and manage complex projects from start to finish.
• Deliver high-quality reports and outputs for clients.

Skills

Ecological knowledge

Project management

Client relationship management

Field skills in ecology

Protected species licenses

Education

Degree in Ecology or related subject

Job description

Job title: Senior Ecological Consultant

Salary: from £34,000 per annum, dependent on skillset.

Location: Cardiff, United Kingdom

Company Description

Our core purpose is to enable nature and business to thrive together.

Our brand mission is to be chosen by clients as their preferred specialists and regarded by people in our industry as the company to work for. We aim to be the most innovative, pragmatic and fast-growing environmental consultancy in the UK.

With offices across the UK, our experts are committed to delivering exceptional outcomes to our clients across a range of environmental services and ecological contracting.

Our services include but are not limited to: terrestrial ecology, freshwater ecology, hydrology, marine laboratory, arboricultural services, geographic information systems (GIS) and mapping, environmental impact assessments.

Position

We have an exciting Senior Ecological Consultant position based in our Cardiff office.

As a Senior Ecological Consultant, you will play a key role in driving your team's financial success by preparing compelling tenders, efficiently managing projects, and fostering strong relationships with clients. Your contributions will also support the company's vision and values by delivering high-quality technical work within specified timelines and consistently upholding the company's standards of excellence.

Some of the duties include:

• Senior Ecological Consultants (SECs) often serve as line managers, overseeing and guiding a small team of Ecological Consultants and Assistant Ecologists. Some SECs may also take on roles as technical leads.
• Lead and manage large, complex projects, ensuring seamless execution from start to finish.
• Handle technically challenging tasks, including EPSL applications, EcIA chapters, and habitat regulation assessments.
• Deliver high-quality reports and outputs for clients, consistently meeting or exceeding project deadlines and budget constraints.
• Cultivate and maintain strong relationships with clients, ensuring continued trust and satisfaction.
• Document relevant professional experience and leverage it to advance toward obtaining protected species licenses.
• Take ownership for the quality of survey work by providing leadership and direction to the field team.
• Ensure clear and effective communication by keeping project managers and team leads informed of all critical project developments.
• Maintain active membership with CIEEM.

Salary: from £34,000 per annum, dependent on skillset.

Requirements

To be considered you will be an experienced Ecologist with an ecological or related subject degree.

You will be technically competent, with an in-depth knowledge of ecology, legislation and survey techniques with advanced field skills in one or more specialist areas as well as holding protected species licences.

You will also hold a clean, valid UK driving licence and have your own car / access to a car which will be insured for business use.

We would be especially interested in hearing from applicants with ornithological skills, botany skills or a bat mitigation licence. However, none of these are essential.

All applicants must be based in the UK with the Right to Work in the UK.

Other information

Working at Thomson

At Thomson, we strive to be the very best at what we do, both in the eyes of our customers and our colleagues. We believe in One Thomson; we draw on and value every individual's unique skills and experience to come together and support each other in delivering an exceptional service.

Our people are our greatest asset. We want Thomson to be a great place to work, where everyone feels supported to be the best they can be. We are proud of our friendly, supportive, 'nothing is too much trouble' culture. We live and breathe our RISE (Respect, Integrity, Support, Excellence) values. Your opinions matter to us; we are constantly evolving.

We promote a healthy work-life balance to ensure we have an engaged, productive and happy team. We are flexible and committed and welcome new challenges.

We recognise the importance in training and developing our team as well as offering a competitive pay and reward package.

Involving ourselves in our local communities is important to us and we are proud of our continued achievements in fund raising for charity. We work hard but have fun too.

We are passionate about career development so we make sure we nurture talent. Our people benefit from access to a diverse range of industry-accredited external training, as well as in-house training opportunities led by our specialists. The variety of projects we deliver across the breadth of environmental services encourages cross-team working and collaboration. We can offer you the opportunity to contribute to and lead on high-profile, once in a life-time projects.

You’ll enjoy all the benefits we have to offer which include: 25 days annual leave, healthcare cash plan, enhanced stakeholder pension scheme, life insurance, discounted gym membership, paid professional memberships, clothing allowance, outstanding performance rewards, long service awards, free parking and regular local and company social events.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As an equal opportunities employer, Thomson is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, gender reassignment, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or on maternity leave, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply to and join Thomson.