Senior Ecologist / Experienced Consultant

LUC; Cardiff; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee ownership

Job summary

LUC is seeking a Senior Ecological Consultant to join our Cardiff or Bristol team, with hybrid working and regular site travel across the UK. The role focuses on renewable energy projects, biodiversity surveys, and development planning within a supportive, employee-owned environment.

You will lead ecological surveys, manage projects, engage clients, and mentor junior staff, while contributing to business development and high-quality science across our South West and Wales portfolios.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of wildlife in the UK through education or practical experience.
• Substantial experience delivering ecological projects in a consultancy environment.
• Good understanding of UK nature conservation legislation and policy.
• Understanding of the development management process in England and Wales.
• Wide-ranging experience in habitat and protected species survey, including survey design, data management and analysis.
• Experience preparing or reviewing ecological consultancy reports (PEA, protected species surveys, EIA).
• Experience engaging with commercial clients and their stakeholders.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Willingness to travel across the UK, including overnight stays (expenses covered by LUC).
• Willingness to occasionally work antisocial hours, especially bat surveys.
• Understanding of renewable energy consenting mechanisms.
• Experience in line management.
• Protected species licence (bat, GCN, dormouse licences of particular interest).

Responsibilities

• Design, oversee and deliver a wide range of ecological surveys.
• Managing or co-managing projects using LUC’s internal systems.
• Engaging with project clients and their stakeholders.
• Analysing and interpreting ecological data.
• Preparing consultancy reports.
• Line managing junior colleagues.
• Preparing tender responses and fee proposals.
• Contributing to business development activity, with support from senior colleagues.

Skills

Wildlife knowledge

Ecology consultancy experience

Project management

Client engagement

UK wildlife legislation knowledge

Line management experience

Job description

This role can be based in either our Bristol or Cardiff office.

LUC’s ecology team is passionate about creating opportunities for wildlife and people to thrive together.

With established teams in London, Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Glasgow, we support a huge range of projects, at local and national levels. We’re enthusiastic about finding new ways to apply emerging ecological principles and methods to the most challenging of policy and development projects, and we have fun working together along the way.

We’re currently supporting some of the most exciting projects in UK consultancy. Working alongside colleagues and partners, we will apply our skills to projects ranging from energy generation to historic building restoration, regenerative agriculture to strategic biodiversity enhancement plans. All with the aim of achieving our strategic mission of delivering better futures for nature, people and place.

We require a Senior Ecological Consultant or experienced Consultant Ecologist to join our Bristol or Cardiff teams to help deliver our exciting renewable energy generation and transmission orderbook in Wales, while also contributing to our wider portfolio of development and nature restoration projects in south-west England.

This role would suit experienced ecological consultants ready to take the next step in their career, in a science-led team. There will also be opportunities to collaborate with our wider ecology team, based in London, Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow and Edinburgh, as well as our specialists in Strategic Ecology, Arboriculture, Agri-environment, Landscape Architecture, Planning, Heritage, GIS and Visualisation and support staff.

The role will involve:

• Designing, overseeing the implementation of, and delivering a wide range of ecological surveys.
• Managing, or co-managing projects in line with LUC’s internal Project Management System.
• Engaging with project clients and their stakeholders.
• Analysing and interpreting ecological data.
• Preparing consultancy reports.
• Line managing junior colleagues.
• Preparing tender responses and fee proposals.
• Contributing to business development activity, with support from senior colleagues.

This is also an opportunity to work for a sincere, employee-owned company with strong values and a particular focus on addressing the climate emergency.

The role includes the opportunity to share and participate actively in the management and ownership of the business through the Employee Ownership Trust, which places full ownership of the company with the employees.

The role is based in LUC’s offices in Cardiff, Edinburgh or Glasgow. We work in a hybrid model with people being in the office a minimum of two days per week. There will also be travel required to visit sites, client offices and other office locations.

A full-time role is based on 37.5 hours per week (Monday to Friday). However, LUC has a strong track record in flexible working, and we have been recognised for our flexible working culture, so we are happy to discuss a range of flexible working options for this role including part time hours (minimum 30 hours per week) if desired.

Experience and qualifications

The successful candidate will complement our existing enthusiastic and dedicated ecology team. You will share our commitment to high-quality science and be motivated to grow your ecology field skills.

• Strong understanding of wildlife in the UK, gained through further / higher education or practical experience.
• Substantial experience of delivering ecological projects, gained through a consultancy environment.
• Good understanding of UK nature conservation legislation and policy.
• An understanding of the development management process in England and Wales.
• Wide ranging experience in habitat and protected species survey, including survey design, data management and analysis.
• Experience in the preparation or review of ecological consultancy reports, including preliminary ecological appraisals, protected species survey reports and Ecological Impact Assessment.
• Experience of engaging with commercial clients and their stakeholders.
• Full UK driving licence.
• Willingness to work across the UK, particularly in south-Wales and south-west England, including regular trips away from home and overnight stays (all costs and expenses covered by LUC).
• Willingness to occasionally work antisocial hours, particularly during the bat survey season when night shift work may be necessary.
• An understanding of renewable energy consenting mechanisms.
• Experience of line management responsibilities.
• A protected species licence (bat, great crested newt and dormouse licences of particular interest).

Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the UK.

LUC is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and we actively encourage applications from under-represented groups. We value the differences, needs and contributions a diverse workforce represents, and we strive to embed equality, diversity and inclusion in all our people related activities.

About LUC:

LUC is an award-winning environmental consultancy celebrating 60 years of impact. Since 1966, we have been dedicated to a single mission: delivering better futures for nature, people, and places. We have a Charter which commits us to focusing on projects that contribute meaningfully towards tacking the climate and biodiversity crises.

As an independent, employee-owned business, we combine a rich heritage with a forward-looking approach. Our multidisciplinary teams – spanning planning, impact assessment, landscape design, ecology, and geospatial services – collaborate to tackle complex land-use challenges across the UK.

From restoring historic environments to driving climate resilience and nature recovery, we are proud of our past. But in our 60th year, our focus is firmly on the future and driving positive change for the next generation.

Our Mission is to deliver better futures for nature, people and places.

Just like our founders, we’re dedicated to leaving this world in a better place. And we believe we have the power to create a positive legacy through all our projects. We do this by guiding our clients, as well as influencing national and local policy.

Of course, we recognise that change is inevitable. But we also recognise that cities, towns and landscapes of the future must work to help nature recover and to create a fairer society for all. We are committed to creating beautiful, inclusive places that support the health and wellbeing of the people and environments impacted by such inevitable change.

Our Values are what make us.

They reflect our heritage, express the attitudes of our people, and capture what our clients tell us we’re like to work with. Our values are timeless, informing the actions of every generation of LUC.

They guide our big thinking as much as our daily working lives – from the projects we pursue, to how we manage people, to how we resolve conflicting interests.

• We act with professionalism and integrity
• We have the courage and openness to lead
• We collaborate to achieve shared goals
• We act with passion, insight and creativity