Technical Support Officer

Lancashire County Council; Preston; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 28,000; Full time

Job summary

Lancashire County Council is seeking a Technical Support Officer to work on the Biological Heritage Sites system and support the ecologists. The role sits at County Hall, Preston, with a flexible policy allowing some home working.

You will develop administration and data management skills, engage with stakeholders, and contribute to nature conservation and land management work across Lancashire.

Qualifications

• Excellent data management skills, including GIS
• Organised, self-motivated and methodical
• Good communication and people skills
• Familiarity with nature conservation and habitat management principles

Responsibilities

• Work on the Biological Heritage Sites (BHS) system and support ecologists
• Maintain and update the BHS system; assist with site surveys
• Provide land management advice and information on potential grants
• Support the Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN) data activities

Job description

Description

| Salary £25,989-£28,142 Per annum | Permanent, Full Time, 38 hours per week | Environment and Climate |

International Sponsorship – this role is not open to international sponsorship

Lancashire County Council is looking for an organised, self-motivated and methodical Technical Support Officer to work primarily on the Biological Heritage Sites system (Lancashire's County Wildlife Sites) and to support the work of the Biological Heritage Sites ecologists.

This role is an exciting opportunity to make a significant contribution to nature conservation and recovery in Lancashire.

The successful candidate will be utilising and developing their administration, data management and people skills, and gaining understanding and experience in a broad range of ecological practices, land management principals and stakeholder engagement.

In 1993, Lancashire launched a pioneering approach to identify and help protect non-statutory local wildlife sites by establishing the Biological Heritage Sites (BHS) system, which currently identifies 1,231 sites across the county. The system was developed in partnership with Lancashire Wildlife Trust and Natural England.

The Biological Heritage Site team maintains and updates the BHS system, undertakes a rolling programme of site surveys, offers land management advice and advice on potential grants and support available for the positive management of sites. We work with a wide range of organisations and individuals.

The post lies within a team which also operates the Lancashire Environment Record Network (LERN), the local environmental records centre for Lancashire. LERN collect, collate, manage and disseminate information relating to the natural environment of Lancashire, providing environmental evidence to inform decision making.

The wider team includes Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) staff, as well as Ecologists providing advice to LCC Development Management and working on LCC projects, and the Treescapes team working to coordinate urban and rural tree planting and woodland creation.

The successful candidate will have excellent data management (including GIS) skills. Organised, self-motivated and methodical, you will possess good communication and people skills and have a keen eye for detail. You will have a familiarity with the principles and interest in nature conservation and recovery, ecology, conservation land management and/or nature friendly farming.

The post is based at County Hall in Preston. However, Lancashire County Council operates a flexible working policy, which does permit working from home and other locations where the requirements of the role allow.

In return Lancashire County Council offers a range of benefits, which can be found on LCC vacancies website.

We reserve the right to close down a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.

Job Description/Person Specification

Closing Date 19th October 2026

The Government has confirmed that local government across Lancashire will be reorganised, with the current 15 councils being replaced by four new unitary councils covering North, South, East and West Lancashire from April 2028.

If you are successful in your application, you will initially join Lancashire County Council. However, as part of the planned transition, your employment will transfer to one of the new unitary councils from April 2028, subject to the implementation of the reorganisation and relevant employment legislation.

Throughout this period, our focus remains on delivering excellent services to our communities. By joining us now, you'll play an important role in shaping the future of local government and helping to build a strong new organisation that will serve residents for years to come.