Wildlife Education Warden - Thames Basin Heaths Partnership - Natural England

Countryside Classroom; Woking; Hybrid; GBP 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

Countryside Classroom is recruiting two Wardens to join the Thames Basin Heaths Partnership across Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire. If you love the outdoors, enjoy talking to people and want to help protect England's wildlife sites, we'd love to hear from you.

Wardens will either join the Education Team, delivering Our Amazing Heathlands education programme in schools and on heathlands, or focus on general warden duties engaging visitors, dog walkers and community groups, helping protect rare

Qualifications

• Enjoy working with young people and communicating about nature.
• Willingness to engage diverse visitors in outdoor settings.
• Ability to organise events and school visits.

Responsibilities

• Working outdoors in heathland landscapes most of the time.
• Meeting a huge variety of people every day.
• Inspiring children, families and visitors to care about nature.
• Organising events, activities and pop-up engagement sessions.
• Working with partners to deliver engagement activities.

Job description

Love being outdoors? Passionate about connecting people with nature?

We're recruiting two Wardens to join the award-winning Thames Basin Heaths Partnership in Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

If you'd rather spend your days on beautiful heathlands than behind a desk, enjoy talking to people, and want to help protect some of England's most important wildlife sites, we'd love to hear from you.

If you choose to specialise with the Education Team, you'll help deliver our Our Amazing Heathlands education programme, inspiring children and young people to connect with nature through engaging, curriculum-linked sessions both in schools and out on the heathlands. One day you could be leading a field session with a class of primary school pupils, the next helping run a community event or creating content for social media.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys working with young people and can bring the natural world to life in an engaging and accessible way.

If you choose to focus on general warden duties, you'll be out on the Thames Basin Heaths every day, engaging with the thousands of people who visit the area, the majority of whom are dog walkers. If you're a dog lover who enjoys meeting people, this could be the perfect role.

You’ll help visitors understand why these internationally important heathlands matter, encourage responsible recreation, promote alternative greenspaces, and help protect rare ground-nesting birds and other wildlife. Building positive relationships with visitors is at the heart of the role, helping people enjoy these special places while respecting the wildlife that depends on them.

What the role is really like

• Working outdoors in beautiful heathland landscapes most of the time
• Meeting a huge variety of people every day
• Inspiring children, families and visitors to care about nature
• Organising events, activities and pop-up engagement sessions
• Working alongside land managers, councils, Wildlife Trusts, the RSPB, Forestry England, the MOD and other conservation partners
• Helping protect rare wildlife through education, engagement and awareness raising

No two days are the same. You might be leading a school visit, speaking with dog walkers on the heath, helping at a community event, supporting the Heathland Hounds project, surveying visitors, creating social media content, or working with partners to deliver engagement activities.

If you're enthusiastic about nature, confident speaking to people from all walks of life, and want to make a real difference to one of the country's most important heathland landscapes, we'd love to hear from you.