Principal Ecologist /Associate Director - Ecology Peterborough
Northminster, Peterborough, United Kingdom
Hybrid working
In Peterborough, you'll play a key role within the office's leadership team - providing direction, and helping guide how major programmes are delivered across the UK.
You'll take on line management responsibilities and support the development of a high performing team, while influencing decisions on nationally significant energy and water infrastructure, major highway and rail schemes. Your expertise will directly influence decisions that impact communities, environments and sustainability outcomes for decades to come.
This isn't just leadership - it's visible, meaningful impact at scale.
Responsibilities- Help steer the strategic direction for the Peterborough ecology team and contribute to UK wide leadership
- Act as the go to expert, providing high quality advice to clients, stakeholders and regulators
- Build strong relationships through extensive client and stakeholder engagement
- Lead and inspire colleagues through empathetic, high impact leadership and mentoring
- Apply your technical expertise across EIA, Habitat Regulations Assessment and Biodiversity Net Gain
- Design and oversee ecological monitoring and survey programmes
- Collaborate across disciplines to deliver integrated, innovative solutions
- Play a central role in identifying, bidding and winning new work
- Promote the ecology team's capability across the wider business and externally
- Oversee resource planning for the Peterborough ecology teams to ensure workloads are balanced and projects are properly supported
- Shape not just projects, but people, performance and the future direction of the team
- Confident, forward thinking leader ready to take the next step
- Strong background in terrestrial ecology with significant industry experience
- Chartered status (or on track to achieve it)
- Proven experience leading ecological input on large scale projects
- Strategic mindset with the ability to influence wider business decisions
- Experience in line management, mentoring and team development
- Proactive, hands on approach with strong self awareness
- Ability to adapt across diverse and complex projects
- Innovative scoping of ecological inputs
- Protected species licensing and Biodiversity Net Gain
- Project consenting and construction environments
- Stakeholder and regulator engagement
- Planning inquiries and examinations
We'd love to see experience in the above areas, but most importantly, you'll bring the ability to think differently, challenge the norm and continually improve how we deliver for our clients.
We Offer- Competitive salary: Compensation that reflects your skills and experience
- 24 days holiday: + option to buy a further 10 days
- Robust Pension Contributions: Enhanced pension contributions up to 10%
- Comprehensive Health Coverage: Single medical cover and Digital GP service, with options to add partner and family
- Employee Networks: Commitment to hiring a diverse workforce and supporting colleagues of different backgrounds
- Family Planning Support: Access to fertility healthcare and family planning services
- Enhanced Parental Leave: Enjoy enhanced parental leave pay and free membership to employee assistance and parental programmes
- Income Protection: Financial security in case of long term illness or injury
- Wellbeing Hub: Free access to wellbeing apps
- Professional Development: Cover professional membership fees and provide continuous professional development opportunities
- Community Engagement: Participate in charity matched funding, paid volunteering time, and charitable donations
We value collaboration and believe that in person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations.
As a disability confident employer we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.