Coastal Restoration Officer

Full time: 35 hours per week  

2 year fixed term contract 

Closing date for applications: 15th May 2024  

First interview: 6th June 2024  

Second interview: 12th June 2024 

About Us 

The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts (RSWT) is the central charity which supports the federation of 46 independent Wildlife Trusts working for nature’s recovery across the UK, Alderney and the Isle of Man. The Wildlife Trusts’ vision is of a thriving natural world, with abundant wildlife and healthy natural habitats playing a valued role in addressing the climate and ecological emergencies, and everyone inspired to take action for nature’s recovery. 

Collectively, The Wildlife Trusts have more than 900,000 members, employ 3,500 staff, look after over 2,300 nature reserves, operate 123 visitor and education centres and own 29 working farms. The role of RSWT is to ensure a strong voice for wildlife at a UK level and to provide strategic leadership, support and development for The Wildlife Trusts. We provide shared expertise in areas such as climate change, digital fundraising, nature-based solutions, policy and safeguarding. We facilitate UK-wide communities of practice to share learning and replicate successful approaches so that together we are more than the sum of our parts. We support the individual Wildlife Trusts to be a strong force for nature in their local areas and to work together to achieve even greater impact as a collective. 

The Wildlife Trusts are on a mission to bring about a people-powered nature and climate recovery by empowering people to take meaningful action for nature, and to create an inclusive society where nature matters to everyone, everywhere. We are ambitious in our desire not just to slow, but to reverse the declines in nature. Together we have developed a bold, new collective strategy which outlines our vision and the actions we will take to restore nature over the next eight years. 

Central to our strategy are our three goals which set out what we are striving to achieve by 2030 in pursuit of our vision of a thriving natural world. Goal 1 is to put nature into recovery with abundant, diverse wildlife and natural processes creating wilder land and seascapes where people and nature thrive. Goal 2 is to inspire people to take action for nature and climate, resulting in better decision-making for the environment at both local level and across the four UK nations. And Goal 3 is to enable nature to play a central and valued role in helping to address local and global problems, such as by helping tackle climate change and supporting wellbeing and education. 

Achieving these ambitious objectives means that we must develop new ways of working which increase the scale and impact of our work. Therefore, we have embarked on a programme of strategic transformations that are essential to achieving our goals, and which will result in a stronger and more effective Wildlife Trust movement for the long term. RSWT is leading the transformation programme across The Wildlife Trusts including in community organising, equality, diversity and inclusion, and funding nature’s recovery. The Wildlife Trusts have existed for over 100 years thanks to a strong membership base and traditional fundraising activities. 

About You 

Are you a passionate marine/coastal conservationist, looking to work for one of the UK’s best-loved nature charities? If so, then we have an exciting opportunity for you! 

We are the largest non-governmental organisation working on marine and coastal issues in the UK, and are looking for a supportive, enthusiastic and knowledgeable colleague to join our ambitious marine team. We work on everything from terrestrial to marine restoration to bring about nature’s recovery, for the benefit of all. Despite Blue Planet and more recently the Wild Isles series, we still have a job to do, to raise the profile of the sea and all that lives within it. 

We know that our coastline is under increasing pressure, and we need to do more to restore and conserve it for future generations – are you the person to help us do that? The coast is changing as sea-levels rise. Without planning, coastal change can be catastrophic for people and sometimes for wildlife. Planning and designing realignment in front of future sea-level rise makes sense, but opportunities are limited. This post will help The Wildlife Trusts identify those opportunities and coordinate funding and licensing to ensure that realignment works both for those communities affected and helps to restore our wonderful coastal wildlife. 

You will have a detailed understanding of coastal processes, including relevant nature conservation issues. You will need to enjoy working in a fast-paced environment, be organised and resourceful and have meticulous attention for written detail as well as a passion for our cause. You will need to have excellent communication and facilitation skills, be adept at working with lots of information while able to bring out the best in the way we emphasise the work of The Wildlife Trusts to all. 

The Wildlife Trusts value passion, respect, trust, integrity, pragmatic activism and strength in diversity. Whilst we are passionate in promoting our aims, we are not judgemental and are inclusive. We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underrepresented within our sector, including people from minority backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities. 

RSWT take our Safeguarding responsibilities extremely seriously. Please view the documents section to read our commitment statement.

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to offering an interview to anyone with a disability that meets all the essential criteria for the post. Please let us know if you require any adjustments to make our recruitment process more accessible. 

This role may be subject to a DBS check.