UK Nature & Biodiversity Lead

Thrive on openness, respect and collaboration? Good. Us too. Join as our new UK Nature & Biodiversity Lead and thrive in a culture where wellbeing and tackling complex challenges is intrinsic.

The role can be based from either our Bath or London offices with hybrid working.

The Team

This is an opportunity to work with a dedicated and passionate team, in a bespoke organisation that values innovation, and real outcomes that make a difference. The Nature and Biodiversity team forms an integral part of the business and helps to shape entire projects by being involved at the outset and putting strategies in place to protect the environment, determine biodiversity priorities and weave best practice and net gain into their fabric. Our focus on strategic level projects, results in a highly varied and interesting workload.

The existing team’s ethos is supportive and collaborative and encourages independent thinking, allowing staff to work autonomously, and supporting them to grow their career in the direction that they choose. The team prides itself on the consistent use of best practice and the quality of its work. If you're looking to make a positive impact and create real change you will be rewarded with an excellent salary and access to extensive learning and development opportunities, generous pension contributions, private medical, life, dental and travel insurance, flexible leave, and more.

Role Overview

This permanent position will require leadership of the UK Nature and Biodiversity team and will be responsible for the strategic growth of our UK nature-based solutions and ecosystem services portfolios, and input into the broader environmental net gain, Blue Green Infrastructure and Natural Capital service offers.

You will be expected to lead and mentor the existing team and support them in the delivery of their UK planning projects, refine and implement our nature-based solutions strategy, engage with clients, and collaborate across multiple disciplines to develop and deliver holistic solutions to the joint climate and nature crisis. You will be part of the Nature and Biodiversity leadership team, which includes internationally focused ecologists, and you will be a key member of a senior cross-discipline group responsible for taking forward Buro Happold's UK climate resilience work.

Your Skills & Experience

We are looking for candidates who are curious and driven, who have a strong understanding of the changing ecological landscape, are fast learners and open minded, and passionate about delivering positive outcomes. You should have experience in managing and leading teams and be confident with the opportunities the changing sector brings. You will be able to demonstrate:

• Leading the successful growth of a team and/or new service offers
• Experience in coaching and mentoring junior staff to develop their technical and consultancy skills and fostering a positive team culture
• Knowledge and experience of the sectors in which ecology work is carried out in the UK and a strong awareness of recent developments in the ecology sector, including biodiversity net gain, off-site credits and nature-based solutions.
• Understanding and experience in the application of Biodiversity Net Gain and how it relates to other ecosystem services, as well as being able to communicate the wider benefits of biodiversity to clients
• Experience in developing innovative solutions to address complex project requirements
• A client focussed approach and the ability to find solutions to complex ecological issues
• Extensive experience of advising on scheme design in relation to ecological impacts and biodiversity net gain, ecological impact assessments, habitat management and monitoring plans, and habitat regulations assessments
• Experience of providing ecological services for infrastructure projects, including road and rail schemes
• Experience in providing company or portfolio level technical input on corporate strategies, strategic guidance on landscape-scale projects, and nature-related disclosure framework reporting, including:
• Project scoping and reporting for corporate strategies
• Materiality assessments
• TNFD assessments, ESRS4 under CSRD, SBTN and GRI 101 project-based nature-positive / net gain strategies, targets, and performance indicators
  
  
  

Key duties

You will be part of the senior Nature and Biodiversity team helping inform its strategic direction and growth, with specific responsibilities for:

• Overseeing and implementing the UK Nature and Biodiversity team’s growth strategy
• Leading and mentoring UK ecology staff and maintaining the team’s innovative and positive culture
• Leading, and supporting others to lead the technical components of complex UK projects
• Identifying and pursuing appropriate opportunities and overseeing successful submission of proposals
• Acting as an internal and external figurehead for technical and advisory leadership for different service offers
• Actively seeking out and securing new projects which will lead to profitable work
• Maintaining and developing the highest standards of technical quality; continuously seeking to develop the discipline through innovation and creativity
• Taking ownership of the UK teams’ financial performance, and managing change when difficulties are identified
• Working with the Nature and Biodiversity leadership team to develop a strategy for growing our corporate biodiversity and strategic nature-positive work.
  
  
  

What We Offer You

• Bring your knowledge and expertise to one of the world’s most respected consultancies.
• Hybrid working arrangements.
• Attractive salary and benefits package including, private medical insurance, life assurance and income protection.
• 10% Car allowance
• Holiday entitlement of 25 days per annum (exclusive of bank holidays) and flexible holiday arrangements.
• Generous company pension scheme.
• Flexible benefits including cycle scheme, dental insurance, optical cover, travel insurance, season ticket loans, and corporate discounts.
• Enhanced parenthood leave policies.
• 3pm finish on the last Friday of the month.
• A strong commitment to your continuous development. Whatever stage in your career, we have a learning and development programme that will enable and empower you.
• Entitlement to two memberships to professional bodies or subscriptions
• A commitment to your wellbeing through a comprehensive employee assistance programme and wellbeing activities. A supportive and inclusive environment that will welcome you through social and outreach activities from the Young Employees Forum to mentoring.
• An international culture that wherever your career takes you at Buro Happold, you won’t be far from the exceptional.
  
  
  

Apply today and be where exceptional is everywhere.

A place for everyone

Buro Happold values an individual's flexible approaches to working patterns as an important part of how you work and achieve balance. We welcome applications from those who are seeking flexibility in their careers.

Our exceptional portfolio of projects is the result of the diversity of thought, identities, backgrounds, and experiences that shape us. Appreciating each other’s differences is key, we want employees to feel they don’t have to mask elements of their identity to thrive.

We are working to change the lack of representation of marginalised groups in the built environment. We are particularly keen to hear from anyone who feels they are underrepresented in the industry. We have much to learn from one another. Embracing differences allows us to develop the most innovative and elegant solutions.

Please let us know if there are any adjustments we could make to the application process to make it easier and more comfortable for you. Contact [email protected] so we can work with you to support you throughout your application.