Join us at the forefront of nature conservation, where your leadership will make a tangible difference. This is an exciting opportunity to take the helm of a diverse portfolio of wildlife reserves across North East Scotland, driving high-quality conservation outcomes while leading and inspiring a dedicated team. Combining strategic oversight with hands-on operational management, you’ll play a vital role in safeguarding habitats ranging from peatlands and heath to woodlands and coastal cliffs. As a key representative of the Trust, you’ll build strong relationships with communities, partners and volunteers, ensuring our mission to protect and restore nature is delivered with impact, integrity and ambition

The Role:

The role provides operational leadership across a defined operational area of the Trust’s reserves, ensuring land management, people management and community engagement deliver strong conservation outcomes. It involves leading and developing the local team, supporting volunteers and representing the Trust locally and nationally, whilst building robust relationships. The post oversees planning, delivery and quality assurance of reserve and project work, ensuring compliance with policies, health and safety and regulatory requirements. It also manages budgets, risks and ecological data, embedding evidenced based decision making and maintaining accurate documentation and supporting long-term site and project development. Through this combination of leadership and operational oversight, the role helps safeguard the Trust’s reserves and advance its conservation mission.

Main objectives:

Land management and project delivery

Manage wildlife reserve operations across the North East Reserves Management Area, including conservation and land management and monitoring of 1699 hectares across fourteen wildlife reserves with a range of habitats, including blanket bog, heaths, fens, maritime cliffs, lochs, grasslands, and woodlands.

Representation and stakeholder engagement

Build and maintain positive relationships with landowners, volunteers, contractors, communities and interested parties. Represent the Trust professionally at local, regional and national events and meetings, and proactively manage day‑to‑day issues with neighbours and partners.

People management and teamwork

Line manage and develop the operational area team, leading recruitment, induction and performance. Foster a positive organisational culture, support collaboration across teams, and act as the key local contact for members and volunteers. Help recruit, train and retain volunteers, and provide local operational insight to support fundraising, communications and policy work.

Information and operational management

Maintain risk registers, manage budgets, and promote a strong safety culture. Use ecological data to inform decision‑making, ensure data governance compliance, and support effective reporting and monitoring of conservation outcomes through internal systems.

The successful candidate will ideally:

• HND in environmental conservation or similar (essential)
• Degree / post graduate qualification in environmental conservation, countryside management or similar (desirable)
• Minimum three years in similar role – to include experience of management planning and coordinating practical conservation work (essential)
• Health and Safety legislation/procedures relating to outdoor working (essential)
• Evidence-based decision making (essential)
• Demonstrable experience of securing permissions and consents required for conservation and land management activities on Trust managed wildlife reserves, as well as identification, mitigation and management of practical constraints, including but not restricted to environmental, ecological and archaeological (essential)
• Working knowledge of Construction, Design and Management Regulations in context of conservation projects (essential)
• Working knowledge of Controlled Activities Regulations (essential)
• Experience of delivering upland conservation projects including peatland restoration, urban reserve management, conservation grazing and /or native woodland planting and regeneration.
• Experience of working within rural areas of Scotland.
• Demonstrable knowledge of deer management and conservation grazing for nature conservation purposes.
• Demonstrable knowledge of conservation and land management to mitigate against wildfire risk.
• Demonstrable experience of communicating the importance of maintaining and expanding healthy habitats for wildlife and people.

About us

For more than 60 years, the Scottish Wildlife Trust has worked with its members, partners and supporters in pursuit of its vision of healthy, resilient ecosystems across Scotland’s land and seas.

The Trust successfully champions the cause of wildlife through policy and campaigning work, demonstrates best practice through practical conservation and innovative partnerships, and inspires people to take positive action through its education and engagement activities. The Trust manages a network of over 100 wildlife reserves across Scotland and is a member of the UK-wide Wildlife Trusts movement.

The benefits

• Flexi time/Hybrid working
• Salary sacrifice Cycle to Work and pension schemes
• Weekly wellness hour
• Generous Sick pay allowance
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
• Training and Development focus

The Stirlingshire Monitoring and Control Officer (MCO) will contribute to the protection of the Highland Line (HL), a coast-to-coast control zone which aims to prevent grey squirrels from moving north from Central Scotland into the red strongholds of the Highlands and Grampians. Progressed through a programme of targeted grey squirrel monitoring and control, you’ll help support the protection and expansion of red squirrel populations in accordance with the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels strategy. This role requires an approachable individual with experience in mammal control work that enjoys working outdoors and interacting with people.

Main objectives:

Delivering responsive and strategic grey squirrel control in the region primarily from the shores and islands of Loch Lomond, heading east to Callander and the Teith Valley to Doune; develop regional Rapid Response Monitoring networks in the region; recruit and train volunteers and external partners in grey squirrel control and monitoring; build relations with local landowners and stakeholders; and support the Argyll and West Dumbartonshire MCO with removal of grey squirrels from the Loch Lomond islands.

This includes:

• Carry out responsive and strategic grey squirrel control through trapping in priority areas
• Plan and support the development and expansion of a regional Rapid Response Monitoring (RRM) networks
• Assist with recruiting and provide appropriate training to volunteers and external partners in grey squirrel control, monitoring and detection methods
• Where required, carry out Operational Monitoring (OM) to assess squirrel presence e.g. feeder boxes and/or camera traps
• Monitor the spread of the squirrel pox virus through the Central Lowlands by carrying out trapping and testing in sampling survey squares
• Collect and maintain records on monitoring and trapping efforts using Excel, ArcGIS and the SSRS Hub (database) and contribute to reporting on project performance.
• Encourage interest in local red squirrel conservation with relevant local communities, landowners and stakeholders through media and events
• Support the Argyll and West Dumbartonshire MCO with the removal of grey squirrels from the Loch Lomond Islands through trapping and targeted shooting

The successful candidate will ideally have:

• A degree or equivalent qualification in ecology, countryside management or related discipline.
• A minimum two years’ experience in a relevant field, including practical wildlife management/ invasive non-native species control.
• Experience in collecting, maintaining and reporting standardised ecological data.
• Experience of working with landowners, gamekeepers, foresters and the public.
• Experience recruiting, training and supporting volunteers to undertake active conservation work.
• A good understanding of conservation principles, practices and legislation.
• Knowledge of native tree species and familiarity with the Trossachs and Stirlingshire area (advantageous).
• Willingness to occasionally work out of normal working hours.
• A full clean driving licence.
• Possess, or be willing and eligible to obtain, a Firearms licence.

Benefits

• Flexi time/hybrid working
• Salary sacrifice Cycle to Work and pension schemes
• Weekly wellness hour
• Generous Sick pay allowance
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
• Training and Development focus