Trainee Data Officer

Duration: Full time (32hrs, 4-day week)
Location: Flexible within the UK, home-based. 

Closing date for applications: Midnight on Sunday 5th October 2025 – Please note we may close applications early if we receive a high volume of interest.

The Role

The Trainee Data Officer will join a growing team responsible for managing and optimising the organisation’s data, supporting daily operations, ensuring compliance and improving performance through innovation.

The post holder will work primarily in maintaining and improving our current databases and CRM, with an additional focus on removing data silos and integration of data across the company. As a small company the Trainee Data Officer role can be broad, allowing the successful candidate to gain experience across a range of work areas, from developing the CRM user interface and user experience, to designing new data models and architecture to support new work streams. There will also be some expectation to support the wider teams’ work on data governance and data quality.

The Trainee Data Officer grade allows new starters to learn the role and the skills required of the Data Team and includes ongoing mentor-guidance, and on-the-job learning, with day-to-day support available for all aspects of the work from established Officers, Senior Officers and the Team Manager.

Progression

Trainee roles are expected to step up to Officer grade 6 months after passing probation, typically at the 1-year mark. This comes with a salary increase to Officer grade. At the time of posting this job advert the Officer grade pay band starts at £31,850.

Key responsibilities:

• Work closely with the Senior Data Officers and Data Team Manager to support the ongoing development and delivery of key operational databases.
• Support the organisation’s use of data to improve performance internally.
• Digitise, standardise and quality assure data to maintain high quality across the company.
• Assist the wider team in developing and implementing improvements in data management across the organisation.
• Assist in writing data management policies and supporting documentation.
• Collate, process and present data in an appropriate format for different audiences.
• Respond efficiently to data requests from other departments and external stakeholders.
• To develop close working relationships with other members of the Data Team and other Teams within the company to ensure cross company information management is maintained to a high standard.
• Be responsible for managing their own workload and working independently, as part of the national team. High levels of personal flexibility and responsibility are given, but equally high standards of self-management are required.

Essential skills, knowledge, and experience:

• A relevant degree or 1 year of relevant work experience (e.g. a degree containing an analytic, data management or data science focus, or at least 1 year of relevant work experience in a similar role).
• Familiarity with a coding language such as R, Python, SQL or other.
• Experience in the use of databases or basic understanding of relational database principles (Zoho One, Zoho CRM or another CRM system is not essential but would be an advantage).
• Highly numerate with excellent attention to detail.
• Demonstratable experience of managing data or datasets.
• Organised, methodical and conscientious – able to juggle and prioritise multiple tasks.
• An excellent communicator with good inter-personal skills – able to liaise proactively and confidently.
• Excellent I.T. skills and high competence in Microsoft packages, primarily Outlook, Excel and Word.
• Self-motivated and independent – able to work flexibly with minimal supervision.
• Willing and able to travel to occasional team events as required.

Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience:

• Experience of managing or maintaining a database, as a project or as part of a role.
• Knowledge or familiarity with Zoho One, particularly Zoho CRM.
• Basic knowledge of good data management practices and demonstrable experience of data management on a project, programme or organisational basis.
• Experience of working in deadline-driven work environments.
• Experience or familiarity with home working in a cloud-based environment.
• Enthusiasm for, and knowledge of wildlife conservation issues.

Company background

Great crested newts have declined dramatically in the UK over the last 50 years and although still widespread across lowland England they are no longer common. Despite protection under UK and European wildlife law, numbers are still declining, and habitat loss is their biggest threat.

In 2018, the NatureSpace District Licensing Scheme was launched – set up in partnership with national freshwater and amphibian Non-Governmental Organisations as well as seven local planning authorities across the South Midlands. Since then, the scheme has expanded nationally and now covers over 65 local planning authorities across Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Milton Keynes, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Surrey and West Sussex.

The scheme allows planning authorities to authorise (under strictly defined terms) activities which affect great crested newts at the same time as they grant planning permission. The District Licensing Scheme has significant advantages for newt conservation and wider biodiversity benefits through a fully funded region-wide conservation strategy that creates high-quality habitat at a landscape scale and delivers long-term management and monitoring for newts, which is delivered via our partners at the Newt Conservation Partnership. The scheme benefits developers because the licensing process for great crested newts is simplified and streamlined.

NatureSpace also works with national infrastructure providers, such as Network Rail, to help them secure and deliver 'Organisational Licences' for protected species with the same conservation deliverables. The schemes are administered by NatureSpace, are regulated and approved by Natural England and are supported by the country’s leading amphibian and freshwater NGOs – the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and Freshwater Habitats Trust.

Company culture, employment benefits, and location

NatureSpace Partnership is a small (c.60 staff) but busy and rapidly growing company. Being a small organisation, everyone has a say in what we do and how we do it. Our agility and size mean that your voice will be heard and you will have the opportunity to directly see the results of your work.

Work/life balance is important to us. We actively support a flexible working arrangement so that our work fits in with our lives and we are open to exploring how this role could best work for you. The nature of the 4-day working week means we work intensely during work hours ahead of a longer weekend break.

The successful candidate/s will be joining a friendly, close-working team of home-workers and will have responsibility for managing their workload and working independently as part of a dispersed national team. The post requires high levels of motivation and high standards of self-management. Location is entirely flexible within the UK - this post will be mainly desk-based but some travelling to meetings in England may be required.

NatureSpace embraces equal opportunities, diversity and inclusion and we welcome applications from all suitable qualified and experienced individuals. To build a team of the most talented employees, NatureSpace is committed to being a flexible employer and we place considerable emphasis on wellbeing and job satisfaction.

We offer a significant benefits package for all staff including flexible working, a 4-day working week plus occasional mandatory Friday meetings, time off-in-lieu (TOIL) or overtime pay (in agreement with your line manager), 20 annual leave days (which equates to 5-weeks off per year in light of the 4-day working week, plus bank holidays, weekday birthdays and additional holiday over the Christmas period), an annual performance bonus of up to 20% of your pay, company pension contributions, company private health and life insurance, plus the option to join our electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme.

Applicants must have the legal right to live and work in the UK.

Interview dates: You will be notified by Thursday 16th October 2025 if you have been selected for interview; with interviews being held virtually (via Microsoft Teams) in the week commencing Monday 27th October 2025.

Expected start date: As soon as possible.