Urban Rewilding Officer

Job details:

• Position Level: Junior
• Location: London
• Job Type: Project Dev. & Delivery
• Contract type: One-year fixed-term
• Work Model: Hybrid (home, office & on-site)
• Wage: £27,000 annum pro rata (annual London Living Wage)

Who we are

At Citizen Zoo, we want to live in a world filled with wildlife, a world filled with the full spectrum of diversity, beauty, and abundance in nature. We realise this mission by restoring habitats back to their functional states, reintroducing species to their former ranges, and empowering people and communities to take action in protecting their local nature. Much of our work takes place in urban settings, challenging perceptions of how much nature our cities can and should support, and placing communities at the heart of pioneering, proactive rewilding.

We’re an organisation dedicated to rewilding, made up of a passionate team and volunteers around the country working to restore nature and help species and habitats thrive. To us, rewilding needs to capture both the rewilding of people and nature, where we work to reconnect people to the natural world.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone to deliver our many community and corporate engagement days throughout the year, support our project delivery and development on the ground, help expand our business offerings and support the day-to-day running of an ambitious and growing team. The role will involve contributing to a range of our urban rewilding projects, including Wild Tolworth, which is transforming an under-managed nature reserve into a pioneering rewilding site, and the Ealing Beaver Project, which reintroduced beavers to urban London for the first time in over 400 years. You’ll also support our species reintroduction and habitat restoration work, including projects focused on water voles, white storks, large marsh grasshoppers, and other species across London and the UK. This will include delivering community engagement activities, running education sessions with schools, and leading habitat restoration days across our project sites.

Who you are

You are an adaptable, driven and nature-focused person with a passion for rewilding and working with communities. You thrive by working independently, in an ever-changing environment that requires you to manage competing priorities amongst local, regional and cross-functional stakeholders.

You can identify the root cause of problems and have the dedication and experience to overcome these whilst thinking long-term. You are confident in your ability to deliver engagement activities such as wildlife walks, nature education sessions for children, and habitat restoration sessions. You will have a good knowledge and passion for wildlife, environmental education, and the ability to inspire people of all ages to connect with the natural world.

You are culturally curious and empathetic and seek to learn from multiple local perspectives.

The team & the role

We’re a not-for-profit community interest company with a dispersed team who mostly work from home. You will work as part of this remote team from home, with a particular focus on nature engagement activities across our project sites. You’ll also often work from our shared desk spaces in central London or our other sites across London and on other rewilding projects as needed. This role will work alongside the local community to enhance the local environment for both wildlife and people.

What you’ll do

You will be responsible for supporting and leading our projects and engagement activities across our portfolio of work, including:

• Rewilding days: delivering and running regular volunteering events with the local community, corporates and schools, on weekdays and/or weekends and organising and delivering nature engagement activities such as walks.
• Nature engagement: leading and facilitating wildlife walks, nature education sessions for children, and BioBlitz days in a safe, informative, and engaging manner.
• Session planning and preparation: planning and organising nature engagement sessions.
• Project management and coordination: supporting our various rewilding projects across London and the UK, including on the ground delivery, management and administration.
• Fundraising: assisting with grant funding and other fundraising initiatives to support new and ongoing rewilding projects at Citizen Zoo.
• Events: Attend events on Citizen Zoo’s behalf, running stalls to promote our work, engage people in wildlife and push membership or other fundraising activities.
• Anything else that may arise in connection with organisational needs.

Needs and qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or evidence of equivalent experience.
• Full driving licence.

Preferred skills and experience

• Project management/coordination experience.
• Knowledge of European flora and fauna relevant to London.
• Leading nature walks, educational sessions, or similar activities.
• Good communication and presentation skills and ability to speak publicly to large groups.
• Flexibility to work on weekends and evenings as required.
• Ability to work independently and without supervision.
• Demonstrable evidence as a self-starter & finisher with a ‘can-do’ attitude.
• Some knowledge of health and safety and safeguarding procedures when managing volunteers.

Working Hours

At Citizen Zoo, we have standard working hours from 09:00-17:30, but team members can start earlier or later if agreed with your line manager, because we want to accommodate the diversity of ways that people work efficiently throughout the day, accommodating both early birds and night owls alike. The role will also require occasional evening work and weekend work, which is always then given back as time off in lieu.

Location

You’ll be based in London, with office work carried out primarily from home, and quarterly team days at a central London office. You must be able to travel frequently to Kingston and Ealing, as well as other parts of Greater and Central London, and occasionally to East Anglia, where we also have an active project. Some national or international travel may also be required.

Benefits

In return for your enthusiasm and expertise, we’ll reward you with a competitive salary, pension, and an enviable range of benefits that include 24 days holiday a year (with the option to buy more days) that rises by one day per year of service after your initial 5 years at Citizen Zoo.

Perks

Social events and parties, as well as a day off for your birthday. We’re also proud to offer progressive and flexible working practices designed to give you the work-life balance you need.

Application Timelines & Deadline

Please submit your application by Sunday the 30th of November (cut-off at 23:55).

• Launch date: 03rd November
• Closing date: 30th November
• Candidate Review and 1st Interview Calls: 1-7th December
• Invitation to 2nd Interviews Deadline: 5th December
• Full interview day: 12th December

A note on using ChatGPT and AI tools:

We know that many people use tools like ChatGPT to help with writing and idea generation, and at Citizen Zoo, we also use AI to support our work. However, the questions in the application are designed to help us understand your perspectives, experiences, and motivations. We’d really love to hear your genuine thoughts and voice. So, we encourage you to avoid using AI tools for your answers where possible, or if you do use them, please make sure your responses truly reflect your own viewpoints and experiences.