Hedgerow Officer (Maternity Cover)

Job Title: Hedgerow Officer (maternity cover)
Contract: Fixed term (14 months), full time
Salary: IRO £34,000 pa depending on experience
Reporting to: Working Landscapes Manager
Annual leave: 23 days pa + 3 taken between Christmas & New Year
Location: Hybrid with regular visits to London office and travel to farms around UK
Closing date: 5pm 7/8/26

Hedgerows

Hedgerows, an essential component of agricultural landscapes, are a really important habitat for wildlife. They provide homes to many species and act as corridors linking remnant habitat patches. This allows wildlife to move freely in the wider landscape. They also deliver a number of additional benefits providing shelter for livestock, regulating water supply for crops, reducing soil erosion, sustaining pollinator communities and storing carbon. Whilst the value of hedgerows has been widely recognized, many hedgerows continue to be lost or degraded.

PTES supports farmers and land managers by providing advice on managing hedgerows, detailed guidance on understanding the hedgerow management cycle and a free rapid assessment hedgerow survey app, Healthy Hedgerows. The app enables users to answer a series of simple questions which then provides bespoke management options. These can then be used to produce a farm or landscape scale management plan for creating a healthy hedgerow network. Read more about our hedgerow work here Hedgerows - People's Trust for Endangered Species

Job role

PTES is looking for a maternity cover, for up to 14 months, to lead on our hedgerow conservation work promoting the protection and restoration of this critical habitat. Working with farmers, land managers, policy partners, researchers and conservation practitioners, this role will communicate evidence-led methods to improve the condition, extent and resilience of hedgerows across the UK.

The Hedgerow Officer will be part of the Working Landscapes Team, reporting to the Working Landscapes Manager.

Main tasks:

Rural conservation work

• Maintain PTES’s position within hedgerow conservation in the UK, promoting evidence-based methods to improve the quality, connectivity and resilience of hedges
• Inspire and inform farmers and land managers about conservation management of hedgerows through direct engagement including online talks, e-newsletters, agricultural shows/festivals and in person workshops
• Advise farmers and land managers about relevant funding opportunities
• Support and promote the Healthy Hedgerow survey enabling land managers to carry out condition assessments and generate management advice
• Maintain the Healthy Hedgerows app in partnership with PTES’s IT Consultant
• Review and analyse data collected through the Healthy Hedgerows & Great British Hedgerow surveys
• Promote and, where necessary, develop hedgerow management guidance, such as infographics, webpages and social media posts, for target audiences, including multi-year and landscape-scale management plans

Policy

• Represent PTES at regular Hedgelink, Wildlife & Countryside Link & other policy meetings
• Promote the role of hedgerows in nature recovery, climate resilience and sustainable farming
• Monitor emerging threats and opportunities affecting hedgerows and advise the organisation accordingly

Reporting and finance

• Work with the Working Landscapes Manager to produce reports and updates for funders
• Contribute to fundraising applications as required
• Manage the hedgerow project budget
• Produce quarterly reports for board meetings, and other reports as required

Other duties:

• Use the Conservation Standards Framework to support adaptive project management
• Work with the PR Consultant to promote news and act as PTES spokesperson
• Maintain and update the hedgerow pages on the PTES website
• Assist with other habitat-related activity, if required
• Respond to external enquiries about hedgerows and other habitats and contribute to PTES-wide activity as required such as attending occasional external public events
• Work as a valued member of the Working Landscapes Team
• Other tasks as advised by your line manager

Professional skills and competencies:

• A science or ecology degree, or equivalent experience
• A good understanding of the agricultural community, and pressures and priorities of farmers
• A good understanding of hedgerows, their management needs and their importance to wildlife
• A clear understanding of UK agri-environment schemes and their impact on hedgerows
• Sufficient technical skills to interrogate databases, carry out basic data analysis and communicate effectively with website developers and app designers to problem solve technical issues or develop improvements
• An understanding of the Conservation Standards framework (desirable) or similar experience of adaptive management processes

Personal skills:

• Be an excellent communicator with a variety of audiences, such as farmers, policy makers, scientists and other organisations working in hedgerow conservation
• Have excellent organisational skills
• Be able to work independently and effectively as part of a team
• Be able to confidently and sensitively deliver face-to-face and online training courses, talks and other events
• Ability to travel around the UK as required to deliver face-to-face events

Working principles for all PTES staff:

• Commit to a respectful, positive working culture, displaying professional etiquette to ensure all staff, external colleagues and volunteers feel safe, valued and empowered
• Work collaboratively with other colleagues within teams and across the organisation; take accountability for achieving work objectives
• Undertake all duties in compliance with PTES’ policies, processes and code of conduct, role modelling inclusive behaviour to enable a diverse workforce
• Are cost conscious and respectful of funders’ money. In line with the Charity Commission’s guidelines, make good financial decisions to minimise cost and maximise impact by the charity
• Commit to personal and professional development and learning, and one-to-one meetings with line managers and direct reports where applicable
• Exhibit empathy with the mission and vision of PTES and devote work time to duties that algin with the strategy
• Demonstrate high enthusiasm for nature, conservation and public engagement with wildlife and wild habitats
• Are good external ambassadors for the organisation