Technical Coordination Officer

The Role

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a strategic species conservation strategy, by playing a key part in coordinating client-facing and internal operations.

The role requires someone who is meticulous, well-organised and an excellent communicator, with the ability to work adaptively with a diverse range of stakeholders. Importantly, we’re looking for someone who wants to make a meaningful difference for nature through their work. The role combines routine operational administration, client relationship management support, data quality scrutiny and client follow-up coordination. This work helps ensure the efficient local-level delivery of the scheme’s conservation strategy for great crested newts across England.

This new role sits within NatureSpace’s client-facing Technical Team. Initially, the postholder will primarily assist the team’s infrastructure Organisational Licensing division, while coordinating closely with existing support staff across the company for training and knowledge-sharing. The postholder will work closely with a small team of specialist technical colleagues to support the delivery and ongoing management of NatureSpace’s schemes, with scope for the role to evolve over time.

As part of a home-based team, this role involves a high level of independent working, alongside regular communication with colleagues in NatureSpace’s Technical Team and across the wider company, as well as clients and partner organisations such as the Newt Conservation Partnership.

Key responsibilities

This diverse role will coordinate the smooth running of our Organisational Licence schemes’ business-as-normal operations, with duties including:

• Champion data quality within the OL division across a large database and undertake routine quality assurance checks
• Monitor client agreements and contractual commitments, including renewals and payment schedules and invoicing for routine payments
• Support internal projects that develop internal procedures or set up new Organisational Licence schemes with client organisations
• Coordinate the OL division’s client follow-up activities from enquiries to completed projects, including collecting licence annual reports from all projects and coordination of any support to planning authorities where relevant
• Manage client inboxes and phone line systems
• Assist with coordinating impact forecasting activities to help shape how our conservation strategy is delivered to address local-level impacts
• Undertake accurate internal payment administration activities
• Assist in client relationship management administration, including accurate record-keeping of stakeholder contacts and monitoring progress of client requests
• Support the coordination of client meetings, site visits and industry events
• Coordinate compliance monitoring of client projects

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 the UK’s leading 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 70 local planning authorities across Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, 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 carried out via our partners at the Newt Conservation Partnership (a community benefit society formed of experts from Freshwater Habitats Trust and Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust). The scheme benefits developers because the licensing process for great crested newts is simplified and streamlined.

We also work with national infrastructure providers, such as Network Rail and National Highways, 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.

This is an exciting time for NatureSpace, as we advance new workstreams that build upon our successes; including our uniquely stacked high-integrity Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) offer and pioneering licensing schemes for other protected species.

Requirements

Essential skills, knowledge, and experience

• Degree-level qualification or equivalent experience in operations administration, project management, data support or a similar role.
• Experience working with large datasets and related quality assurance processes (experience of processing or cleaning data, or with geospatial data, would be advantageous)
• Excellent time management and organisational skills and the ability to respond to changing and challenging priorities within set timescales
• Demonstrable attention to detail and conscientiousness
• Good IT skills and competence in using Microsoft 365 package, including Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook and PowerPoint
• An effective communicator with good interpersonal skills, able to liaise proactively and confidently with a range of people, both in written and verbal formats
• A positive, enthusiastic and self-motivated individual who can work independently
• Able to thrive in a remote working environment with limited opportunities for in-person meetings and events throughout the year (e.g. company days)

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

Desirable skills, knowledge, and experience

• Enthusiasm for wildlife conservation in the UK. Conservation is at the heart of what we do.
• Professional qualifications in business administration, project coordination or office management are advantageous.
• Good project management skills and/or experience in supporting a project team.
• An understanding of topics relevant to the team, such as environmental assessment, protected species licensing and the UK development planning system.
• Experience working within the infrastructure sector, especially with rail, road or water industries.
• Experience managing contracts, service agreements and/or client accounts.
• Experience coordinating events, workshops and/or stakeholder meetings.
• Full driving licence with access to a car for business travel.

Benefits

Company benefits and culture

• 4-day working week (Monday-Thursday)
• Remote and flexible working
• Travel to meetings in England may be required a few times throughout the year, but we encourage the use of public transport, a car is not essential
• 20 days annual leave
• Plus bank holidays, weekday birthdays and additional holiday over the Christmas period
• Annual bonus scheme, up to 20% of your pay
• Company pension contributions
• Company private health and life insurance
• Individual employee development budget for relevant CPD

NatureSpace Partnership is a small (c.70 staff) but busy and rapidly growing company. Being a small organisation, everyone has a big say in what we do and how we do it. We are a forward-thinking company, working to high standards to deliver well-planned and meaningful outcomes. 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’re open to exploring how this role could best work for you.

The successful candidate will join a friendly, close-working team of home-workers as part of a dispersed national team. The role is mainly desk-based and can be based anywhere in the UK (there’s no central office), although occasional travel to meetings in central England will be required. You will be trusted to manage your own workload and work independently, so strong motivation, sound judgement and good self-management will be important.

To deliver better outcomes for nature, people and places, we need a team that brings different perspectives, experiences and ways of thinking to our work. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds with the relevant skills and experience for the role. We’re committed to building an inclusive workplace where everyone can contribute and develop, and we particularly encourage applications from people who are currently under-represented in the environment sector.

As summarised above, we offer a strong benefits package designed to support work/life balance and job satisfaction. Our 4-day working week means full-time team members work Monday to Thursday, with 20 days annual leave (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. Where additional hours are agreed with your line manager, these can be recognised through time off in lieu (TOIL) or overtime pay. Employees also benefit from an annual performance bonus of up to 20% of your pay, company pension contributions, and company private health and life insurance.