Assistant Ecologist

Assistant Ecologist
Full Time – 35 Hours per Week
Salary: £24,479 - £25,390 depending on skills and experience
Permanent Contract
Location: Beechcroft House, Vicarage Lane, Curdridge, Southampton, Hampshire, SO32 2DP

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is shaping a wilder future for our counties – protecting special places, restoring habitats and inspiring people to act for nature. As part of the UK’s fastest-growing movement for nature’s recovery, we lead with passion, integrity and bold thinking. Join a team where your work has purpose, your ideas matter, and you can help create lasting change for wildlife and people.

We are seeking an Assistant Ecologist to join our cause.

This exciting opportunity is held within Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust’s Ecology team. In order to achieve our ambitions for nature’s recovery, we are looking for an enthusiastic individual to assist in the delivery of the survey and monitoring of the Trust’s Estate and support of Trust staff in the delivery of externally funded project work, through our ecological consultancy, Arcadian Ecology.

What you’ll be doing:

Duties will primarily include assisting officers with field survey work (including surveys for invertebrates, bats, soil, great crested newt, reptiles and water vole as well as coastal bird and visitor surveys), laboratory work, and data entry using spreadsheets and Geographical Information Systems (GIS), reporting and equipment maintenance.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to develop their ecological skills, contribute to meaningful conservation work, and play a key role in supporting our vision of a wilder Hampshire and Isle of Wight.

About you:

You are an ambitious and motivated developing ecologist, looking to further develop your knowledge and skills in the sector. Passionate about nature and conservation with excellent attention to detail, you are comfortable working both independently and as part of a team. You are willing to get involved with a wider variety of species and habitat surveys and bring strong field survey skills.

Wild About Inclusion!

As an inclusive employer we recognise that our workforce needs to better reflect the communities in which we live and work. We encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly those underrepresented within our sector, including people from black, Asian, minority Ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a Movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.

Disability Confident. We are proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer. The scheme is helping us recruit and retain great people to meet our workforce needs. As a member of the scheme, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. You can request adjustments including accessible formats of this vacancy by emailing [email protected].

To be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme you must:

Identify as being disabled which under the Equality Act 2010 means a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial*, long term** adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities; or a long-term health condition; and;

(*Substantial is more than minor or trivial **Long-term means 12 months or more)

Set out how you meet all the minimum qualifying criteria set out in the person specification for the post at the application and testing stages. This is a requirement for all candidates, not just those applying under the scheme.

We offer a wide range of benefits including a competitive salary, generous annual leave allowance, a contributory pension scheme, life assurance, learning and development support, 24-hour access to our employee assistance programme, discounted staff travel with our corporate partners Wightlink (subject to T&Cs), free parking at our sites and more.

Closing date: 30 September 2026

Interviews: To be confirmed

Please do not use artificial intelligence tools to assist you to complete the application form. We may not accept applications that have been completed utilising AI tools. If you would usually use tools such as these to assist you in filling in a form, please contact [email protected] to discuss this further and understand other options.