Community Engagement Specialist Consultant

Specifics:

• PT (~2.5days/week)
• 9 months
• Start Date 4 January 2027

Contract Budget: £29,250.00; plus modest travel and accommodation budget.

Consultancy: The consultant will operate as an independent contractor, maintaining control over their schedule, with agreed methodologies, and tools, provided all project milestones and data security standards are met. CAOLAS will not be responsible for withholding taxes, providing worker’s compensation, unemployment insurance, health insurance, retirement contributions, or any other employee benefits.

Travel: The consultant will need to independently travel and arrange for accommodation to lead community engagement activities for at least 6 community groups within the project area. A full UK driver's license is required and there is a modest, estimated amount of supplemental support for travel expenses in support of this role.

Reporting to: LASS Director with support from the LASS Administrator and Fauna & Flora Community Support Specialist.

Overview:

CAOLAS is a member-based community group founded in 2015 working in and around the Loch Sunart and Loch Sunart to Sound of Jura Marine Protected Areas with a specific focus in Sunart, Ardnamurchan, Acharacle, Morvern and Mull.

Our mission:

• Encourage & Promote sustainable use of the marine environment;
• Protect recovery of biodiversity & natural processes;
• Conduct research, surveys & investigations of the local marine area;
• Network across communities & other coastal groups;
• Engage & Involve the community and raise awareness of the marine environment and heritage.

For the last decade CAOLAS has been raising awareness about the issues facing our seas and for the last 5 years we have been involved in a Native Oyster Restoration Project (LNOP) in Loch Aline. CAOLAS is a member of the Coastal Communities Network, the Argyll Hope Spot and the Our Seas Coalition. We strongly believe that coastal communities must have a strong say in how their local waters are managed and they need to be supported to do so. Community-led marine management is already bringing about positive changes in our coastal communities. The LASS (Lochs and Sounds Seascape) project seeks to demonstrate the impact and benefits of community-led marine management and find a way to ensure community voices are included in marine policy decisions.

What is LASS?

The Lochs and Sounds Seascape project is in Year 1 of a 3-year development phase with support from Fauna & Flora with funding from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation.

The process to achieve community-led marine management requires collaboration, working in partnership with community groups and building and sharing community knowledge and practice across the area. LASS aims to build a framework around this process that will act as a tool for community-led marine management to be planned, implemented and evaluated by communities, ensuring that benefits remain local and coastal communities can thrive.

Working closely with the LASS Director, the Consultant will work with community groups within the area to design and deliver an engagement strategy utilizing accessible and inclusive engagement opportunities using a variety of methods rooted in the community empowerment ethos. The purpose of this will be to understand the values, perceptions, opportunities, barriers, and pressures experienced by coastal community groups in relation to their marine environment.

Focus Area:

The area of focus for the LASS project are the Loch Sunart and Loch Sunart to Sound of Jura Marine Protected Areas and the surrounding waters.

This area of focus acknowledges the existing spatial definitions of the MPAs. LASS will also include the surrounding waters out with the MPA, as these are functionally important to the seascape and hold values beyond the conservation objectives of the defined MPA's.

Deliverables:

To co- design with a minimum of 6 local groups appropriate methodologies and then deliver a tailored process of engagement that captures communities’ experiences of their local waters.

Analysis and synthesis of the results from the engagement process presented in a written report and a visualization of the results on a geo-located interactive map.

Outputs:

• Community engagement delivery plan for each community group prior to engagement, agreed and approved
• Summary report for each community engagement
• After action review for each community engagement
• End of project report with an analysis and synthesis of the results of the community engagement activities
• Interactive geo-located map representing the results
• Monthly progress meetings and reports
• Monthly invoices including travel expenses

Essential for the Role:

• Experience of meaningful co-design processes with communities in developing community engagement approaches
• Knowledge and experience with a wide range of community engagement methodologies, particularly methodologies that elevate community empowerment
• Experience of data analysis and integration of quantitative and qualitative data.
• Effective organising and facilitation of community engagement events and workshops across the area of focus, working in concert with community groups hosting events.
• Demonstrated experience with mapping (QGIS) to present values, perceptions of marine environmental issues, opportunities and pressures.
• An experienced practitioner able to work in partnership with community groups in an inclusive and supportive way.

Attributes, Skills and Knowledge:

• At least 3 years of community engagement experience in Scotland or UK.
• An awareness of issues impacting coastal communities in Scotland and the current marine policy landscape in Scotland.
• Excellent communication skills both in –person and across multiple digital platforms
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to work in a small team both independently and collaboratively and within a flexible and responsive approach.

The role will require working alongside the LASS Director with support from the LASS Administrator and Fauna & Flora Community Support Specialist. The role will require in person meetings across the project area which will require a full driving license and good organisational and planning skills.

On successful delivery of this work it is our intention to secure funding to continue this role in year 2 and 3 of the development phase of the project.

Closing Date: Monday November 16th 2026.