Community Engagement Officer - Coast to Coast Nature Trail

Community Engagement Officer - Coast to Coast Nature Trail

• Closing date Wednesday 29 April, 2026 @ 23:00 PM
• Fixed Term for 12 months (with the potential of an extension)
• £29,540 to £36,363 pro rata, per annum
• Part Time – 22 hours and 30 minutes per week (0.6 FTE)
• Based at Bainbridge, with the potential for some home working, and with travel across the Coast to Coast Nature Trail area

“We will transform the Coast-to-Coast National Trail into a vital corridor for nature recovery, connecting communities and landscapes to deliver lasting biodiversity and resilience across Northern England.”

We are looking for an experienced Community Engagement Officer to lead on the development and delivery of engagement activities for the Coast-to-Coast Nature Trail Project.

This project is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we’re exploring the creation of an extensive wildlife rich corridor of at least 60,000 hectare, along and around the newly designated Coast to Coast National Trail. The route spans three National Parks, a National Landscape and two Heritage Coasts, and has recently benefitted from upgraded signage and surfacing.

Around 77 per cent of the route lies within protected, nature-rich landscapes and Local Nature Recovery Strategies highlight key stretches as vital ecological links across a range of important habitats.

This project will assess the feasibility of creating a wildlife rich corridor to protect habitats and wildlife and create a coordinated, resilient and financially sustainable foundation for future nature recovery. New engaging materials will help trail users understand the landscapes they pass through and the role the route has in restoring nature at scale.

It will deliver three key outputs to support a further application to National Lottery Heritage Fund for delivering the next phase of the nature trail project. These are:

• People centred nature recovery
  • Kickstarting a vision for a model of people-centred conservation, stakeholder engagement will be at the heart of the project.
• Structures for landscape scale delivery
  • Embedding strong and inclusive structures and ways of working that will ensure that is in the best place to deliver at scale, with a framework that operates across the full length and area of the trail.
• Data foundations
  • Habitat survey methods trial and a baselining of habitats and species completed, data gaps identified as well as ecological connectivity opportunities highlighted

The role will work closely with and support a talented team of specialists, rangers and partners, across the protected landscapes of the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, North Pennines and North York Moors; as well as National Trails UK and colleagues from Westmorland Furness Council, Cumberland Council and North Yorkshire Council.

The role will be working closely with a Project Manager based in the Lake District National Park and the National Trails Data and Evidence Officer. Vacancies for these roles are available on each of these partners’ websites.

This is a part-time role (22.5 hours per week), fixed term for 12 months. The role is based at Bainbridge with travel across the Coast-to-Coast Nature Trail area and blended working opportunities. Join the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and help shape the future.