Lead Ecologist

About the role

As a newly created position within a growing function, this role presents an exciting
opportunity to shape the future direction of ecological management within one of the UK's fastest-growing infrastructure sectors and influence the development of ecology capability across the wider business.

What you'll be doing

• Lead ecological input into bids, tenders and pre-construction activities across the
  Power portfolio.


• Identify ecological risks, constraints, opportunities and programme implications
  during early project development.


• Develop and review ecological sections of tender submissions, technical proposals, methodologies and environmental management documentation.


• Provide ecological leadership for optioneering, routing, design development and
  constructability reviews.


• Identify and develop opportunities for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and wider
  nature enhancement during bid and pre-construction stages, supporting clients
  and project teams to incorporate practical, deliverable and value-adding
  environmental outcomes into project designs, programmes and delivery strategies.


• Support the development of consenting and permitting strategies, ensuring
  ecological requirements are identified and programmed appropriately.


• Provide specialist advice on protected species licensing, habitat management,
  biodiversity net gain and ecological mitigation.


• Act as the technical authority for ecology within the ES Bid & Pre-Construction
  team.

Who we're looking for

Essential:

• Experience in Nature Conservation, Ecology, Biodiversity or closely
  related fields.


• Degree in Ecology, Environmental Management, Biological Sciences or a related
  discipline.


• Chartered Ecologist (CEcol) or working towards chartership.


• Full member of CIEEM.


• Extensive experience within ecology, environmental planning or nature
  conservation.


• Experience supporting major infrastructure, utilities, energy or construction
  projects.


• Technical understanding of UK wildlife legislation, protected species
  licensing and planning requirements.


• Experience developing ecological mitigation and consenting strategies.


• Experience managing specialist consultants and ecological supply chain partners.


• Commercial awareness with the ability to translate ecological risks into
  programme and commercial implications.


• Full UK driving licence and willingness to travel to projects when
  required.

Desirable:

• Protected Species Licence holder.


• Named Ecologist experience.


• Experience of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).


• Biodiversity Net Gain expertise.


• Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv).


• Master's degree in Ecology, Conservation or related subject.


• Experience supporting major transmission and distribution projects.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK's most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn't rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You'll have the freedom to shape the package that's right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

- Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
- 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
- Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
- Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more...

About us

Balfour Beatty's Power Transmission & Distribution teams work with regional, national and international electricity network owners and operators to provide technical engineering solutions across the full spectrum of the electricity grid, including overhead lines, cabling, substations and distribution networks.

From scoping and feasibility, to design, construction and on-going maintenance, our in-house experts, flexible resources and industry-leading innovations support customers in the development of some of the UK's most ambitious power transmission and distribution projects.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty, we want everyone to be able to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. We're making great progress through our Value Everyone DEI Action Plan, but we know we've got more to do. Find out more about our values and DEI initiatives.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

We are committed to our processes being barrier-free and will support adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please let the recruiter for this role know if you require any adjustments.

We're looking to continually improve our recruitment process, so if you have any feedback, please share this with us via candidaterecruitmentenquiries@balfourbeatty.com