Land & Farm Advice Service (LFAS) Manager

You'll be at the forefront of promoting nature-friendly and regenerative farming practices, with responsibility for the strategic development and day to day running of the service.

The Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust’s mission is to create ‘more nature everywhere.’ The Land & Farm Advice Service is a critical part of this mission. We work in partnership with landowners, farmers, local government and community groups, for a greener more sustainable future, by delivering high-quality ecological services, land management advice, and  instigating landscape-scale change for the benefit of people and nature.

To find out more about what we do please visit our website page.

What you’ll be doing

• Leading the business development of the LFAS, growing the profile and market share, and building a network of partners, contacts, and clients
• Estimating, bidding for and winning new contracts in a competitive market
• Working in partnership with BBOWT to collaborate on opportunities for the Trust to secure funded projects, where a joint approach brings about the best outcomes.
• Providing wildlife-friendly land management advice to landholders and farmers, including options available for public and private sources of funding and financial support.
• Engage with landowners and farmers, to find and develop opportunities for the consultancy’s services, and open doors for The Trust’s participation.
• Organise and deliver training and networking events.

What we’re looking for

• Experience in delivering environmentally beneficial land management advice to clients
• Skills in writing and reviewing project proposals, technical reports and management plans
• Evidence of managing commercial business operations
•  Evidence of leading on project management , from opportunity to client handover, on time and within budget.
• Evidence of working with a range of landowners, farmers, and estate managers, with the ability of forming long-term relationships at all levels

Salary: £46,150 - £47,540 per annum

Contract: Permanent

Hours: 37.5 hours per week full time, or part time 25+ hours per week. Flexibility in working pattern, in agreement with line manager

Based: Hybrid working

For all your hard work you can expect a great rewards package in return. In addition to being part of a friendly, skilled and knowledgeable team, passionate about making a difference, when you work for us, you’ll also receive

• Generous annual leave entitlement with paid birthday leave, balance days, urgent personal business leave and generous occupational sick pay
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and family-friendly policies
• Flexible working to achieve work-life balance
• Salary exchange pension with generous employer contribution
• Learning & Development Programme for all
• Wellbeing initiatives including qualified Mental Health First Aiders, YuLife benefit package - access to immediate and confidential help for any work, health, or life matters; 3x life assurance, online GP access, discounts and trade YuCoin points for gift cards
• Salary sacrifice Cycle scheme & Electric Vehicle scheme
• Membership to BBOWT’s, and The Wildlife Trusts’, Staff Network Groups for social interaction, peer support, mentoring and personal development

How to apply

For full details, please read the job description and T&Cs below. To apply, please follow the application link.

The closing time and date for applications is 11.59pm on Sunday 26/01/2025. First round interviews will take place online on 30/01/2025 or 04/02/2025.

BBOWT values diversity and inclusion and the benefits this brings. We want every candidate to have the best chance of success as part of this process. In order to do this, we know that some candidates will need reasonable adjustments. Contact us on recruitment@bbowt.org.uk if there are any reasonable adjustments we can provide during the recruitment process, including completing your application.

When applying for the role you can expect to answer a few questions online relating to the skills required and what you would be doing in the role. Your responses will be anonymised, randomised, and scored by a panel of reviewers. 

We don't use an application form, or CVs - your answers to our situational based questions will be scored against a review guide and scores from these will decide which candidates go through to the interview stage.  See here to find out why we do this.

Whilst we appreciate ChatGPT and other AI platforms can answer these questions, we know what they have to say (and generally the answer they generate isn't great). We want to hear your perspective written in your own words. If it is clear that any of your answers are not your own work, we reserve the right to reject your application on that basis. 

You’ll also be asked for information about your background, anything you feel comfortable sharing will be anonymised and will not be shared as part of the selection process, it will only be used to help us understand how we are performing against our equal opportunities metrics. All candidates will receive feedback on their application.

We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underserved within the communities in which we operate. This includes people from visible ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities (including those who are neurodivergent), the LGBTQ+ community, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and younger people. We are committed to creating an organisation that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.