Principal Consultant, Ecologist

Job Description

Locogen is a group of renewable energy companies headquartered in Edinburgh. Our vision is a world powered 100% by renewables; where everyone has access to affordable, sustainable energy and clean air. Our work is innovative and varied across onshore Wind, Solar PV, Battery Storage (BESS) and Hydrogen.

We are now looking for a Principal Ecologist to join our busy Planning and Environment Team. The team has a strong pipeline of work and interesting projects to work on. Everyone is friendly and encouraged to share their ideas and develop their skills.

About our Principal Consultant, Ecologist role

This is a role for an experienced Ecologist to lead on the ecological services for consenting renewable energy projects. You will act as the technical lead for ecology including: identification, assessment and management of ecological risks and constraints and advising clients on the implications and opportunities. You would also lead specialist work such as EIA, HRA and EcIA. In addition, you will also be leading a small team.

This is a predominantly desk-based role with occasional site visits.

Some of the things you might be doing

• Lead and support delivery of high-quality ecological consultancy and advisory services to internal and external clients.
• Oversee plan, schedule and organise all phases of ecological project work, ensuring necessary resources, budgets and controls are in place to meet both programme and budget requirements.
• Support development of technically robust and pragmatic solutions to complex ecological issues.
• Lead and support production of ecology reports including Preliminary Ecological Assessments (PEA), Ecological Impact Assessments (EcIA) and chapters for environmental statements.
• Undertake quality assurance of project deliverables prepared by other team members to ensure high quality outputs.
• Act as a key ecology point of contact for clients, including leading on the preparation of proposals for consultancy works and discuss new opportunities with prospective clients.
• Manage sub-consultants and sub-contractors to ensure timely delivery of works and value for money.
• Management of project budgets and programmes.
• Supervise and mentor members of the team and support their professional development.

Who would be a good fit for the role?

We are looking for an experienced Ecologist who has:

• Detailed knowledge of ecological principals, Biodiversity Net Gain, and relevant UK legislation, policy and guidance.
• Experience of leading and managing ecological surveys/licensing/impact assessment.
• Protected Species Survey Licenses and mitigation licenses.
• Comfortable leading on multiple projects at various stages in development and with evolving scopes, in the context of competing priorities.
• Experience in the preparation of tender documents for projects.
• Capable of developing and building excellent client and stakeholder relationships.
• Able to write clear, concise and accurate reports and communications in English.
• Experience of providing quality assurance on work undertaken by other team members.
• Experience with GIS Software.
• Full UK driving licence.
• A degree (or equivalent) in ecology or an associated subject. Membership of an appropriate professional body and ideally working towards (or obtained) Chartered Ecologist or Chartered Environmentalist status.

It would be great (but not necessary) if you have:

• Experience managing or supervising junior members of staff.
• Experience in Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW).
• Experience helping with business development
• Experience with Environmental Impact Assessment.

What is it like to work at Locogen?

This role can be UK remote or hybrid based in our Stockbridge (Edinburgh) office - the office is dog friendly, modernly kitted out and has free parking.

We are a multidisciplinary team of friendly, innovative, and creative people who are passionate about renewable energy. We are informal. non-hierarchical, inclusive, open, and collaborative. Locogen is a place where everyone can grow and develop supported by experienced people, doing innovative and interesting work.

We love what we do and believe in empowering and trusting each other to deliver. We learn from our experiences, take accountability, and hold others to account. We are client focused and inspire each other to do the best we can. We like a chat and value communication with each other and our clients. We are a social bunch so there is always something going on we have regular organised socials and get togethers.

Some of our benefits

• Hybrid working and flexible working hours available.
• 25 days holiday, plus 5 flexible bank holidays, plus 4 company closure days (25 and 26 Dec, 1 and 2 Jan).
• Work from abroad up to 60 days in a year.
• Ongoing professional and personal development opportunities - training, memberships and education costs covered.
• Private Health insurance.
• Life Assurance, Critical Illness, and Income Protection options.
• Pension at 10% (5% employee/ employer contribution split). We are flexible for employees who want to opt out or contribute more of their salary.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, sickness and other leave policies.
• Cycle to Work & EV Car Scheme.
• Dog friendly office.

How to apply & our recruitment process

No candidate will meet every single desired criterion. If your experience looks a little different from what we've identified, and you think you can bring value to the role, then we'd love to hear from you.

We are not using agencies to recruit for this role so please apply to us directly by emailing [email protected]