Project Officer / Senior Project Officer - NFM Delivery

The Ousewem project will fund a programme of Natural Flood Management (NFM) across the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchments. The project is managed by City of York Council and funded by Defra as part of the £150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to flood resilience and runs until 2027.

The project is an exciting opportunity to deliver practical actions to improve the catchment's natural environment and resilience to climate change while influencing future policy and practice. Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust (YDRT) are delivery partners in the project and have a key role in coordinating action, building the evidence base, and delivering NFM on the ground across the catchment.

The successful candidate will work with farmers, contractors, partner organisations, volunteers and other Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust staff to deliver natural flood risk management and river restoration projects. The funding for these projects is already secured.

This post is within Yorkshire Dales River Trust and will cover the Swale, Ure, Nidd and Ouse catchment.

This post will report to the YDRT NFM Programme Manager and work alongside an existing YDRT NFM Project Officer, and with a Natural England farm advisor who will be recruited over the summer.

The Ousewem project is developing a grant scheme which the Project Officer/Senior Project Officer will help implement and run, identifying farmers and landowners in priority areas and helping them to apply for the grant, including creating outline and final designs for NFM interventions, securing the necessary consents and permissions, and managing the delivery of work by contractors and volunteers.

The Project Officer/Senior Project Officer will manage all aspect of the projects, from inception to delivery, ensuring they are delivered on time, to budget and with agreed quality standards. Previous experience of delivering practical environmental projects, especially NFM projects, is therefore preferred however we will consider applications from candidates with relevant transferable sills and/or experience.

The Project Officer/Senior Project Officer will look for opportunities to maximise the benefits of the project and efficiencies through collaborative working. The Project Officer/Senior Project Officer will work closely with other Trust staff, Ousewem partners and key stakeholders across the catchment to identify additional funding or collaboration opportunities. The Project Officer/Senior Project Officer may be required to attend talks and events to promote the project. The Project Officer/Senior Project Officer will also promote the project through the Trust's website, social media and newspaper articles.

The role will be home based but will work across the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust's area. A hot desk is available at the Trust office and at partner offices as required for 1-2 days a week. The role entails a high degree of outdoor practical work, project management, monitoring and evaluation, and working with contractors whilst out on site. The post holder will be flexible, with occasional evening and weekend working. The post-holder will work well both alone and as part of a team of paid staff and volunteers. The post-holder will need to be comfortable working outside in steeper upland settings and in variable weather conditions

Salary: £27,500 - £35,000 (depending on experience)

Hours: 37.5 hours per week (will consider applications for part-time working and job share)

Probationary period: Six months. During the probationary period, the contract may be terminated with one week's notice.