Senior Beach Warden - Fixed Term

Job Description

If you are interested in making a significant contribution to the conservation of beach-nesting birds, then this may be the role for you!

What's the role about?

The Senior Beach Warden will be part of the Norfolk and Lincolnshire Conservation Team working closely with our Broads reserves and Suffolk Area teams. The work is based at Eccles-on-Sea, Winterton-on-Sea and Kessingland. The role is largely beach-based during the breeding season, but office work from Strumpshaw Fen, our Norwich office or home will be required. Given the remote locations and limited public transport, the ability to drive is essential for this role.

The Senior Beach Warden will work closely with our Team Leader and Community & Volunteer Officer to implement appropriate and effective 24-hour management and monitoring around the colonies, including:

• Colony management – ensuring all colony infrastructure is in place and functioning to ensure high standards of health and safety and welfare are maintained in challenging conditions.
• Maintain rotas to ensure safe working – support rota management for up to six staff and a dedicated team of over 50 volunteers to ensure that they are effectively deployed to cover day and night shifts safely.
• Kestrel diversionary feeding – oversee the work of volunteers to locate kestrel nest sites and implement effective diversionary feeding techniques.
• Support team management – assist inducting and training beach wardens and volunteers, notably monitoring and management capabilities.
• Relationships – help secure support from partners, community groups, and beach-users to achieve project objectives and develop effective communication between sites with beach-nesting birds. Speaking to beach-users will be essential to develop positive behaviours and address their concerns.
• Communications – help promote the project to highlight successes and encourage appropriate behaviours around the colonies.
• End of season reporting – support development of the end of season report.

This project has been running since 1986, with a huge potential to diversify how people engage with the work and make it is as inclusive as possible. The Senior Beach Warden will work closely with the Team Leader and Community & Volunteer Officer to develop appropriate opportunities.

The project is an important piece of work within The Broads and the Suffolk Coast Priority Landscapes. Priority Landscapes are the RSPB’s approach to delivering conservation at scale and provides a focus to direct our resources where they will have the greatest impact. The delivery of this work is a priority both locally and nationally for the RSPB.

This is an exciting time in the projects evolution and if you feel this is the role for you we look forward to hearing from you!

Essential skills, knowledge and experience:

1. Relevant degree or equivalent experience of species recovery projects.

2. Demonstrable practical field skills appropriate to the post, eg specialist identification, installing fences (rope and electric).

3. Ability to use own initiative to solve day-to-day problems in the field.

4. Experience of ability to manage a work programme and deploy resources efficiently and effectively to achieve objectives.

5. Excellent interpersonal skills with the tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills to manage staff and develop and maintain good relations with the owners/managers of land on which the team is working, as well as beach users.

6. Skilled use of Microsoft Office; able to organise and manage large data sets.

7. Able to drive in the UK (business insurance required to use personal vehicles).

Desirable skills, knowledge and experience:

8. Specialist conservation knowledge of habitats, species and environmental processes relevant to east Norfolk and north Suffolk, notably, seabirds.

9. Knowledge of, and adherence to, legal and practical requirements for maintaining health and safety in challenging field conditions, eg working with the public, lone working.

10. Knowledge of licensing and regulations surrounding field work, eg protected species in protected habitats.

11. Demonstrable experience of relevant research or survey techniques of a standard that provides the highest quality data.

12. Able to drive ATV.

This is a 7-month fixed-term role for 37.5 hours per week running from February to September 2024. The role will require weekend working and covering night shifts as needed to ensure safe operating of the colony.

The RSPB reserves the right to extend or make this role permanent without further advertising dependent on business needs at the end of the contract term.

We are looking to conduct interviews for this position on 9th & 11th January 2024. For further information please contact Philip.pearson@rspb.org.uk.

As part of this application process you will be asked to complete an application form including evidence on how you meet the skills, knowledge, and experience listed above.

If you wish to provide a cover letter with your application, please include this at the end of your CV document upload.

The RSPB is an equal opportunities employer. This role is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Before applying for this role, we recommend reading through the candidate guidance notes attached to the top of this advert.

We are committed to developing an inclusive and diverse RSPB, in which everyone feels supported, valued, and able to be their full selves. To achieve our vision of creating a world richer in nature, we need more people, and more diverse people, on nature’s side. People of colour and disabled people are currently underrepresented across the environment, climate, sustainability, and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we are particularly interested in receiving your application. Contact us to discuss any additional support you may need to complete your application.