Principal Ecological Consultant
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- Working at Place Services
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- Assistant Urban Design Consultant
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- Principal Ecological Consultant
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- A Day in the Life of a Senior Arboricultural Consultant
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- A Day in the Life of a Senior Landscape Consultant
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- Closing Date: 01 March 2026
- Location: Essex
- Contract: Permanent - Full-time
- Salary: £46,890 to £55,164 per annum
Place Services is a multi-disciplinary consultancy within Essex County Council providing environmental and planning services to the Council, local authorities and other public bodies. Our purpose is to support the public sector to deliver sustainable development. The purpose of the Principal Ecological Consultant is to co-lead the provision of ecological services to clients across the UK alongside our two existing Principals.
The Principal Ecological Consultant will oversee the delivery and development of ecological services, including specialist planning advice; ecological assessments; habitat/species management and habitat creation; habitat and protected species surveys; and multi-disciplinary projects.
The role requires a qualified, authoritative subject matter expert with advanced technical skills, knowledge and experience, including legislation, policy, standards and guidance; accomplished client relationship, information management, and communication skills; and a collaborative, enterprising, client focused approach.
Accountabilities
- Responsible for effective commercial and operational delivery of ecological and countryside management services including: managing a demanding caseload of the most complex and controversial development management consultations at all stages of the planning /consent process; evaluating and carrying out ecological assessments (HRA, PEAR, EcIA); advising on large scale and complex habitat/species management and habitat creation; designing and undertaking habitat and protected species surveys of all sizes and complexity, including new tools and techniques; and complex specialists tasks as part of multi-disciplinary projects.
- Collecting, analysing, and presenting complex data, evidence (including for enforcement) and advice to recognised standards, reviewing outcomes, and assessing third party compliance.
- Leading the development and review of complex, plans, policies and guidance.
- Responsible for commercial development of our ecology offer, bidding on high value opportunities, and managing high value projects and contracts against budget, specification and indicators.
- Building a professional, client-focused culture, and high-level client relationships, maintaining commercial awareness of our industry, key markets and sectors, managing accounts and securing feedback for continuous improvement.
- Leading the development and delivery of promotional and learning material, training activities and events, engaging with networks to enhance the recognition and reputation of Place Services.
- Building a collaborative, high-performance culture, leading effective team working and improving team and personal competency, continually seeking to enhance performance and practice of self and others, securing feedback, and building knowledge and skills.
- Identify and implement improvements to the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
The Experience You Will Bring
- Educated to RQF level 6 (Bachelor’s degree) with evidence of substantial post qualification experience.
- Strong evidence of continuing professional development and Full Membership of the CIEEM.
- Authoritative technical and subject matter expert, with comprehensive knowledge and experience of: development management and planning policy, legislation, and enforcement standards and guidance; assessment (PEAR, HRA, EcIA); habitat/species management and habitat creation; habitat and protected species identification and survey; and related office and site-based practices and procedures.
- Effective team management and people skills with experience of employee performance and development.
- Strong understanding of wellbeing and H&S, with ability to identify and implement safe working practices for self and others.
- Good understanding of commercial practices, with accomplished negotiation and communication skills and a track record of business development, including bid winning and the ability to inform, influence and persuade, building client relationships and managing high value accounts.
- Able to lead specialist and multi-disciplinary project teams and manage multiple, and large scale and complex, projects from concept through to completion.
- Advanced use of a range of common and specialist software packages e.g. GIS and/or other ICT tools, to implement complex data capture, management and presentation, and carry out high level analysis and interpretation.