Conservation Officer at Sussex Ornithological Society

What does the opportunity involve doing?

We are looking for someone to take a leading role in the SOS Conservation Team.

The SOS has established a unique niche in conservation matters in Sussex, using our database of over seven million records of birds in Sussex, plus the knowledge of the Society’s 2000 members, to work to ensure that development does not occur in the parts of Sussex that are still particularly good for birds. Working with partners such as Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT), RSPB, Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and the Woodland Trust we are able to exercise considerable clout on planning issues without having to be qualified planners ourselves.

Our work is two fold:

1) Responding to planning matters and particularly commenting on Local Authority’s Local Plans which lay out how many new homes they plan to develop and on where they plan to build them.

2) Proactively seeking to get protection for sites that don’t already enjoy some conservation protection, to make them better for wildlife.

What induction, training and support is offered?

This role will have considerable support from other SOS volunteers and members of staff of several Sussex based environmental charities. Some of the SOS volunteers have delivered considerable conservation successes in their working careers and operated at THE highest levels of the natural heritage conservation world. They will have your back, you will enjoy working with them and you will really benefit and learn from their support.

We think that the top three benefits of taking up this opportunity are:

1. Knowing that this role will benefit birds and nature in Sussex.

2, SOS is a highly respected, award-winning organisation. If you are seeking employment in the sector, this is an ideal opportunity to demonstrate to stakeholders in the highly competitive conservation sector, that you can deliver. If you are an experienced campaigner through existing or previous work, this also could be for you.

3, Being part of a winning team of volunteers (SOS has no staff) and building connections with the county's key environmental NGOs and stakeholders in local government.

What skills or qualities are needed?

We are now looking for someone to join us who is a natural communicator and networker and who can make things happen. Someone who is used to project work and can get into plenty of detail whilst keeping a clear picture of what the overall goal is. Someone who is able to work alongside the other members of the SOS Conservation Team as well as form effective teams in external partnerships, and is able to speak cogently, confidently and persuasively in public to a variety of audiences.

You don’t need to be a planner nor even an expert birder, but you do need to have a good knowledge of birding sites across East and West Sussex or be willing to acquire such knowledge. (Help can be provided here). You should also be computer literate and will need to become familiar with how to use our database. But above all you should be articulate and prepared to use our records to provide the necessary evidence, so that you have the confidence to speak out and say what is right for Sussex’s birds.