Land Advisor

Job Description and Person Specification

Post title: Land Adviser

Responsible to: Wyescapes Project Manager

Responsible for: To deliver land and habitat advice to participating farmers

Status: Full time, 37 hours per week

Duration: 2 year fixed term contract

Salary: £28,000 – 30,000.00 p.a.

Based at: Queenswood Country Park and working from home

Join us to play a key role in one of the country’s leading landscape recovery projects –
Wyescapes!

Introduction

In 2023 Herefordshire Rural Hub, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, Herefordshire Meadows, and the Wye Valley National Landscape successfully applied for a two year project development phase for “Wyescapes” one of DEFRA’s landscape recovery schemes. The project’s aim is to restore the Wye catchment to a healthy condition, so its rivers and
their tributaries can support the unique wildlife that depends on them, provide clean and plentiful
water, be resilient to climate change, mitigate flood risk, enable sustainable farming and provide
places for people to enjoy. We need you to join us as our Land Adviser, one of our key project roles needed to ensure
success.

About us

Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT) is a wildlife conservation charity for everyone who cares
about nature in Herefordshire. We are dedicated to protecting the unique habitats and special
wildlife in Herefordshire and encouraging people to enjoy, care for and act for nature. We own and manage
60 Nature Reserves across the county and have over 7,000 members. Our 2023-26 Business Strategy aims to place nature’s recovery at the forefront of tackling the climate emergency – for
wildlife itself, for the natural services it provides and for everyone’s wellbeing. Together we can make sure
that future generations living in Herefordshire will be able to enjoy the sense of wonder and
well-being that nature offers. HWT is committed to creating an organisation that recognises and truly values individual
differences and identities. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive culture where
everyone is able to be themselves and to reach their full potential.

Purpose of the job

The Wyescapes project is split into a number of different activities including the production
of: a land management plan, a stakeholder engagement plan, an access plan, a monitoring plan and a business plan. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust will be leading on the delivery of the land
management plan as part of the wider project and need to recruit a skilled and motivated Land Adviser. The land management plan provides the foundation for all other project deliverables and will
also inform the 20 year implementation agreement between the project and DEFRA. Over 40 Landowners have signed up to this scheme spanning 4500 hectares, this package of work will require the appointed land advisor to liaise with each of the participating landowners. 

The successful candidate will work with the participating farmers and landowners to identify opportunities to change current agricultural land use and create beneficial habitats along the
River Wye corridor. As a part of this project on each farm they will be required to:

• Identify and map current land use and environmental features;
• Identify and map existing access into and around the land including public rights of way, common land, permissive aces etc;
• Complete baseline surveys for target species, habitats, BNG units, carbon credits and map invasive non-native species;
• Collate detail of existing funding schemes and agreements and identify amendments that would be required to avoid duplicate funding;
• Identify opportunities for land use change on the farm;
• Identify and map the agreed activities that would be undertaken during the 20 year implementation phase and the outcomes that will be achieved;
• Demonstrate how the recommended actions are in the right place taking into account relevant factors;
• Liaise with contractors to provide an estimate of the expected costs for completing each activity;
• Identify legal consents and permissions required to implement the land management actions planned during the implementation phase;
• Liaise with regulatory bodies for the proposed works such as Natural England, Environment Agency, Local Authority, Historic England;
• Produce a project risk analysis and identify mitigations;
• Ensure all necessary land rights are in place to allow work to take place;

The successful candidate will be working with advisors from other organisations to deliver this
work and will report to a dedicated project manager based at Herefordshire Wildlife Trust. They will
be required to attend regular meetings with the project board and will need to liaise with other organisations that will be delivering associated elements of this project. They will need to
have an understanding of agricultural land use, habitat creation, wildlife connectivity and the
Environment Land Management Scheme. The successful candidate will need to be competent using Landapp and ARCGIS. They will need to be able to undertake baseline habitat surveys and undertake natural
capital assessments.

Other duties

1. Undertake Health and Safety duties commensurate with the post and as detailed in the
Trust’s Health and Safety policy;
2. Comply with all other organisational policies and relevant legislation e.g. Equal
Opportunities – it being the responsibility of the post holder to make themselves aware of such items
3. Carry out administrative duties, manage budgets and accounts, and report regularly to the
line manager
4. Take advantage of formal and informal opportunities for personal and professional
development, participate in appropriate training activities in consultation with your line manager
5. Cascade relevant skills and knowledge to relevant staff and volunteers
6. Act as an ambassador for Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, constructing and maintaining
positive relationships with volunteers, visitors and other organisations
7. Actively encourage those you with whom you come into professional contact to become members of HWT (all staff are regarded as membership recruiters)
8. Promote HWT through participation in HWT events, provision of ‘good news’ briefings for
internal and external communications and engagement with the media
9. Undertake any other work that might be deemed necessary by HWT commensurate with the level of responsibility of this post. Work with the broader HWT team on any other activities that
match your skills and abilities as agreed with your line-manager

Skills and abilities

It is essential that the post holder has:

• Full valid driving licence and own car, insured for business use
• Degree level or equivalent in environmental sciences/agriculture/conservation management/ecology or similar. Equivalent related experience will be considered as highly as academic qualifications.
• Demonstrable experience of successful practical project delivery and/or farmer engagement.
• In-depth knowledge of farming activities and agri-environment schemes.
• Experience using ARCGIS/QGIS and Landapp software
• Experience in habitat surveying and natural capital assessments.
• Excellent communication skills, for establishing and developing relationships with clients
• Self-starter able to work on your own without day-to-day supervision.
• Reliability, with good attendance and work performance.
• Confidence to carry out lone working
• Excellent organisational/admin skills and attention to detail
• The ability to work on your own initiative and as part of a team
• Good attention to detail and accurate record keeping

Desirable skills:

• BASIS Soil & Water and/or FACTS qualified
• Experience using the Farm Carbon Toolkit calculator
• Knowledge of Herefordshire and the Wye Catchment

Benefits:

• 25 days holiday plus bank hols p.a. pro rata with incremental increase with length of
  service
• 5 % Employer pension contributions
• Flexible working
• Health cash plan
• EAP (Employee Assistance Programme)
• Life Assurance
• Sick Pay
• Free parking
• HWT work wear as relevant
• Training & development
• Work and live in a beautiful rural county with a relatively low cost of living