Thank You for Your Interest in the Post of Reserves Manager

Date as Postmark

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your interest in the post of Reserves Manager.

Please find enclosed with this letter a copy of the following information about the post.

· An application form

· A Job Description – Reserves Manager.

·  Person Specification – Essential Skills

·  Terms and Conditions of Employment

·  Staff Structure within Essex Wildlife Trust

Essex Wildlife Trust was founded as a Charity and Limited Company in 1959 by Essex people who were determined to protect interesting wildlife and important habitats and countryside. Essex Wildlife Trust is a registered charity, protecting wildlife for the future and for the people of Essex. The Trust has 87 nature reserves, 9 Visitor Centres, over 33,000 members, 100 staff and 2,000 volunteers.

You will be responsible for day to day management of nature reserves in the south of the county, organising staff, volunteers, contractors, liaising with landowners and neighbours. You will be working towards the EWT Living Landscapes Vision.

Responsibility for our nature reserves is divided up between reserve staff, the Reserve Manager will line manage a number of reserve staff and have volunteer wardens reporting to them.

Each nature reserve has a warden responsible for implementing the reserve management, whether this is staff or volunteer, so the Reserves Manager job is to support the work of the warden to ensure that the reserve management is correctly implemented. This is achieved by organising an annual Action Plan visits which sets out the year’s work programme, stating who and when the work will be done.

The Trust is signed up to many of the Agri-environment schemes, so the Reserve Manager must ensure that the terms of the agreements are met and any agreed work under is completed. There are other grants that the Trust benefits from e.g. English Natures reserve Enhancement Scheme and the Woodland Grant Scheme.

The Reserve Manager is also responsible for ensuring that consents and agreement for reserve management are in place.

The Trust welcomes people onto most of our reserves, therefore the Reserve Manager needs to ensure that our reserves are welcoming and safe for the public to enjoy and ensure that the reserves are a good reflection on the trust as the premiere conservation organisation in Essex.

The Trust has embarked on creating a living landscapes and living seas, a landscape in which people wildlife and the economy are working together so ensuring a future for Essex’s wildlife. The reserves of Essex wildlife are the building blocks to help develop these living landscapes and the Reserves Manager will be helping to ensure that our reserves our resources and our people are working towards this vision.

The Trust enjoys good relationships with other organisations and manages land on their behalf. The Reserve Manager needs to be able to continue and enhance our good working relationships.

This is a most interesting position that will enable the right person to apply their conservation knowledge and abilities to communicate with a wide range of organisations and individuals. You will need experience of working in conservation, with good people skills, IT and line management skills.

To apply for the post please return the application form together with your full CV and a covering letter explaining why you are suited to the post, bearing in mind the essential skills for the post. Please send your applications to our Headquarters at Abbotts Hall Farm.

Closing date for applications is 4pm Monday 24th February. Interviews will take place Monday 10th March at Abbotts Hall Farm, with appointment soon after. Due to the high number of applicants we normally receive we are not able to respond individually to all applications. If you are selected for interview, we will phone you and confirm in writing so if you have not heard from us by the Interview date you have not been successful and we take this opportunity to thank you for your application.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Neil Bedford

Senior Reserves Manager

Encs

Essex Wildlife Trust

Job Description for Reserves Manager

Overview: Essex Wildlife Trust aims to protect wildlife for the future and for the people of Essex.
It is a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. It is one of 47 Wildlife Trusts which form the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. The staff of Essex Wildlife Trust and its subsidiaries, Essex Wildlife Sales Ltd, Essex Ecology Services Ltd, Chafford Gorges Ltd and Thameside Nature Park Ltd, work alongside large numbers of volunteers and work within the policies and budgets agreed by the Board of Trustees and set out in the Strategic Plan. We are a dynamic and fast growing organisation with many opportunities, both to maintain our existing activities and to take on important new initiatives.

Responsible to: Senior Reserves Manager

Main Aim of the Job: To work to the Strategic Plan of Essex Wildlife Trust and within this plan to hold overall responsibility for the good management of the Trusts land holdings in the south area that you are responsible for. To apply Trust resources in terms of staff time, volunteer time, contractor time, equipment, finances, etc. which have been allocated to the Trust land holdings in the South area that you are responsible for, such that the most important work is done to achieve the Trust's objectives.

Main Responsibilities:

1. To encourage and support, under the guidance of the Senior Reserves Manager, the work of the Reserves Officers, Reserves staff, Volunteer wardens and Volunteers to work to the Trust’s Strategic Plan. To directly line manage some of the Reserves staff, the specific posts to be agreed by the Senior Reserves Manager which establishes a good first point of contact for each member of Reserves staff and each Volunteer Warden. Where appropriate give support to Reserves Staff as a Professional Lead.

2. To ensure that each of the Trust land holdings in your area has a current Access, Health and Safety Site Audit and that this is completed every two years and that the priority tasks are identified from this audit. To ensure that priority tasks and precautions are done to reduce risks and that if any accident or incident does occur that this is correctly reported and followed up.

3. To ensure that each reserve has a current Action Plan and where appropriate, work towards Management Plans being in place for each of the sites in your area and ensure they are written to the approved format. To ensure that the staff and wardens use their Management Plans to prepare an Annual Action Plan and carry out the priority work from this Action Plan. The Reserves Manager will be responsible for helping to keep the Action Plan / management plan database up to date with monitoring the priority reserve work that has or has not been achieved.

4. To take on the day to day responsibility of managing our nature reserves, which includes the work of the Reserves Staff and the volunteer wardens, deal with enquiries from them as well as from the public or other interested groups.

5. To ensure that reserves staff and volunteers are aware of the boundaries and tenures of their sites and make sure these are respected.

6. To work closely with the conservation staff to ensure, for example, that species and habitat recording is done in a way which is clear, can be recorded by the Records Officer and which can be used in an effective way.

7. To also take responsibility for ensuring that the wide range of equipment used by the Reserves Staff and Volunteer Wardens in their area is appropriate for the priority work and that this is used carefully and kept in good working order and to communicate and agree the timely use of machinery across the county.

8. To ensure, under the guidance of the Senior Reserves Manager that budgets are prepared relating to such work on each of the reserves you are responsible for and that, once approved, resources are managed effectively and for the greatest benefit towards the Management Plan objectives of the Trusts Landholdings.

9. To ensure that appropriate contracts are drawn up for contractors working on our nature reserves and to assist other reserve staff in the preparation of these contracts.

10. To ensure that we have in place appropriate legal documents and records in place for such aspects as grazing, pest control and other activities that need consent.

11. To ensure that consents are in place for reserve management work, particularly relating to protected species, TPO, Agri-environment schemes, Archaeological, Planning etc.

12. To ensure that reserve income is maximised by putting reserves into appropriate Agri-environment schemes and to assist other staff in the preparation of these grant applications providing these are compatible with Management Plan Objectives. To consider other ways of improving the income to the Trust through its reserves such as by sale of produce through Essex Harvest providing this is compatible with Management Plan Objectives.

13. To ensure, compliance and any work relating to cross compliance and Agri-environment scheme grants etc. is completed in good time and that any funds are claimed e.g. Entry and Higher Level schemes, Reserves Enhancement schemes, Forestry Commission schemes, and other grants.

14. To promote Living Landscapes and Living Seas across our reserves work and lead on LL and LS projects on EWT reserves and other landholdings where appropriate.

15. To ensure that opportunities are taken by the Reserves staff to celebrate successes on Trust sites and promote these in ways which support the Trust brand.

16. Experience of providing excellent customer service, understanding your customers’ needs

17. To work together with the Reserves staff and volunteer wardens on practical tasks where this encourages them, assists in getting the job done, improves line management and encourages their work as a team.

18. To ensure that other elements of Trust work in addition to species and habitat conservation are recognised within the work programs at a level that the reserves can sustain e.g. provision and interpretation for visitors, opportunities for membership recruitment, links with local communities etc.

19. Where appropriate organise a Reserve Management Forum and a warden’s thank you event.

20. To attend, report and play an active part in a range of meetings which are important to this position: Management committees for several major reserves, Trusts AGM, Staff meetings, Reserves Staff Meetings and other meeting as required

21. To undertake other comparable tasks under the directions of your line manager which are bound to occur in a busy organisation.

Essex Wildlife Trust – Reserves Manager

Person Specification

·  Formal education or training in conservation or land based industry.

·  Proven knowledge of wetland, woodland and grassland management.

·  Experience of working with and communicating with the public.

·  Understanding of wildlife legislation.

·  Proven experience of practical reserve management whether through contractors or working with volunteers.

·  Must have a valid driving licence.

·  Need to be physically fit, to walk around and undertake work on nature reserves

·  Must have proven ability to manage resources, prioritise workloads and work to targets.

·  Proven ability to use computers e.g. ability to use word, excel, email and internet.

·  Ability to prepare budgets and once approved strictly adhered to.

·  Good understanding of safe working practice, risk assessments and providing a safe nature reserve for public enjoyment.

·  Proven ability to enthuse, motivate and encourage staff and volunteers, to work within a team and encourage good working.

TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

Name of Employer: Essex Wildlife Trust

Title of Post: Reserve Manager

A detailed job description is available but this does not form part of the terms of employment.

Responsible to: Senior Reserve Manager who is Line Manager for this post.

Place of Work: Abbotts Hall Farm

Hours of Work: 37.5 hours per week, normally 7.5 per day excluding lunch breaks and other breaks. Normal office hours are 9 am to 5 pm; however, work will be required outside these hours, including some work at evenings, weekends and Bank Holidays for which time may be taken off in lieu. Guidance and procedures on claiming time off in lieu are included in the Staff Handbook, located on SharePoint.

Itinerary: You must complete a staff itinerary in advance for each week for your Line Manager to read, this must show the days you are working, the hours you intend to work and indicate key jobs you are undertaking. This is held on Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Instructions are in the Staff Handbook.

Salary: up to a maximum of £ 27,590 per annum depending on experience and qualifications and subject to review with your Line Manager. Salary is paid monthly in arrears. If for some reason it is clear that the Trust has over paid or under paid on one month it will adjust this by deduction or addition on the next month. Rates of pay are reviewed in November each year. Details of salary during Probationary period will be set out in your letter of appointment.

Travelling: When using your own vehicle on Trust business (excluding ordinary commuting) a mileage allowance may be payable (full details and current rates are available in the Staff Handbook). When you make a travel claim you will be asked to confirm that your private vehicle is appropriately insured, taxed and has an MOT (where applicable).

Travel at the beginning or end of the working day to/from your normal place of work is within your own time. It is not classed as working time and you are therefore not entitled to record time off in lieu for these journeys. If an employee travels from their place of work to another work related location or temporary place of work, this is normally in work time. If an employee’s role requires them to travel from home to a temporary place of work at the start of the day it would be reasonable for an employee to spend the first 30 minutes of the journey in their own time. The same would apply at the end of the day if an employee travels from a temporary place of work to home in that it would be reasonable for 30 minutes of that journey to be in their own time. Full guidance can be found in the Staff Handbook on SharePoint. Specific exceptions to this can be agreed by your Line Manager for going on a particular visit or training outside of Essex, where the length of the journey is more than a normal journey time you would do within Essex.