Senior Programming & Partnerships Officer

We have an exciting opportunity to join our project teams in the Somerset Coast and Countryside portfolio. This role will focus on engagement for the Mendip Landscape project: Heritage Pasturelands.

This is a part time role that would see you spending 2 days with the project team in Mendip. How you choose to work can be flexible between in person and home working, very occasional weekend working when events are on, however we will require the ability and willingness to attend in person meetings to fulfil the role.

The Mendip Landscape project is driving true partnership working across the Mendip 'super' NNR, to deliver 'landscape scale' grassland and woodland restoration for the local communities of wildlife and people to enjoy and thrive within.   

The team is friendly and welcoming, helping each other achieve our personal development and nature restoration goals to the best of our abilities. You will find yourself with plenty of support to understand the ‘lay of the land’ and will have a wealth of experience in the team to draw from. We are often in the office or out on site, working in person with our partners and other colleagues, the best way to learn is by getting stuck into anything and everything you can.   

We are a pretty social team as well, who frequently organise team days to get outside and do some practical work and always have a good time working together

"Connecting our visitors and communities with the landscape, to tell the story of our restoration work and inspire people to care for the environment."

In this role you will be responsible for shaping and delivering the project's goals for engagement with the wider community. This will include activities such as:

• Creating and maintaining good relationships with external ecological groups and volunteers.
• Organising and delivering community events, to share stories of the project work to a wider audience.

One of the primary responsibilities of the role will be to assist the establishment of a Mendip NNR monitoring forum. So- what do we mean by monitoring forum?

Every week, many enthusiastic naturalists go out across Mendip to record a wide variety of wildlife, including but not limited to numerous species of birds, mammals, reptiles, insects, and plants. Wildlife recording does not only bring great joy to those involved, but also gives us a better understanding of how our precious wildlife is doing. We want to establish a monitoring forum to enable naturalists to record across the Mendip landscape through facilitating access to multiple sites under ownership of various organisations, including private holdings. This provides naturalists with the opportunity to contribute to the understanding and management of the landscape as a whole and not a series of individual sites. By working together, and at scale, we are able to achieve so much more for nature.

In your role you will be making connections with local naturalists, monitoring volunteers and ecological groups to understand how they currently work, to make this idea come to life. Alongside a project manager and an ecologist, you will develop a community that people can join and contribute to which will have a lasting legacy in Mendip.

There will also be fair scope for you to shape your delivery within the project as you get to grips with the project vision and our communities, to engage groups in our work in creative ways.

• A charismatic and engaging member of the team with great people skills.          
• Adept at forming and maintaining strong relationships externally and internally.         
• Strong independent planning skills, able to prioritise actions and manage upwards.          
• A basic understanding of project delivery and working on a project team.           
• A basic understanding of countryside management or nature restoration work preferred but not mandatory.           
• Experience working with community groups preferred but not mandatory.           
• Experience working with volunteers preferred but not mandatory.  

The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

•Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary

•Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)

•Tax-free childcare scheme

•Rental deposit loan scheme

•Season ticket loan

•EV car lease scheme 

•Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts

•Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.

•Flexible working whenever possible

•Employee assistance programme

•Free parking at most Trust places

Click here to find out more about the benefits we offer to support you.