Environmental Consultant/Senior Consultant (with Marine Mammal Ecology expertise)

Competitive salary, aligned to experience.

Affric Limited is a growing, successful, and ambitious environmental consultancy based in Inverness, in the North of Scotland. Affric provide professional environmental consultancy services, from feasibility to decommissioning, across a range of sectors, many with marine elements. Affric has a small, focused team which provides a friendly supportive working environment. We work closely with our clients to offer a tailored service and to ensure successful project delivery.

Job Purpose

The main purpose of this Environmental Consultant role is to undertake a range of activities to support the delivery of energy, pipeline, and infrastructure (ports and harbours) developments. The appointed staff member will be an active member of the Affric team, providing environmental advice as part of multidisciplinary team, and will contribute to the day-to-day tasks of the consultancy as a whole. These will often include:

Support in the delivery of projects from initial feasibility;
Specialist input into Environmental Supporting Documents and Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIAR);
Guiding clients through the planning and/or marine licence application process;
Liaising with clients, with site visits, as required;
Providing construction environmental management support;
Producing high quality work within tight time and cost constraints; and
Carrying out any additional activities that may be reasonably required or requested.

The role also encompasses a need to demonstrate applied scientific knowledge within the topic of marine mammal ecology. As such, there is an expectation that the prospective candidate will provide specialist input into:

Marine mammal risk assessments and European protected species licence applications;
Marine mammal mitigation plans and/or monitoring programmes;
Survey design (on occasion, this may not be solely attributed to marine mammals and may involve other areas of marine ecology);
The processing, analysis, interpretation and/or presentation of acoustic data; and
Field-based work as required.

The starting position (Consultant or Senior Consultant) and salary will be commensurate with the successful candidate s previous experience. Future progression is not limited, and will be determined by performance. Relevant training opportunities to provide personal and professional development are also available.

The successful candidate will be based in the Affric Office near Inverness but may be required to travel to meet a client s needs. This may include working away. The successful candidate is likely to be involved in supporting the development of harbours and energy projects around Scotland, and further afield.

Knowledge Skills and Experience

Education & Qualifications

Educated to BSc level in a relevant field (ie, marine biology, ecology, conservation, or environmental sciences).

Desirable

Educated to MSc level (ie, marine mammal sciences).

Relevant Experience

Minimum of 2 years experience in the field of marine mammal ecology, derived from a relevant career in consultancy or research/conservation;
A working knowledge of technical assessments underpinning environmental work (eg EIA, HRA, baseline characterisation, scientific study design etc.); and
Strong technical writing and communication skills.

Desirable

Worked with stakeholders or organisations from a range of backgrounds or sectors;
Working with PAM/Acoustic data;
Experience developing marine mammal survey specifications;
GIS mapping expertise.

Competencies & Skills

Able to work under pressure and able to organise and prioritise workloads; and
Good understanding of marine mammal protections in the UK.

Desirable

Makes complex issues understandable to non-specialists;
Understanding of marine construction techniques; and
Good Understanding of UK environmental regulations and law.

Attitude & Disposition

Flexible and adaptable;
Positive nature;
Willing to work away from the office as requested;
Can work independently as part of a small team;
Understand how own role contributes to achieving the company s and personal objectives and goals; and
Willingness to contribute to projects that might be outside current areas of expertise.

Other

Full drivers licence.

Desirable

Sea survival qualification;
JNCC qualified marine mammal observer (MMO); and
Have an appropriate institute membership (eg, IEMA, CIEEM, IMarEST).

This unique role will provide extensive and varied professional development opportunities for the right candidate, with both desk and site-based experience. The ideal candidate will be willing to get involved at all levels of operations and take responsibility of delivering tasks to the required standard and deadlines. Given the dynamic nature of our client s operations, flexible working will be necessary, but this can be arranged to the benefit of the candidate, client, and business alike.

Company Benefits

Benefits of Working for us:

We are a close-knit, friendly team, with a supportive office atmosphere;
External and internal training;
34 days annual leave;
Pension scheme;
Payment of professional membership fees; and
Flexible working options and a healthy work-life balance are encouraged.

To apply please submit a CV and cover letter to info(at)affriclimited.co.uk