JOIN US!
WE ARE RECRUITING TWO NEW POSTS

BUILDING A NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR RESILIENT LANDSCAPES AND SEAS
Part-time Administrative Assistant (0.5FTE)
Part-time Meetings & Events Coordinator (0.5FTE)

The Ecological Continuity Trust (ECT) is a registered environmental charity and not-for-profit company, formed in 2008 as a direct response to the loss of long-term ecological experiments (LTEs) throughout the UK. We are unique, being the only UK charity dedicated to supporting LTEs by providing much needed funds through our grants scheme and emergency maintenance funds. Our vision is to maintain and grow a strategic network of long-term ecological experiments across the UK and help ensure that experimental ecology is at the heart of evidence-based policymaking and sustainable land use. This includes safeguarding existing high-quality experiments and data, whilst also ensuring new facilities are planned for the long-term, and helping to translate their science into management practice. Read more about us at www.ecologicalcontinuitytrust.org.

The Partnership for Resilient Landscapes and Seas

With new grant funding, we are working closely with the British Ecological Society (BES) and several other organisations in the environmental sector to build a new Partnership for Resilient Landscapes and Seas that provides connectivity and support between large-scale projects aimed at landscape and seascape transformation and restoration. The Partnership’s vision and purpose are:

Vision: To enable the creation of large-scale land, freshwater, coastal and marine systems which deliver a more sustainable and resilient future for nature, people and climate.

Purpose: To build a more cohesive community around landscape-scale transformation. The Partnership for Resilient Landscapes and Seas exists to provide the ‘connective tissue’ between projects, enabling sharing of knowledge and mutual support. The partnership focuses on projects that are at least 500ha in scale and are designed to deliver multiple outcomes.

New Posts

We are seeking to recruit two new part-time posts to support the administration of the partnership and help coordinate meetings and large events as follows: 

Administrative Assistant at 50% of full-time under a two-year fixed-term contract who will support the ECT’s Executive Director and the BES’s President in organising and holding online planning meetings for the 13 partner organisations. Remuneration will be at £24,000 pro rata and the postholder will be contracted to work remotely from home. Days of work can be flexible by agreement with line management and further particulars are available via the link below.

Administrative Assistant - Download Job Description & Person Specification

Meetings & Events Coordinator at 50% of full-time under a two-year fixed-term contract who will lead in organising external working group meetings and at least one large annual national event under the guidance of the ECT’s Executive Director and the BES’s President. Remuneration will be at £29,000 pro rata and the postholder will be contracted to work remotely from home. Occasional travel to external in-person meetings may be required from time-to-time. Days of work can be flexible by agreement with line management and further particulars are available via the link below.

Meetings & Events Coordinator - Download Job Description & Person Specification

Applications

To apply for either of these two posts, please submit a CV (up to four pages) detailing your education, experience and wider skills, together with a covering letter (maximum one page) which details how your skills and experience match the essential and desirable criteria listed within the job description. Please state clearly which of the two posts you are applying for. The covering letter should be addressed to ECT’s Executive Director and sent via e-mail to ben.sykes@ecologicalcontinuitytrust.org.

Please note: Successful candidates must have the right to work in the UK; ECT cannot sponsor visas.

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Wednesday 28 May 2025. Shortlisted applicants will be notified during the week commencing 2 June and interviews will be held over 16/17 June 2025.

VOLUNTEERING WITH ECT

ECT maintains a small pool of volunteers who can be called upon from time-to-time to assist with ECT projects. We are now looking to grow this volunteer pool over the next 12-18 months. Volunteering can mean contributing ‘virtually’ from your home towards communications activities, or perhaps joining an open day or a volunteer maintenance team for a day at one of the 37 currently active long-term experiments on ECT’s national register.

We generally expect to call on volunteers once or perhaps twice each year on average, depending upon their availability at any given time. If travel to one of our sites is required, ECT will cover reasonable costs incurred by volunteers.

Volunteering is a great opportunity if you are enthusiastic about ecology and perhaps looking to gain charity experience.

Requirements:

• Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.

• Volunteers must be based in the UK.

 Registering as a Volunteer:

• Send an e-mail to Ben Sykes expressing your interest in joining ECT’s Volunteer Pool.

• Include a short paragraph describing any relevant skills/knowledge you may bring to a volunteer role. Relevant information could include subject knowledge, fieldwork experience, a passion for outdoor work and any previous experience of being part of a volunteer team.

INTERNSHIPS AND PLACEMENTS

We do not currently offer internships or placements at the ECT. However, such opportunities (particularly work or student placements) are possible at the experiments within our network. ECT can facilitate contact with relevant research institutes and organisations for direct follow-up. See our ‘Links’ page for more information on our partners to find out what they can offer. University or college students can access their institution’s careers service for valuable advice on finding and applying for internships and placements.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

ECT is committed to promoting diversity, preventing discrimination and creating an inclusive environment in which staff, trustees and volunteers can fulfil their potential and maximise their contribution to the aims and objectives of the charity. Everyone will be treated fairly and with dignity and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender, gender reassignment, marital status and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race and ethnic origin, religion or belief and sexual orientation. Our aim is that those of us involved directly with the ECT and those we interact with should be fully representative of society. Access ECT’s full EDI Policy.