Natural Capital Consultant

Where land, nature and commercial opportunity come together

Ocean to Earth Recruitment is working with an established, independent environmental and land-based business to recruit a Natural Capital Consultant in Oxfordshire.

This is not a traditional environmental consultancy.

Our client brings together specialists across natural capital, ecology, forestry, arboriculture, landscape, soils and practical land management, allowing them to advise clients on environmental opportunities and then help turn those recommendations into tangible outcomes on the ground.

For the right person, this offers the opportunity to work at the point where nature recovery, land management and commercial decision-making meet.

You will advise rural landowners and developers on how their land can deliver greater environmental and economic value, considering what is practically achievable as well as what works commercially.

The Role

You will work closely with landowners, rural businesses, developers and colleagues from across the wider environmental team.

Your work will include:

• Assessing natural capital baselines and identifying viable opportunities for land
• Advising on established and emerging environmental and ecosystem services markets
• Exploring opportunities around Biodiversity Net Gain, carbon sequestration, nutrient neutrality, flood protection and regenerative agriculture
• Evaluating land-use options, revenue models and commercial viability
• Considering environmental, regulatory and delivery risks
• Helping clients understand practical routes from opportunity through to implementation
• Building trusted, long-term relationships with clients and sector partners
• Translating technical information into clear, commercially relevant recommendations and reports
• Sharing knowledge across the wider business as natural capital markets and policy continue to evolve

One of the particularly interesting aspects of this role is the breadth of expertise available around you. You will be able to draw on colleagues working across ecology, forestry, arboriculture, landscape, soils, GIS and practical land management rather than considering natural capital in isolation.

Who Could This Suit?

There isn't one conventional route into this position.

You could come from natural capital, rural estate or land management, environmental science, forestry, landscape or environmental consultancy.

More important is your ability to understand both the environmental potential of land and the commercial realities facing the people who own and manage it.

You will ideally bring:

• Practical experience of rural land, estate or environmental management
• An understanding of farm and estate economics, land-use trade-offs, tenure and regulation
• Knowledge of natural capital and environmental land-use opportunities
• Awareness of developing environmental markets and policy
• Understanding of planning and environmental policy, particularly BNG, EIA and Green Infrastructure
• Good GIS mapping knowledge
• Strong project management and commercial awareness
• Confidence working directly with clients and stakeholders
• The ability to assess opportunities, test business cases and communicate recommendations clearly

Knowledge of hydrology, catchment processes, surface-water management, flood risk or the interpretation of hydrological data would be advantageous.

Why Consider This Opportunity?

If you want your work to go further than producing a strategy or report, this role offers something a little different.

The wider business has the expertise to support projects from initial environmental assessment and opportunity identification through to design, implementation, management and long-term stewardship.

That means you can see how recommendations translate into changes on the ground and work alongside people who understand the practicalities of managing landscapes, habitats, woodland and rural land.

It is an opportunity to build your career within an established environmental business where different disciplines genuinely work together and where natural capital is approached as both an environmental opportunity and a practical land-management proposition.

Full-time, Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week.

Interested?

If your experience sits somewhere between natural capital, land management, rural estates, forestry and environmental consultancy, we would be very interested in speaking with you.

You do not need to tick every box. If you understand land, can recognise commercially viable environmental opportunities and would like to work somewhere that can take ideas from assessment through to delivery, please get in touch.

Send your CV to Vicky at vicky@oceantoearth.co.uk

Ocean to Earth Recruitment
Specialist recruitment across ecology, landscape, natural capital and the wider environmental sector.