Green Earth Developments Group | Certified B Corp
Principal Ecologist (Biodiversity Net Gain)
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Do you want to make a real impact on the UK's nature recovery efforts? We're looking for a Principal Ecologist to help lead the technical delivery behind one of the largest and fastest growing habitat bank developers in the country.
Role: Principal Ecologist (BNG & Habitat Banks)
Location: UK-wide / Home-based | Regular travel to sites
Package: £50,000–£60,000 (DOE) + Private Healthcare + Company Car
About us
At Green Earth Developments Group, we develop and manage habitat banks and nature-led projects that deliver real, measurable biodiversity outcomes. We sit at the intersection of ecology, planning, and delivery, helping developments meet Biodiversity Net Gain requirements while restoring nature at a landscape scale.
As mandatory BNG reshapes the market, we're growing our in-house ecology capability and we're looking for a senior, experienced Principal Ecologist to help lead that journey.
The role
This is a hands-on, senior ecology role for someone who is confident with BNG, the Metric, and real-world decision-making.
- Act as an internal technical lead, supporting delivery teams day-to-day
- Handle complex or time-critical ecological trades
- Work collaboratively to ensure robust, high-quality ecological inputs across an expanding portfolio of projects
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Our office is based in Greater Manchester. The right candidate will need to be able to travel there to work as a team one or two days per week.
What we're looking for
- Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and confident use of the Metric
- Solid understanding of ecological trades (including unusual or time-sensitive trades)
- A strong understanding of ecological-planning law/rules and the planning interface
- Habitat surveying and condition assessments
- GIS systems (at least for ecological data collection)
Initial focus of the role
You'll work closely with our Head of Nature Delivery and the wider team to:
- Support the team with day-to-day resolution of ecological questions and queries
- Complete ecological trades when required
- Monitor and QA-check BNG quotes, ensuring outputs and assumptions are robust
- Complete Green Metrics and manage GEDG's supply of habitat units
- Assist with completion of the annual GEDG ecological monitoring of all registered habitat banks
- Assist with the roll-out and management of GEDG ecological GIS systems
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Direction of growth
Over time, the role will expand to include:
- Delivering baseline ecological assessments for future habitat banks
- Working as part of a cross-specialisation GEDG team to design future habitat banks
- Writing management plans for future habitat banks
- Day-to-day management of any junior ecological roles
- Undertaking Ecological Clerk of Works duties as needed (nesting bird checks, badger sett checks, etc.)
- Undertaking soil sampling on registered habitat banks and monitoring soil conditions as necessary
Package
- £50,000–£60,000 (DOE)
- Private healthcare
- 4WD Company car so that you can travel to our sites without any issues
How to apply
Send your CV plus a short note covering:
- Your BNG/Metric experience (and examples of trades you've handled)
- Habitat surveying and condition assessment experience
- GIS tools you're comfortable with (even if mainly data capture)
- Your experience at the ecology–planning interface
If you're an experienced ecologist who likes combining strong technical judgement with real-world delivery in a fast-paced environment, we'd love to hear from you.
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