Chief Executive Officer / CEO

A high number of candidates may make applications for this position, so make sure to send your CV and application through as soon as possible.

Interviews and workshops will be held on 7th April 2022 at Queenswood Country Park & Arboretum.

This is an exciting, if challenging time, for all the Wildlife Trusts. We know that the connection of people to the natural world has strengthened during the pandemic. At the same time there is a growing recognition of the strong interconnections between the ecological crisis and the climate crisis. The political and legislative context in which we work is changing fast. Yet resources and funding are limited when urgent action is needed to address wildlife decline.

Herefordshire is a beautiful and diverse county. It’s sparsely populated, and this is reflected in the level of our core income, although the support from our membership is robust and growing fast and our land holdings are wide-ranging in habitat and location. The threats to our wildlife are great – not least the impacts of agricultural land use on our rivers including the iconic River Wye.

HWT has been saving, protecting and standing up for wildlife and wild places and bringing people closer to nature – but we have so much more to do. It will be essential for the new CEO to maintain, enhance and influence on wildlife and conservation issues in the county and potentially nationally. We may be small, but our ambitions are large!

We want to grow in order to do more, but we need to take a measured approach that builds on the excellent work of our retiring CEO and is mindful of the capacity of the organisation.

We are looking for a leader who is inspiring, resourceful and collaborative; a conservation champion who is fired up by the opportunities and challenges we face; who is a passionate but cool-headed advocate; who can take the long strategic view but also manage the detailed work of day to day business; who can engender trust and confidence as a team leader and with our partners; who is both creative and realistic; who is resolute and resilient in the face of obstacles and compassionate in their dealings with others.

We’re looking for those with proven senior management experience, whether in the public, private or voluntary sectors, who have experience of building and maintaining high value stakeholder relationships and external partnerships, identifying and maximising opportunities to secure expansion, support and funding. You’ll have good experience of general, HR and business management and of successfully leading change within an organisation. It would be a distinct advantage to have a background in a wildlife or environmental

organisation.

If you are successful, you will be supported by a strong and experienced staff team, by a talented and committed board of trustees, by an active and expanding band of volunteers and by the wider Wildlife Trust movement.

We hope you are inspired to apply!