Science Lead (Soil)

At Fera, we’re making the world a better, healthier and safer place. We’re a joint venture partnership between Bridgepoint and Defra and we’re working proactively to protect the world we live in and the food we eat. Our teams are investigating plant and bee health, crop protection and sustainable agriculture. Join us and discover better as you deliver world-class science for the future.

We’re seeking an experienced soil scientist who is looking for a career contributing to environmental research with a focus on soil health.   You will have the opportunity to work within a vibrant interdisciplinary community of engaged researchers tackling some of the most urgent and exciting interlinked global environmental challenges.

Sitting within our Land Use and sustainability team you will contribute to the delivery of natural capital projects for key public and private sector stakeholders and have exposure to our innovative response to the rapidly changing policy developments in environmental land management, tree health, food safety and biosecurity.

Role: Science Lead (Soil)

Salary: From £45,000

Location: Hybrid- BioTech Campus, York, UK

Working pattern: 37.5 Monday – Friday anytime between 7am & 7pm (flexi). 

Start date: ASAP depending on recruitment and onboarding timelines. 

Closing date: 27th June 2024 at 5pm

Candidates should be aware that this role will require travel which can involve staying away from home overnight between Monday and Friday, potentially for consecutive weeks during peak survey periods. Candidates must hold a valid driving licence.

• Providing dotted line leadership for a team of soil field workers with a varying degree of experience and expertise to help deliver environmental monitoring of programs of national importance. 

• Lead and deliver complex field surveys as part of a large team maintaining the highest standards of data collection as well as delivering soil classification surveys and soil sampling.

• Travelling, often to rural areas to deliver and manage survey works, at times staying away from home.

• Training, mentoring and technical supervision of a team of soil scientists.

• Liaise with landowners and other industry technical experts. 

• Contribute to the analysis and evaluation of research and interpretation of data, including working with inter-disciplinary teams to agree interpretations and derivations of key metrics.

• Contribute to the development of methods, client proposals and publishing of research findings.

• Preferably, you will be a graduate in soils science or a related subject such as physical geography, geology, environmental science or similar plus industry experience working in soil science 

• Significant understanding of pedology and related topics, with experience in undertaking soil surveys in England and Wales or equivalent experience in Scotland or abroad, with the ability to apply that knowledge to soils in England and Wales. 

• Demonstrable experience of Soil Classification

• Experience or exposure to leadership of technical teams, with a focus of coaching and mentorship 

• Wider soils and agriculture related expertise, including soil health, agriculture, soil management, ecology.

• Experience of organising and managing survey teams.

• A collaborator with the ability to work alone or as part of a team.

• Excellent communication skills and impeccable attention to detail 

• Expertise in complex survey delivery and experience in contributing to the design, development and implementation of quantitative/qualitative methodologies and mixed methods research.

• Competitive salary from £45,000

• 23 days’ holiday (rising to 27) with the opportunity to buy extra leave.

• Flexible working hours, on-site gym, restaurant, and free parking

• The opportunity to take a paid day out of the office, volunteering for our charity partners or a cause of your choice

• Company matched pension, life assurance, a cycle2work scheme, 15 weeks’ fully paid maternity, adoption and shared parental leave, paternity pay of two weeks…and plenty more.

• Voluntary benefits designed to suit your lifestyle – from discounts on retail and socialising, to health & wellbeing, travel and technology

• Access to our Employee Network Groups, which represent every strand of diversity and allow colleagues to connect and learn from each other on an open, inclusive platform

Choose ‘Apply now’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you. If you have any questions you’d like to ask before applying, you can contact recruitment@fera.co.uk

We’re an equal opportunity employer, which means we recruit and develop people based on their merit and passion. We’re committed to providing an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment process and working environment for everyone. If you need the job description or application form in an alternative format or if you’d like to discuss other changes or support you might need going forward, please email at recruitment@fera.co.uk and we’ll get back to you.