Location
Kirkwall, Orkney Islands (Mainland)

Hours
Full Time - 37.5 hours per week

Salary
£30,977 per annum

About the Role
Orkney is renowned for its landscape, history, culture, and unique wildlife. The Orkney Native Wildlife Project (ONWP) aims to protect Orkney’s globally important wildlife from the invasive stoat, first reported in 2010. Stoats threaten the Orkney vole, found nowhere else in the world, and many bird species including hen harriers, short-eared owls, red-throated divers, waders, and seabirds. This wildlife supports Orkney’s tourism industry and represents a vital refuge for species threatened elsewhere in the UK. The project involves collaboration with hundreds of local landowners to undertake the largest stoat eradication of an inhabited area worldwide, alongside comprehensive biosecurity measures to prevent reinvasion and ensure a sustainable legacy. The project is a partnership between RSPB Scotland, NatureScot, and Orkney Islands Council, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, EU LIFE, and NatureScot’s Nature Restoration Fund.

The posts are field-based on Orkney Mainland. We seek experienced mammal trappers with excellent organisation and communication skills to help deliver the stoat eradication operation. You will join an existing team and must work professionally within a close-knit, diverse group. The role requires working safely for prolonged periods outdoors across challenging terrain and variable weather, transporting equipment and materials to field sites with reasonable adjustments where needed.

Key responsibilities include checking, cleaning, and rebaiting DOC200 and DOC150 kill traps across a network of over 10,000 traps on a regular cycle, removing and disposing of catches, trap deployment and removal, implementing trap and vehicle maintenance schedules, collecting and entering trap and maintenance data into a database, assisting in stoat monitoring, engaging with landowners to maintain land access agreements, and other project tasks as required.

You will enjoy working outdoors, perform repetitive tasks to a high standard, and be passionate about the natural world. Attention to detail and accurate record-keeping are essential. You will identify and communicate emerging issues and risks effectively and inspire trust and support for the project. Driving ONWP fleet vehicles requires a full driver’s licence. Experience working collaboratively and sensitively with local communities and landowners is vital to maintain good relationships.

Experience
- Able to explain impacts of invasive non-native species on native wildlife and apply appropriate management in a field conservation setting
- Able to identify and resolve practical field issues independently to maintain planned work delivery
- Experience of wildlife monitoring, trail cameras, identifying field signs, mobile mapping applications, 4x4 driving, or other practical conservation field techniques is beneficial

About you
- Able to work safely for prolonged periods outdoors, including lone working across remote and challenging terrain
- Able to organise and prioritise workload, work independently to agreed plans, and adapt to changing operational requirements
- Able to collect, record, and maintain accurate field and equipment data using project systems and procedures
- Able to build and maintain positive working relationships with colleagues, landowners, and local communities to support project delivery and land access
- Focused individual with attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate records
- Confident communicator able to identify issues and risks and inspire trust and support for the project
- Passionate about the natural world and comfortable performing repetitive tasks to a consistently high standard

Qualifications
- Full, valid driving licence with ability to drive project vehicles across Orkney Mainland and linked isles
- Able to follow agreed health, safety, and biosecurity procedures while working in remote field locations