About Ushtaghyn glen – Faarkey follan (Clean waters – Healthy seas)

This is a new and exciting project, funded through the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme and represents a significant opportunity to lay the foundations for long-term, integrated ecological restoration across the connected terrestrial and marine landscapes of the Isle of Man.

A first for the Island, the project will bring together conservation organisations, landowners, public bodies, community groups, businesses and local communities to co-design a shared ecological restoration vision and practical implementation plan. The work will extend from 
upland catchments through freshwater systems to coastal and marine environments, recognising that healthy ecological processes depend on connectivity across the whole landscape and seascape.

The project is a partnership between Manx BirdLife, Manx Wildlife Trust and the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture with support from stakeholders including Biosphere Isle of Man, Manx National Heritage and others.

Purpose of the Role
We are seeking an ambitious, highly organised and collaborative individual to lead the coordination and development of an exciting new programme of landscape-scale nature restoration across the Isle of Man, from the uplands and river catchments through to the coast and marine environment.

As Project Officer, you will act as the central coordinating point for a partnership of 
organisations working together to develop an ambitious, evidence-led restoration plan for the Island. Working to a multi-partner Steering Group, you will bring together expertise, data and ideas from across organisations and communities, helping to turn a shared vision for a 
flourishing land and sea environment into a practical and investable programme of action.

A key focus of the role will be to build a strong understanding of the people, organisations and landholdings that make up the Island’s hydrological system, from source to sea. You will lead stakeholder mapping and analysis, develop an effective communication and engagement plan, and work with partners and local communities to ensure that a diverse range of voices are involved in shaping future restoration. Using a range of audience-appropriate approaches, from 
community meetings to digital engagement, you will help build understanding, support and enthusiasm for nature recovery. You will also coordinate the development of an evidence-led matrix of restoration opportunities, 
identifying barriers to ecological processes and biodiversity alongside the feasibility, costs and potential impact of different interventions. Taking a whole-seascape approach, you will help 
identify where restoration can deliver the greatest ecological, social and economic benefits and where investment can create the conditions for natural processes to become increasingly self-sustaining.
 

A further key responsibility will be developing a targeted funding and investment plan, identifying potential long-term funding mechanisms and opportunities to support delivery. You will help to articulate the case for investment and ensure that the final restoration plan provides 
both an inspiring vision for the future and a clear, practical prospectus for implementation.

To enable this the project will develop a place-based Theory of Change, connecting the Island’s terrestrial and marine environments – from upland landscapes and riparian corridors, through lowland catchments and into coastal waters. You will help ensure that this shared vision is 
embedded across the project and that the resulting restoration plan is holistic, sustainable and capable of delivering long-term environmental resilience.

We are looking for someone who is an excellent communicator and relationship builder, with strong project management and organisational skills. You will be comfortable working across organisational boundaries, managing multiple workstreams and bringing together people with different expertise and perspectives. Experience of environmental restoration, catchment management, marine conservation or land management would be highly valuable, as would an 
understanding of stakeholder engagement, funding development and partnership working.
 

The Project Officer will be employed by Manx BirdLife and will work closely with the three main project partners and the wider Steering Group. Specialist partners will lead on a legislative review and technical assessments, while the Project Officer will coordinate these activities 
alongside the wider programme to ensure that knowledge, evidence and outputs are effectively integrated.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a central role in shaping a long-term approach to nature restoration across the Isle of Man, connecting land and sea and helping to maximise the contribution of nature to climate resilience, biodiversity recovery and the Island’s wider 
environmental, social and economic wellbeing.

If you are passionate about nature recovery, partnership working and creating practical solutions to enable landscape-scale restoration, we would like to hear from you.