Farming Officer

West Cumbria Rivers Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to improving the watercourses and surrounding catchments in West Cumbria for people and wildlife.  Our patch covers several principal river catchments spanning a substantial part of the Lake District National Park, West Cumbria and the Solway. We have an impressive track-record of successful delivery of projects.

We have a vacancy for a Farming Officer to join the passionate and growing team delivering the ‘Resilient Glenderamackin’ Landscape Recovery project — an ambitious, large-scale catchment restoration project located upstream of Keswick. Combining public and private investment through a blended finance approach, this pioneering project aims to support nature-friendly farming, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, restore rivers and watercourses, and enhance biodiversity across the wider catchment for long-term environmental and community benefit. Following the successful submission of deliverables for the Round 2 Landscape Recovery project development phase, we are now preparing to expand the Resilient Glenderamackin team—subject to confirmation of funding—to implement this ambitious 20-year project.

We are seeking a motivated and knowledgeable Farming Officer to play a key role in the development and delivery of this multi-million-pound programme. Working closely with the Resilient Glenderamackin project team, you will be the key point of contact for farmers and land managers involved in the project. Your knowledge and expertise will be instrumental in supporting farmers to transition to nature friendly, sustainable farm businesses, securing long term incomes. The role is wide ranging, from providing advice and ensuring alignment with (or transfer from) other schemes, to collecting monitoring data and sign posting to wider funding opportunities. You will contribute significantly to the creation and implementation of the RG Land Management Plan. You will also coordinate the Glenderamackin farmer group and support wider project activities as needed.

The successful candidate will have a degree, or equivalent experience, in an environmental or agricultural discipline and at least 2 years’ experience in delivering agricultural advice or environmental project delivery. Building and maintaining positive working relationships with the farmers and landowners, upon whose land project interventions will be delivered, is a key aspect of this role. Therefore, strong communication skills and the ability to deal with a wide variety of people in a friendly and professional manner is essential. You will be a self-starter who can demonstrate a committed, mature and flexible approach and have the passion to develop our work in the catchment. You will also have excellent organisational, I.T. and reporting skills. Training and support will be provided.

You will be part of a friendly and supportive team, reporting to the Resilient Glenderamackin Project Manager and supported by the Trust’s Senior Management Team, WCRT’s Trustees and the wider staff team as well as working closely with a wide range of external partners such as the Environment Agency, Farmer Network, Natural England and The Rivers Trust.

The Trust offers a range of benefits including a generous pension scheme, life assurance scheme, flexible working opportunities and a holiday buy-back scheme and a never-ending supply of tea and biscuits.

If you believe that you have the passion, commitment and skills to take this exciting opportunity forward then we would like to hear from you. For further details, please visit the West Cumbria Rivers Trust website:  https://www.westcumbriariverstrust.org/jobs

To apply for this post please send your C.V. with a covering letter setting out your experience and qualifications as highlighted in the job specification to recruitment@westcumbriariverstrust.org ensuring it is marked as ‘Farming Officer’ application.

If you would prefer, you can send your covering letter as a video of yourself explaining your suitability for the role. Make sure you explain your attributes in relation to the job specification. Let us know if you intend to submit using this method and we’ll provide a WhatsApp contact for you, alternatively, submit your video via the email address above. You must also submit a written C.V. to recruitment@westcumbriariverstrust.org.

All applications will be anonymised for the shortlisting panel. This means any reference to names, gender, address and age will be redacted along with any photos. If you have any questions, please email recruitment@westcumbriariverstrust.org and we will get back to you.

The closing date for applications is 9am on Thursday 14th August 2025. Interviews will be held at our offices in Keswick on Thursday 21st August 2025. 

If you would like to discuss the post further, please contact the office on 017687 75429 or email recruitment@westcumbriariverstrust.org.