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Rivers, Water & HydrologyConservation & WildlifeEcology
Interim CEO (Maternity cover)
Accountable for: 8 staff and a community of volunteers
DEADLINE: 20th January 2025
We’re looking for a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to cover our CEO’s maternity leave for a 10 month fixed-term period. The post will begin in mid-April 2025 and will include a handover period with our current CEO at the start and end of the contract.
You will be working alongside our Board, staff and volunteers to ensure West Wales Rivers Trust meets the strategic objectives of its 5-year (2024-2029) plan.
About West Wales Rivers Trust
West Wales Rivers Trust is a charity formed in 2017 following the amalgamation of the Teifi and Pembrokeshire Rivers Trusts. The Trust now covers more than 30% of Wales, including the counties of Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, Swansea and Neath Port Talbot, where we aim to protect, restore and enhance rivers, lakes and wetlands for people and wildlife. Our ethos focuses on working with local communities to deliver long lasting and cost-effective solutions for river issues while educating and empowering people to take their own steps to improve our water environments.
While we’ve been going for nearly 8 years, West Wales Rivers Trust was a very small team until 2023. Since then, our team has grown into a core of 9, split into river restoration and community engagement teams. In addition to our staff the Trust works with multiple supporting contractors and a strong network of community groups across West Wales.
We have delivered hundreds of kilometres of river habitat improvements, multiple barrier removals and fish passage easements, engaged thousands of people with their rivers and helped over 150 tributaries be adopted by local communities that we have trained.
Our core projects
How West Wales Rivers Trust runs
We are very proud of the organisation we have built, the pragmatic improvements we deliver and the community of people connected with their rivers that we continue to nurture.
Due to the size of our catchment area (a third of Wales) and the large amount of time we spend in the field, it is not practical for us to be based in an office. Therefore, all our team work remotely and are responsible for scheduling their own time as necessary to deliver their projects successfully and to within the required budgets and timeframes.
We deliver a wide range of improvements to rivers and their surrounding catchments by acting as facilitators – identifying the need for improvements, designing these either in-house or with consultant support, and then procuring and overseeing the delivery of improvements with either contractors or volunteers. Between the team members, we have extensive knowledge of rivers in the West Wales catchment, including via delivery of Fisheries Habitat Restoration Plans along the length of our main salmonid rivers. However, we can’t be everywhere at once and acknowledge that no one knows rivers as well as the communities that live alongside them, so we work extensively with local communities to upskill them as ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground, via a varied programme of community engagement activities under our Adopt a Tributary project.
Important relationships for this role
Internal – Board of trustees and staff members
External – Partners, Stakeholders, Statutory bodies (e.g. Natural Resources Wales, Local Authorities), Funders, Clients, Volunteers, Media
About the role
We are looking for an ambitious and motivated Chief Executive Officer (Maternity Cover) to manage the organisation whilst the current CEO takes maternity leave.
Responsibilities shall include, but are not limited to:
Leadership, strategic planning and delivery (20%)
Management and delivery (15%)
Income generation (50%)
Governance (10%)
Communications and public speaking (5%)
Your profile
We are looking for an exceptional individual that is committed to improving the health of our rivers. You will have substantial experience in leading small organisations within the not-for-profit sector. We’re looking for an experienced leader who has managed roles of HR, fundraising, partnerships, governance and public speaking. You will be an experienced fundraiser capable of seeking out and securing resources to assist with building the financial security of the Trust for the coming delivery period. As the lead spokesperson, you will have exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, so you can represent West Wales Rivers Trust work at events and promote our position to the wider public and in the media.
Essential
Desirable
The position
Hours
This contract will be for a fixed term of 10 months.
We will accept applications from people who wish to become part of our team from across the UK, however our preference would be for someone based in or close to the West Wales catchment, due to the time, financial and environmental savings from reduced travel.
West Wales Rivers Trust is a fully remote organisation.
Our offer
In addition to compensation, West Wales Rivers Trust offers:
Recruitment stages (dates tbc):
We intend to respond to every applicant for this role to inform them of the outcome of their application, but as a small team with limited capacity we may not be able to offer specific feedback to those not invited to interview. Applicants will hear back from us by Friday 31st January.
Recruitment will be subject to the receipt of 3 references.
How to apply Save Share
The West Wales Rivers Trust is a charity dedicated to restoring and safeguarding the rivers of West Wales for people and wildlife.
Our vision is an enhanced living landscape, where communities value their local rivers and where productive land use and clean rivers with flourishing wildlife populations exist in harmony in catchments that are resilient to changing climates, so that rivers may continue to provide benefits for both people and wildlife.
The West Wales Rivers Trust is a charity dedicated to restoring and safeguarding the rivers of West Wales for people and wildlife. Our vision is an enhanced living landscape, where communities value their local rivers and where productive land use and clean rivers with flourishing wildlife populations exist in harmony in catchments that are resilient to changing climates, so that rivers may continue to provide benefits for both people and wildlife.
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To apply, please send the following to [email protected] with “CEO (Maternity Cover)” in the subject line.
By Monday 20th January 5pm, please send us:
Interim CEO (Maternity cover)
