Salary/Vehicle: Circa £40,000
Location:Home-based, with travel
Reporting to: Deputy director of conservation
Closing Date: 4 October 2024
Role information
Sustainable shooting delivers environmental, economic and social benefits across the UK, but this benefit often goes unrecognised.
The head of social science will work with national and international stakeholders to interpret and apply existing research and commission, or conduct, novel research to address knowledge gaps with an explicit goal to increase social acceptability of shooting in the UK.
This is not a theoretical or research-only post, and the post holder will be expected to work cross-departmentally to drive change in the shooting community and the wider public through the development and implementation of a wide-reaching strategy.
Our vision
All BASC employees are expected to contribute to our vision:
Fight for sustainable shooting and conservation of the countryside.
Key accountabilities and responsibilities
- Work with appropriate national and international partners to assess and understand the benefits to society that can be delivered through sustainable shooting in the UK.
- Analyse existing research and commission new work as needed to understand and address factors impacting the social acceptance of sustainable shooting in the UK.
- Develop and implement an evidence-based strategy to show the benefits that sustainable shooting can deliver and to drive change in members and the public in order promote the social benefits of sustainable shooting in the UK. In particular this may involve:
- helping shooters, the public, policymakers, media and governments understand the public benefits that sustainable shooting can bring to the UK
- educating shooters around environmental best practice, sustainable shooting and conservation
- enabling shooters to use conservation evidence to advocate for and showcase the benefits of sustainable shooting
- engaging shooters in conservation and helping manage conflicts through applying social science or conservation psychology concepts
- promoting understanding and awareness of sustainable game meat, game consumption and the wellbeing value of sustainable shooting.
- Build alliances with key stakeholders to promote understanding of sustainable shooting and to address public concerns.
- Represent BASC in relevant forums and technical events and promote BASC’s mission and values.
- Carry out any other duty in pursuit of the above as reasonably directed.
| Experience | Essential skills, knowledge and achievements |
Appropriate post-graduate qualification or at least five years’ relevant experience Experience of developing and successfully implementing cross-sectoral strategies and policies Demonstrable success in driving behaviour change or social acceptance through the application of social science and behaviour-change principles Enthusiasm to undertake work-based training Experience of accurate use of Microsoft Office packages including Word and Outlook Experience of providing a high standard of service to customers, ideally in a similar environment Experience of talking to customers/members and understanding their requirements Experience of working alone under own initiative Experience of planning and leading research projects. Experience of analysing and understanding complex social science issues and principles and presenting to specialist and non-audiences Excellent team player Able to work flexibly Enthusiastic and approachable Able to work positively within the spirit of BASC’s vision and strategy. | Highly IT literate with strong research, technical assessment, report writing, presentation and numeracy skills Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt the presentation of information for a range of audiences Empathy with the values and aims of BASC, commitment to achieving BASC’s vision and ability to contribute positively to BASC’s strategy Proven ability to think analytically and objectively, including appropriate statistical analysis skills Outstanding customer service skills when working for both internal and external customers Strong time management, organisation and problem-solving skills, with ability to work under own initiative and prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines for both planned and ad hoc projects An awareness and understanding of policy development An awareness and understanding of shooting and conservation related terminology, issues, and legal aspects Aptitude for building external partnerships and working cross-departmentally. Excellent working knowledge of the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) |
General requirements
BASC head office is based in Marford Mill, Rossett, with country and regional offices across the UK.
We have an agile working approach, with our core hours being between 8.30 – 5.30 Monday – Friday. We do expect some weekend and out-of-hours working to support our membership engagement. Your working hours are stated in your contact of employment.
You are expected to be flexible and agile and be willing to undertake any other duties that may be reasonably required.
All our employees must always act as a positive ambassador for the association when dealing with members or representing the association in other ways.
| Essential requirements for role | Delete as necessary |
| Driving licence | NO |
| DBS check | NO |
| Firearms certificate | NO |
| Shotgun certificate | NO |
