Conservation Tech Lead

Conservation Tech Lead – Ruby on Rails & JavaScript

Location: Cambridge, hybrid – 2 days per month on-site

Salary: Up to £70K + 12% pension

Biodiversity is finally raising the agenda globally, following various agreements made at BioCOP15 in Canada in late 2022.

Monitoring and reporting financial disclosures and their impacts on nature will be compulsory for many large companies from early 2024, particularly those extracting resources, developing land or providing finance.

Working for a conservation partnership of 4 organisations this role will be working on a geospatial mapping tool which tracks biodiversity over land and oceans. The usership has doubled in the last 18 months with no signs of slowing. The platform is also used by conservation partners and governments to allow for more robust decision-making and policy creation.

You’ll work predominantly with Ruby on Rails and JavaScript to build new features, taking some ownership of design and architecture as you grow into the position and learn how your team work best. They use PostgreSQL and have lots of APIs which require maintenance.

Interestingly, you’ll have the best of several worlds in this role, being employed by a charity with a large broader tech team and a strong support network, events and workshops for upskilling and a wonderful culture, while being embedded in a specific product team.

You’ll manage around 4 people, though this will likely grow to ~7 in the next year. You’ll take ultimate responsibility for the platform, including touching on things like security, testing, documentation and coaching your team, though there are colleagues across the partnership who can support in areas outside of your skillset, e.g., security.

As the tool is geospatial / mapping focused, any experience using or building GIS tools will be hugely beneficial. Knowledge of conservation, rewilding, ecology, biodiversity, or any field within environmental science will also stand out, as will a demonstrable passion for tackling the climate crisis.

The team needs a leader with experience, someone who can manage resources, assess future priorities and requirements, identify gaps within the team skills matrix and maintain calm when deadlines are looming. This platform is the authoritative tool in the sector globally, and the aim is to maintain that prestige and impact.

So, if you’re serious about saving our planet and turning the tide against the fight to fix our climate crisis, this is a role you should apply for.

What are you waiting for?