Are you an experienced marine consultant with a passion for leading and delivering high-quality environmental projects? Do you have a strong technical background in marine ecology assessments, including EIA, HRA, and WFD, and a desire to shape the future of a growing consultancy team? Have you got the leadership skills to mentor and develop others while driving business growth and expanding client relationships? We are looking for a skilled marine ecologist to join our marine consultancy team, playing a key role in delivering high-quality, innovative, strategic and specialist consultancy services to our clients.
As Principal Marine Consultant, you will lead on high-profile marine ecology projects, ensuring excellence in technical delivery. You will play a key role in managing tenders, interpreting ecological data for the purposes of impact assessment, liaising with key stakeholders, and producing and reviewing reporting outputs to contribute to the development of APEM Group’s capability and capacity in the marine sector.
Success in this role means taking an active leadership position, shaping business strategy, and expanding APEM’s marine ecology capabilities across the UK and beyond. You will have the opportunity to attend and present at conferences, engage with clients and stakeholders, and drive new business opportunities while maintaining the highest technical standards. You will apply your knowledge of marine benthic species and habitats, combined with a deep understanding of environmental legislation and assessments, to oversee and quality-assure outputs while mentoring and developing the team. Your ability to manage projects, balance financial considerations, and oversee a team of consultants will be key to driving continued growth and success.
To excel in this role, you will need extensive experience leading marine ecology projects, including conducting and coordinating EcIA and EIA inputs alongside a detailed understanding of marine invertebrate species and benthic habitat classification systems. A background in business development, client engagement, and stakeholder management—including working with statutory nature conservation bodies—is essential, as is experience managing large-scale projects with financial oversight. Strong report writing and technical review skills are crucial. Ideally, you will have an MSc (or higher) in an environmental or ecological subject, experience coordinating full marine EIAs and a range of different types of ecological assessments. Previous line management experience, membership of a relevant professional institute, knowledge of statistical analysis software such as PRIMER and GIS skills are also desirable.
You will be offered the chance to work on a variety of projects, many of our employees have worked on projects that have been of personal interest to them. We match this with a commitment to continuous development and learning to support your career. We also offer benefits to look after you, from private medical insurance for all employees, access to mental health first aiders and comprehensive income protection if you cannot work. We also offer superb flexible working options, balancing work with your life.
Next steps
We are focused on creating a diverse and inclusive team. If you can’t tick every box on our job description, then we are still keen to hear from you and are open to supporting your development. That may be working part time or supporting you to gain experience in a specific area – we are a growing company and are able to adapt roles to reflect individual skills.
If you think you have what it takes to join our fast-growing business, then please apply immediately on our website. All we need some basic information and your CV, we will review all applications quickly and will respond to all applications.