Job vacancies – National Biodiversity Network

NBN Trust Vacancy – Trustee to the Board

Mandy Henshall — Wed, 11 Nov 2026 16:16:58 +0000

Do you have the skills, experience, and passion to help guide a UK-wide environmental charity tackle the nature emergency using the power of data?

Would you be excited to join the board of trustees as we prepare for a full strategy refresh? The National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust) is looking to recruit Trustees to join our Board.

About the NBN Trust: National Biodiversity Network Trust

Over the past 26 years, the NBN Trust has fundamentally changed how biodiversity evidence is shared and used in the UK. What began as a pioneering, but relatively small data resource – fewer than 15 million species records – has grown into a world leading national infrastructure. More than 385 million records are now openly available through the NBN Atlas, our data portal, which is one of the world’s largest publicly accessible sources of biodiversity data, and is relied upon by conservationists, researchers, and educators across the UK and beyond.

This scale matters because better data leads to better decisions and crucially, this data is not just collected – it is used. With billions of records downloaded and shared globally, NBN Atlas data informs real-world decisions, from local conservation action to national policy and international research. As a trusted national platform, it also connects local recording to global initiatives such as GBIF: Global Biodiversity Information Facility, ensuring UK biodiversity data contributes to tackling worldwide environmental challenges. In short, the NBN Trust has turned biodiversity data into a critical national asset, powering evidence-based action to protect and restore nature.

The numbers tell a powerful story of an unprecedented expansion of ecological knowledge. But it is the collective effort behind this that has created a truly collaborative movement for open data. Much of the data we share is created by the UK’s remarkable community of volunteer wildlife recorders. We make sure that all their hard work has the greatest possible impact for nature as we work together through the National Biodiversity Network (NBN) – the UK’s largest partnership for nature.

Becoming a Trustee

We’re passionate about making nature conservation accessible to everyone, and we encourage applications from people from all backgrounds, including those that are under-represented in the environmental field.

As a Trustee, you’ll play a key role in supporting the NBN Trust’s mission by offering strategic guidance, oversight and specialist insight. Trustees share collective responsibility for ensuring the charity is well-governed, financially sustainable and operating in line with its charitable objectives.

Trustees are also responsible for meeting the legal duties set out by the Charity Commission, which include:

Ensuring the charity is carrying out its purposes for the public benefit
Complying with the charity’s governing document and the law
Acting in the charity’s best interests
Managing the charity’s resources responsibly
Acting with reasonable care and skill
Ensuring the charity is accountable

Trustees provide strategic direction, oversee performance and risk, and support the Chief Executive and staff team in achieving impact. While the role is non-executive, Trustees are expected to ask constructive questions, offer informed challenge, and act as ambassadors for the NBN Trust and its values.

You’ll play a key role in supporting the NBN Trust’s mission by offering strategic guidance, oversight and specialist insight.

Key Information

Time Commitment:

Approximately 7 -8 days per year, including attendance at four Board meetings, committee meetings, our annual conference and team workday as well as time for reading papers.
Board meetings are usually held in person at an accessible venue in London.. Occasionally, board meetings are held fully online using MS Teams. Board meetings take place quarterly, four times a year, between 11am-3pm.
Trustees are expected to sit on one of our committees. Committee meetings are usually held online each quarter.
Trustees are appointed for a three-year term, with the option to renew for one further term.
Applicants must currently reside in the UK.
All Trustee roles are voluntary, with reasonable expenses such as travel reimbursed by the Trust.

How to Apply

For more details, please see the Trustee pack.

Read the full details for this role and how to apply.

Applications are welcome on a rolling basis, with no closing date. We will contact all suitable applicants to arrange interviews.

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NBN Trust Vacancy – Senior Software Engineer – Backend & Data Services

Mandy Henshall — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 13:56:07 +0000

The National Biodiversity Network Trust is a specialist non-profit organisation with the mission of “making data work for nature”. We provide data management capability for the Biodiversity Community in the UK.

We are currently recruiting for a permanent position, initially working on a 12-month project. There is scope to extend the position beyond the current project subject to further funding.

The job is offered on a full-time basis, but we work flexibly. We are happy to receive applications and enquiries about different working patterns, for example working around school runs. We are looking for commitment to the project and for whoever we appoint to have us as their only employer for the duration of the contract.

Our people are based all over the UK and work remotely, so you must be able to work from home. You will need the right to work in the UK, or be ready to obtain it independently, and we take up two references after we make a job offer, one of which is from a current employer.

We are a supportive and friendly organisation and we welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and personal situations.

Salary – £45,000 per year

Application deadline – 31 December 2026

What we are developing

NBN Record Manager is a multi-tenant, cloud based data management system being developed for the biodiversity recording community. It will enable Local Environmental Records Centres (LERCs), recording groups and other organisations to collate, manage and share biodiversity records, replacing ageing desktop software with a modern, scalable application.

The system must accommodate substantial volumes of data from different sources, with varying structures, quality and consistency.

About the Role

We are looking for a capable, self-motivated Software Engineer to join our growing team and play a significant role in the continued development of NBN Record Manager.

This is a hands-on engineering role combining backend application development, data integration and database design. A major initial responsibility will be taking ownership of the migration of data from a staging database into the application’s data model, including designing transformations and resolving data integrity challenges.

You will also work closely with our Data Analyst, providing technical guidance and engineering support to develop reliable, production-ready data pipelines and deploy them to AWS.

You may also be required to work on the NBN Atlas and other projects within the NBN Trust.

The role offers a varied range of technical challenges and considerable autonomy. You will work closely with the Principal Software Engineer, contributing to technical decisions, architectural improvements and the long-term scalability and maintainability of the system.

Our technology stack

Our current technology stack includes:

Backend: Java, Grails, Groovy
Frontend: Server-rendered MVC, HTMX, JavaScript
Database: PostgreSQL
Data engineering: Python, Dagster
Infrastructure: AWS, including EC2 and RDS

Essential experience

Strong SQL and relational database skills, including performance optimisation with large datasets.
Experience with Python for data processing, migration and pipeline development.
Ability to analyse complex datasets, identify data quality issues and design appropriate solutions.
Experience with backend application development, ideally Java or similar.
Experience deploying applications or data pipelines to cloud environments, ideally AWS.
Ability to independently plan, design and deliver maintainable, well-tested solutions.
A commitment to writing clean, maintainable and well-tested code.

Desirable experience

Dagster, Airflow or similar data orchestration tools.
Java, Groovy, Grails or Spring.
AI-assisted development, including critical evaluation and testing of generated code.
MVC or server-rendered web applications.
Biodiversity data standards, such as Darwin Core.

How we work

We are a small team developing a substantial system, so engineers have the opportunity to make meaningful contributions and take real ownership of their work.

We favour pragmatic, maintainable solutions over unnecessary complexity, and value thoughtful technical design, clear communication and a willingness to investigate problems thoroughly.

We use AI-assisted development tools to improve productivity, while maintaining high standards of code quality, testing and technical understanding.

You will have support and technical collaboration from the Principal Software Engineer.

We can offer you a meaningful role making a genuine difference for nature, a place on a small, friendly and mutually supportive team and flexible, remote working with occasional travel agreed in advance.

Application

To apply, please upload your CV and covering letter showing how you meet the criteria for the role, at the link below.
Please make sure you read the Recruitment FAQs on our website before submitting your application.

Applications will be reviewed and shortlisted by a human on a rolling basis, and the role will close once appointed. There will be an initial interview to assess technical knowledge, and then a follow-up interview to assess alignment with the values of the organisation and goals of the project. Both will be carried out on Teams.

If you have any questions about the role that aren’t answered here, please contact Helen Manders Jones, Principal Software Engineer at h.manders.jones@nbn.org.uk

Finally, a word about AI: we know that many candidates are using AI to help them prepare their applications and have seen a significant increase in the number which seem similar and generic. We ask that people ensure their applications are a genuine reflection of their skills, experience and interests, and to ensure they verify any AI-suggested information. This will avoid damaging your credibility as a candidate and help us accurately assess your suitability for the role.

Thanks for your interest in working for the NBN Trust and good luck with your application.

Apply for the Senior Software Engineer role.

Benefits

Flexible working from home
Employer pension contribution of up to 7%
28 days holiday per year + bank holidays + Christmas closure days
Health cash plan, employee assistance programme and shopping discounts

The post NBN Trust Vacancy – Senior Software Engineer – Backend & Data Services appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

NBN Trust Vacancy – Trustee to the Board – Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee

Mandy Henshall — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 11:10:02 +0000

Do you have the skills, experience, and passion to help a UK-wide environmental charity tackle the nature emergency using the power of data?

Can you leverage your financial skills to ensure the charity maintains a strong financial foundation?

Would you be excited to join the board of trustees as we prepare for a full strategy refresh?

The National Biodiversity Network Trust (NBN Trust) is looking to recruit an individual to join our board of trustees. This individual will also fill the role of Chair of the board’s Finance and Audit Committee, playing a key role in leading strategic, non-executive oversight of robust financial management for the charity and ensuring that the board is able to meet its collective fiduciary duties. Candidates should have strong financial acumen and the ability to provide strategic and governance-level financial oversight.

How to Apply

For full details about the Trust and the Trustee role, please make sure you read the Person Specification, as well as the Recruitment FAQs on our website.

Please upload your CV and covering letter on the recruitment portal linked to below, addressing the criteria for the role. Please also complete the skills survey as part of your application.

Please provide contact details for two referees (who will not be contacted without your consent).

For any questions not covered in the information we’ve provided, please contact Pete Tomlin, NBN Trust Chairperson, at p.tomlin@nbn.org.uk

Closing date: Not set
Interviews: TBA

Successful candidates will be invited to attend the Finance & Audit Committee Thursday 21 January 2027 as an observer, and the Board meeting on Thursday 11 February 2027 as an observer and will be formally appointed at that meeting.

Apply for the role of Trustee to the Board

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