1022-349 Licensing Officer - C Grade - July 2026

The post-holder will be a key member of NatureScot’s busy licensing team which sits within the Wildlife Management Activity, undertaking a range of duties to support the delivery of NatureScot’s statutory licensing function. 

The NatureScot Licensing Team issue about 5000 protected species licences throughout the year. Licences enable actions that would otherwise be illegal.  They cover certain types of activity such as disturbance to protected birds and animals and are issued for purposes such as preserving public health and safety, preventing serious damage to livestock, development, science and research.  

We aim to provide an efficient and responsive licensing service that enables people to manage protected wildlife effectively, balancing legitimate needs of individuals and business with our regulatory responsibilities. 

• →Processing and issuing protected species licence applications, including assessing applications against the licensing tests and writing Statement of Reasons for issued licences; 
• →Processing licence returns and licence amendments; 
• →Assist in dealing with Freedom of Information requests, collating large volumes of requested information accurately and other reporting as required; 
• →Undertake compliance monitoring to ensure licence holders are complying with the conditions of their licence and report any licensing breaches to Licencing Manager/ Wildlife Crime Officer as appropriate. 

• Good understanding or experience of NatureScot’s licensing functions and approach, including knowledge of policy and legislation 
• Understanding and experience of wildlife management approaches and the need for wildlife management.   
• Good knowledge of Scottish protected species ecology 
• Ability to source, collate and analyse data from a variety of sources 
• Effective team working within a busy team including any experience of matrix management 
• Good communication skills (written and verbal) including the ability to effectively deal with a wide range of stakeholders and to understand and appreciate their needs including in relation to novel and contentious cases. 
• Good organisational and time management skills to effectively prioritise a high volume of reactive and proactive workload. 
• Can demonstrate ability to work using own initiative and to ask for help when required 
• Can demonstrate accuracy and attention to detail when undertaking day to day tasks 

Before applying for this post;

• Internal applicants should read the Self Service Guide (eRDMS A3155575)
• External applicants should read the Online Job Application Guide

If you have previously applied for a vacancy with NatureScot you must remove the supporting statement from your profile, before uploading a new version.

Whether working at home or in an office, or travelling to meetings and site visits, as a NatureScot you will contribute to our Net Zero plan, for example through positive carbon travel choices.

Mike Hordley, Senior Licensing Officer – Policy and Legislation. 

Email: Mike.Hordley@nature.scot 

recruitment@nature.scot

Nature is vital to all of us, so it is vital that we are an organisation for all of Scotland. The more diverse NatureScot is, the better we will be in connecting everyone with nature. We particularly encourage applications from people from Minority Ethnic (ME) backgrounds and people with a disability.