Field Operations Manager Ecological Restoration
DETAILS
(m/v/x)
Organisation: Elzéard Foundation
Location: Cross-border region.
Belgium, the Netherlands and GermanyEmployment: Full-time position
Salary: Competitive salary, depending on experience
Start: To be discussed
We are looking for someone who can not only understand restoration, but also make it happen.
Someone who can read the landscape, organise fieldwork and give natural processes more room — with both feet firmly in practice.
Not a conventional land manager.
Not a desk-based ecologist who mainly writes reports.
But someone who can bring plans, people, machines, seasons, soil, water and landscape together, so that ecological restoration truly takes shape on the ground.
Field implementation · ecological restoration · field teams · landscape processes
Context
Elzéard is a mission-driven movement committed to restoring living systems at landscape scale. Guided by a clear ecological compass, we are working on an ecological corridor in which natural processes and regenerative land use give landscapes and ecosystems the space to recover as one coherent whole.
At the heart of this work is the development of a cross-border ecological corridor in the Belgian–Dutch–German region, where fragmented landscapes are reconnected and species and natural processes can begin to organise themselves again.
As part of this work, Elzéard is building strong operational capacity for ecological restoration in the field. This role is essential in translating ecological direction, restoration plans and landscape ambitions into consistent, high-quality implementation on the ground.
In the first phase, you will also contribute to the field implementation of LIFE ToadAlly, a European nature restoration project focused on amphibians and aquatic connections. Your role will be in the practical coordination, quality assurance and documentation of restoration measures — not in the full financial or administrative handling of the subsidy.
Role & responsibility
As Field Operations Manager Ecological Restoration, you are responsible for the day-to-day realisation of ecological restoration in the field.
You ensure that restoration is not only designed, but actually happens — with clarity, consistency and sensitivity to the landscape. You combine practical coordination of field operations with ecological insight, and work close to the system itself.
You read the landscape, adjust interventions where needed and ensure that natural processes are given as much room as possible. You see where water stagnates or disappears, where soil, woodland edge, open ground or pond responds differently than expected, and where timing within the season becomes just as important as the original plan.
The Conservation Lead safeguards the ecological direction, restoration priorities and methodological choices. You ensure that those choices become executable in the field: through planning, teams, practical interventions, follow-up and day-to-day adjustment. What you learn in the field, you bring back into ecological decision-making.
For botanical restoration, you work closely with the Manager Botanical Restoration & In-situ Pépinière. That role carries the botanical restoration chain. You contribute to field implementation, practical planning, field conditions and follow-up of restoration measures.
Within projects such as LIFE ToadAlly, you take on operational project responsibility for Elzéard’s field actions. You safeguard practical progress, follow up planning, implementation, contractors and field teams, and provide the necessary technical input for meetings, deliverables and reporting. Formal financial administration, CINEA reporting, timesheets and subsidy-related evidence are handled in close collaboration with administrative and financial leads.
What you will do
Your role is shaped around four core tasks:
1. Implement restoration
Practically develop and implement restoration measures for woodland, water, soil and cultural landscapes, in coordination with the Conservation Lead.
Read the landscape and align interventions with what the system requires.
Work with natural processes such as succession, hydrology, disturbance, colonisation and the restoration of dynamics.
Strengthen the autonomous functioning of ecosystems.
Safeguard ecological quality and long-term impact.
Prepare and follow up field measures such as pond restoration or pond creation, hydrological interventions, woodland edge development, soil restoration, invasive species management, planting preparation, microhabitats, dead wood, rough vegetation, scrub, mowing management, grazing or other interventions that give natural processes more room.
Ensure that restoration measures are not only technically implemented, but also ecologically sound in timing, scale, location and execution.
2. Build the system
Set up clear work processes, planning and implementation.
Manage field teams and external contractors.
Create structure, rhythm and consistency in the work.
Help build a robust operational system that can carry restoration over the long term.
Develop an operational system that does not remain dependent on improvisation: clear seasonal planning, field logs, materials management, safety agreements, task division, follow-up and simple reporting.
Practically coordinate the implementation of Elzéard’s actions within LIFE ToadAlly, including planning, field follow-up, documentation of completed measures and preparation of technical input for consortium meetings and reporting.
3. Solve problems
Detect bottlenecks in the field and in the organisation.
Develop practical, often unconventional solutions.
Continuously adjust based on what works.
Take responsibility until something is actually resolved.
Seek solutions that are at the same time practical, safe, feasible and ecologically responsible.
Do not get stuck in analysis, but act, observe and adjust again where needed.
4. Experiment & learn
Test and refine restoration methods.
Work iteratively: try, observe, adjust.
Contribute to a learning system in the field.
Actively look for ways to give natural processes more room.
Document what happens, what works and what does not, so that the team can refine restoration methods and transfer knowledge.
Together with the Conservation Lead and other relevant roles, translate field experience into better methods, better timing and smarter implementation.
Profile
We are looking for someone who combines ecological insight with strong implementation capacity and a grounded, hands-on way of working.
More specifically:
You have a strong affinity with rewilding, ecosystem restoration and natural processes.
You think and work systemically, while remaining close to the reality of the field.
You are strong in implementation: you get things built, organised and working.
You can manage people and organise work with clarity and calm.
You are a problem-solver who quickly sees what is not working and intervenes.
You work accurately, with attention to detail and quality.
You are comfortable with uncertainty and learning by doing.
You like being in the field and accept that good fieldwork also requires planning, registration, documentation and follow-up.
You can move between field teams, contractors, volunteers, ecologists, farmers and internal colleagues without losing sight of the essence of the restoration work.
What you bring
Experience with ecosystem restoration or comparable practical experience.
The ability to translate ecological knowledge into concrete implementation.
Experience with fieldwork and project implementation, for example within LIFE, Interreg or comparable projects.
Basic knowledge of ecosystems such as woodland, water and soil.
Practical insight and independence.
An intrinsic motivation to make landscapes wild and self-sustaining again.
Fluency in French, Dutch and English, or the willingness to further develop these languages.
Experience with planning, contractor follow-up, field logs, technical documentation or project-based reporting is a strong asset.
You do not need to be a subsidy administrator, but you do understand that high-quality field implementation also requires good documentation, timing, evidence and reporting input.
What we offer
A hands-on role with direct impact in the field within a landscape-scale restoration project.
The opportunity to help build an operational system for ecological restoration.
A working environment focused on quality, craftsmanship and the long term.
Autonomy in implementation, within a clear ecological direction.
Work in a small, committed team, with direct and informal collaboration.
The opportunity to become part of a broader international movement around rewilding and systems restoration.
The opportunity to contribute to a unique restoration project, including LIFE ToadAlly, without having to be the full administrative LIFE project manager.
Close collaboration with the Conservation Lead, the Manager Botanical Restoration and other roles within the growing core team.
A context in which practical judgement, deep ecological sensitivity and responsibility truly make a difference.
The position is based in the Belgian–Dutch–German border region and requires regular presence in the field. Practical details regarding timing, contract type, conditions and work base will be discussed by mutual agreement.
Applying?
If you feel addressed by the intention of this project and the nature of the role, we warmly invite you to apply.
