Job Opportunity: Natural Capital Community Partnerships Manager
Introduction
Community Land Scotland is recruiting a manager for our Natural Capital Community Partnerships project.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships (NCCP) project launched at the beginning of 2025 to build partnerships between Scotland’s community, private and public sectors. Led by Community Land Scotland in partnership with the Scottish Land Commission, the project is helping deliver Scottish Government expectations that communities are involved in decisions and benefit from Scotland’s land.
The Scottish Government’s Natural Capital Market Framework sets out its expectations for responsible, high-integrity private investment to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. This includes an expectation that investment in, and use of Scotland’s natural capital should create benefits that are shared between public, private and community interests, contributing to a just transition.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships project brings together a wide range of stakeholders to help support the practical delivery of the Natural Capital Market Framework. It aims to ensure the investment in natural capital required to address the twin crises is managed in a fair and just way, and that the communities affected share in the benefits it delivers.
Job Details
Job title:
Natural Capital Community Partnerships Manager
Hours:
Full time (37.5 hours per week)
Contract length:
The posted is funded to 31 March 2028
Location:
Flexible, subject to agreement, must be in Scotland
Salary:
£40,000 per annum
Reporting to:
Director of Communities and Operations, Community Land Scotland
Closing date: 12:00 on Monday 19 January 2026
Interview date: Tuesday 27 January 2026
Documents (click on text for links):
Natural Capital Community Partnerships
The Scottish Government is committed to using Scotland’s land to address the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss but recognises that there are a wide range of stakeholders impacted by land use change and that the benefits and risks from such changes needs to be shared fairly.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team provides on the ground practical support to landowners, investors and communities to build relationships and partnerships to ensure the benefits of investment in, and use of natural capital are shared proportionately and fairly.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships manager will lead the team to:
- Develop relationships and productive collaboration between local communities, landowners, developers and nature finance investors to deliver socially just natural capital investments across Scotland.
- Provide practical on-the-ground support for all parties to agree community benefits from natural capital investment. This process is guided by the Scottish Land Commission’s Community benefits from natural capital investment: Route Map
- Work closely with a broad range of stakeholders to share learning and increase the impact of the project across relevant sectors.
- Develop, test and share learning from case studies that seek to increase community benefits and community wealth building outcomes from natural capital developments and nature finance, guided by Scottish Government’s Natural Capital Market Framework and the Scottish Land Commission’s Guidance on Delivering Community Benefits from Land and Community benefits from natural capital investment: Route Map.
- Work across a range of types of natural capital projects and with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure all types of landowners and natural capital projects are considered.
The funders supporting the project are Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Foundation Scotland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Scottish Forestry and South of Scotland Enterprise. The project is also working in collaboration with the Scottish Land Commission, Cairngorm National Park Authority and Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships project is supported by the Natural Capital & Community Benefits Partnership Board comprising a range of organisations.
The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team is supported by Community Land Scotland’s Director of Communities and Operations and reports to the Natural Capital & Community Benefits Partnership Board. The Natural Capital Community Partnerships team currently includes a manager and two advisers – one with a focus on nature finance and one covering the South of Scotland. Community Land Scotland are currently recruiting an additional adviser to increase the team to four. This post will replace the manager who has recently moved role to become our Director of Communities and Operations.
About the role
The role of the NCCP Manager is to lead a small, distributed team across Scotland to support the delivery of the Natural Capital Community Partnerships Project.
The key responsibilities of the Manager are:
- To lead and support the Natural Capital Community Partnerships team to achieve the agreed strategic and operational objectives.
- Manage all project reporting including quarterly meetings with the Natural Capital & Community Benefits Partnership Board.
- Line manage and provide guidance and support to team members to deliver their specific objectives.
- Lead the delivery of a programme of awareness-raising opportunities and good practice in delivering community benefits from natural capital projects.
- Support and guide team members in their collaborative activities and agreements between communities, landowners and those involved in nature finance to deliver meaningful community benefits and support community wealth building through natural capital developments.
- Support and guide team members to promote the use of shared governance and asset ownership arrangements where appropriate, to increase community agency in decision making over land use change arising from natural capital developments.
- Work with the Community Land Scotland Policy and Advocacy Team to help inform the development of national policy on community benefits from nature finance and other natural capital policy development.
- Develop effective relationships with stakeholders to support the delivery of the team’s objectives and increase the impact of the project.
- Look for communication opportunities to increase the impact of and reach of the project and representing the project in the media.
- Represent the project at meetings and public facing events.
- Any other tasks as required by Community Land Scotland.
See full details and person specification in Natural Capital Partnership Manager job description linked under “Documents”.
How to apply:
Please complete our online application process by 12:00 pm on Monday 19 January 2026. If you have any questions about the role or the application process, please email Sally Reynolds, Director of Communities and Operations, Community Land Scotland (sally.reynolds@communitylandscotland.org.uk).
Applicants will be informed whether they have been shortlisted for interview by Thursday 22 January. Interview will be held on Tuesday 27 January 2026 in Glasgow. It is unlikely we will be able to offer applicants alternative dates for interview.
Before you apply, please read about our recruitment process here.
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