Principal Arboricultural Consultant

Company Description

E3P is a Geotechnical and Environmental Consultancy founded to deliver greater value through technical excellence and a strong focus on colleague wellbeing and collaboration. The company combines structured training, welfare initiatives, and meaningful rewards to support its team while prioritizing client needs. E3P has grown organically by providing pragmatic advice, clear leadership, and focused, practical solutions. The firm’s core value, intellect, integrity, pragmatism, tenacity, and a personal touch have helped it become a trusted advisor to high-profile clients across diverse sectors. E3P is committed to creating a happy, nurturing workplace while delivering technically excellent, exciting work for ambitious clients and continues to grow at pace.

Role Description

E3P is looking for an experienced and commercially aware Principal Arboricultural Consultant to join and help develop our Manchester/ Birmingham-based arboriculture team.

This is a senior technical and project leadership role suited to an established arboricultural consultant who can manage complex commissions, provide authoritative technical advice, and build strong relationships with clients and project teams.

You will take responsibility for projects from initial enquiry through to completion, oversee technical quality and support the professional development of other members of the team. You will also work closely with E3P’s wider environmental and engineering disciplines to develop integrated solutions across residential, commercial, infrastructure and public-sector projects.

The role will be based from our Manchester/ Birmingham office, with flexible working arrangements and travel to project sites throughout the UK.

Key responsibilities

• Lead and deliver complex BS5837 planning and development projects.
• Provide authoritative arboricultural advice to clients, design teams, and other project professionals.
• Undertake and oversee BS5837 tree surveys, tree-condition inspections, and tree-risk assessments.
• Prepare and technically review Tree Survey Schedules, Arboricultural Impact Assessments, Arboricultural Method Statements, and other specialist arboricultural reports.
• Oversee the production and technical accuracy of Tree Constraints Plans, Tree Impact Plans and Tree Protection Plans.
• Review development proposals and advise on tree retention, design amendments, mitigation, and specialist construction methods.
• Assess the arboricultural implications of proposed access, levels, drainage, utilities, lighting, hard landscaping, and construction operations.
• Develop practical solutions for technically challenging works within or adjacent to root protection areas.
• Lead discussions and negotiations with local planning authorities, tree officers, clients, and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Provide arboricultural input throughout the planning, detailed design, and construction stages.
• Undertake or oversee arboricultural monitoring, site supervision, and compliance inspections.
• Manage projects from initial enquiry through to completion, including scope, programme, budget, resources, deliverables and client expectations.
• Act as technical lead on significant or sensitive commissions.
• Review reports and drawings produced by other team members and support technical quality assurance across the arboriculture service.
• Mentor and support Senior, Consultant and Graduate Arboriculturists.
• Assist with workload planning, resource allocation and the continued improvement of team procedures and technical standards.
• Prepare fee proposals, tenders and scopes of work.
• Maintain and develop relationships with existing clients while identifying opportunities for repeat and new work.
• Represent E3P at client meetings, design-team meetings, networking events, and industry forums.
• Work with E3P’s ecology, landscape, geotechnical, environmental, and engineering teams to strengthen the company’s multidisciplinary service offering.
• Contribute to the strategic growth and development of the arboriculture team.

About you

You should be an experienced arboricultural consultant with a strong technical background, proven project-management ability and the confidence to advise clients on complex or sensitive arboricultural matters.

You will be expected to combine sound professional judgement with a pragmatic and commercially aware approach. You should also be comfortable reviewing the work of others, developing less-experienced team members, and representing E3P in senior client and project meetings.

You should have:

• A relevant degree, higher qualification or equivalent professional qualification in arboriculture, forestry or a related discipline.
• At least five years of professional arboricultural experience, including significant experience within consultancy.
• Extensive experience delivering BS5837 projects through the planning and development process.
• A strong working knowledge of BS5837:2012, BS3998:2010, tree-risk management and relevant arboricultural planning policy and legislation.
• Proven experience producing and reviewing Arboricultural Impact Assessments, Arboricultural Method Statements and associated arboricultural drawings.
• Experience managing complex arboricultural projects, budgets, programmes, and client expectations.
• The ability to provide clear and defensible technical advice on tree retention, development impacts, and mitigation.
• Experience liaising and negotiating with local authority tree officers and multidisciplinary design teams.
• Experience undertaking professional tree inspections and tree-risk assessments.
• Strong tree-identification, diagnostic and report-writing skills.
• Experience providing technical guidance, mentoring or line-management support to other arboricultural professionals.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Commercial awareness and experience preparing fee proposals or tender submissions.
• The ability to manage competing priorities and deliver work to agreed deadlines and budgets.
• A full UK driving licence.

The following are required or highly desirable:

• LANTRA Professional Tree Inspection certification.
• Current QTRA registration or substantial experience using another recognised tree-risk assessment methodology.
• Professional membership of the Arboricultural Association, Institute of Chartered Foresters or another relevant professional body.
• Chartered status, or demonstrable progress towards chartership.
• Experience using or reviewing AutoCAD, GIS and digital tree-survey information.
• Experience acting as an expert witness, preparing appeal evidence, or supporting planning hearings would be advantageous.
• Experience developing client relationships and securing repeat or new work would be advantageous.

E3P will provide opportunities to influence the direction of the arboriculture service, develop a varied project portfolio and progress within a growing multidisciplinary consultancy.

Job type:

Full-time, permanent

• Location: Manchester/ Birmingham, with flexible working arrangements and UK-wide site travel

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