Farm Advisor/​Senior Farm Advisor

The Lune Rivers Trust is a small but ambitious environmental charity dedicated to the protection and enhancement of all the rivers and tributaries in the Lune catchment. We cover a large area, from Tebay in the north, to Ingleton in the east and Pilling in the south. We have secured funding from the Environment Agency, United Utilities, Wyre Council, and RSPB Cumbria Connect to support our ongoing farmer engagement activities.

A recent staff departure has left a gap in LRT’s delivery capacity to provide farm advice and farmer engagement. Our experience over the last 6 years has proven the benefits of farmer engagement and particularly our approach to it. We believe that there are considerable opportunities to continue to develop our farmer engagement programme and secure additional funding. 

We are seizing this as an opportunity to step up our capabilities and are seeking a Farm Advisor to join our team. We are open to considering candidates across a range of levels of experience so are advertising this role as a Farm Advisor/ Senior Farm Advisor. For context, a Farm Advisor could be someone just starting out on their career, perhaps coming from a farming background and recently graduated in an environmental subject. A Senior Farm Advisor would typically be professionally qualified (e.g. FACTS) and have several years of experience delivering high quality farm advice.

The duties and responsibilities will be tailored to the successful candidate. A Farm Advisor would work closely with other members of the team, to learn how the Trust operates and to develop their skills and knowledge in delivering farm advice. They would be coached on how to develop projects and how to manage time and funding.

A Senior Farm Advisor would take on a more prominent role in leading the farm advice programme, developing strategies and securing funding. Whilst oversight would rest with the Trust Manager, it is anticipated that a Senior Farm Advisor would have significant leeway in deciding the strategic development of the farmer engagement programme. Initially a Senior Farm Advisor would not have direct line management responsibility for other LRT staff members, but this would be open to review in the future depending upon a Senior Farm Advisor’s performance and the development of the programme.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our team and make a direct contribution to developing our future programmes. It would be a perfect first job in the environmental sector for someone from a farming background, or a next step for someone who has cut their teeth with providing farm advice and is ready to further develop their career. 

We operate a flexible working hours/ Time Owed in Lieu system. We also work a mixture of based from home, based from our office near Kirkby Lonsdale, and on site across our catchment. Arrangements are reasonably flexible, with the general aim to be in the office 2-3 days per week.

We envisage this to be a full-time role. However, we are aware that some candidates may wish to combine the role with running their own farm business. Hence we are open to considering whether this role could be carried out on a part-time basis. If part-time, it would need to be a minimum of 50%-60% (i.e. 2 ½ - 3 days per week). If you would like to explore this possibility, please mention it in your application.

Please see the attached job description for more information on the role, responsibilities, and person specification and visit the Lune Rivers Trust website to learn more about the organisation.

How to apply

If you would like more information or an informal chat about the post, please contact Tim Pitt (Trust Manager) on 079 49 24 26 55 or [email protected]

To apply for this post please send a current CV and a motivation letter to: [email protected]. Please use your motivation letter as an opportunity to explain why you are interested in this post, the skills and experience you can offer, how you meet the criteria set out in the Person Description, and any other information you consider relevant. Please also give details of your current salary and your salary expectations for this post.

Closing date for applications:  Midnight on Sunday 9th August 2026.