Forest Programme Administrator

BirdLife International; Cambridge; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 30,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading conservation organization based in Cambridge is seeking a Forest Programme Administrator to manage budgets and contracts, oversee donor reporting, and ensure compliance with financial procedures. The successful candidate will support major events and collaborate with various teams, leveraging excellent organizational skills. This role offers a hybrid work model, competitive salary, and benefits including a 12% pension contribution and extensive leave.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme

25 days holiday increasing to 28

Access to LinkedIn Learning

Cycle to work scheme

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience in developing and maintaining budget systems.
• Demonstrable experience of managing grants and service contracts.
• Ability to ensure compliance with financial procedures.

Responsibilities

• Manage contract and budget documentation.
• Engage with subgrantees and service providers.
• Support planning and logistics for events.

Skills

Budget management

Contract management

Organizational skills

Attention to detail

Cross-functional collaboration

Knowledge of public funding regulations

Education

Degree in Accounting or Business Administration

Job description

Application deadline: Monday 5 January 2026 – 23:59 BST/GMT
Location: Cambridge, UK (hybrid working, minimum one day per week in Cambridge)

Full-time: 35 hours per week / Part-time: 28 hours per week over 4 days
Contract: Open-ended

Salary: £28,000 – £30,000 per annum (pro‑rate for 4 days) depending on skills/experience, plus competitive 12% pension benefit
Annual Leave: 25 days pro‑rate in year 1, increasing by 1 day p/a to 28 days

We’re BirdLife International, the only global Partnership conserving birds and all life on our planet. We exist to give one voice to nature, and to unite and strengthen conservation across borders.

BirdLife International’s Forest Programme is dedicated to delivering large‑scale forest conservation and restoration, generating local and national economic benefits through biodiversity conservation, combating climate change and promoting sustainable development.

We are looking for a Forest Programme Administrator to play a key part in the delivery of major initiatives of BirdLife’s Forests Programme. This role is responsible for accurate and detailed oversight of budget management, contract management, donor reporting and compliance along with event logistics. In this role, you will be making use of existing systems and processes as well as designing and integrating new systems to track activity and other data as required.

How you will do this:

Contract Management

• Developing and maintaining the register of grants, in collaboration with internal teams
• Coordinating grant making and service contracts, drafting agreements and facilitating reviews

Budget Management

• Keeping up to date and accurate financial documentation, ensuring alignment of expenditure to budget
• Donor reporting and compliance
• Ensuring compliance to Birdlife and donors’ administrative and financial procedures, identifying inconsistencies and proposing solutions where necessary
• Engaging directly with subgrantees and service providers, leading financial administration of grants, providing guidance and support
• Develop quarterly reports and invoices including expenses, timesheets and cashflow projection
• Creating and maintaining a system to track project activity and data

Events Logistics

• Supporting the planning, organisation and logistics of major events, including international exchange visits
• Supporting logistics and delivery of internal and external online events such as webinars and training programmes

What we are looking for:

• A business-related degree or certificates in Accounting, Business Administration or equivalent, relevant experience.
• Demonstrable experience of budget and contract management.
• Experience of creating detailed and complex budget and information management systems.
• Understanding of grant and service contract structures.
• Experience of working collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.
• Extremely organised with excellent attention to detail.
• Systematic working style with an aptitude for identifying inconsistencies.
• Knowledge of UK government and/or other public funding regulations is desirable as is experience in a law or financial setting.

Some of our benefits:

• We are able to offer a hybrid model of working on‑site and from home/remote for most roles, which helps to ensure a flexible work‑life balance.
• A chance to work in the award‑winning David Attenborough Building, which brings together much of the Cambridge‑based conservation community on a ‘conservation campus.’
• A generous pension scheme, up to 12% company contribution.
• Holiday starting at 25 days excluding Bank Holidays and increasing for every year of service up to a maximum of 28 days.
• Full access to LinkedIn Learning with access to more than 13,000 high‑quality, on‑demand courses.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme, including access to Health Assured online health portal (webinars, nutritional advice, 4‑week programmes, financial wellbeing and more).

BirdLife values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Find out more about our Diversity statement.

We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and supportive culture, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We aim to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity.

We will consider putting into place appropriate reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability.

Interviews: Interviews will be held during w/c 19 and 26 January 2026.