Landscape Developer UK/Ireland

Landscape Developer – UK & Ireland

32-40 hours per week | Preferred: Remote within UK or Ireland | One-year contract with possibility of extension 

Preferred starting date: 1 December 2026

Are you passionate about driving systemic change in landscape restoration through strategic partnerships, finance and fundraising, and collaborative learning? Do you thrive in complex, multi-stakeholder environments and enjoy bridging gaps between funders, governments, and grassroots initiatives? This could be the role for you! 

About the Role 

Commonland supports a growing network of landscape scale restoration initiatives across the UK and Ireland. Through long-term, collaborative Learning and Social Lab networks, we aim to strengthen leadership, enhance enabling conditions, and address systemic barriers to holistic landscape restoration and regeneration. This goes beyond one-off workshops: we are working together with our partners to consciously develop multi-year, systemic multistakeholder processes that move from building shared understanding, to experimentation and action, helping key actors tackle root causes of degradation and build regenerative landscapes. This role includes regular travel within the UK and Ireland, with occasional international travel.

The impact you make:

• Support landscape partners across the UK & Ireland with direct strategic support and connect with system-level actors (companies, funders, government bodies, foundations, and knowledge institutions).

• Secure funding and financing mechanisms by unlocking Ireland’s incoming nature restoration law funding and engaging the UK nature finance & funding landscape, and matchmaking between finance providers and landscape partners.

• Co-design innovative responses to systemic barriers to- and opportunities for holistic landscape restoration, leveraging existing relationships to bring about systemic changes.

• Co-develop a comprehensive fundraising strategy, identifying and mapping UK, Irish, and European public/private funding opportunities.

• Support landscape partners in developing systemic innovations (e.g., bioregional finance, payment for ecosystem services, learning networks) and scaling credible alternatives to current economic models.

• Organise learning sessions to build partners’ fundraising and facilitation capacity, aligning with the regions evolving social innovation lab structure.

• Collaborate with Commonland’s global learning community to share insights and ensure strategic alignment with the European Landscape restoration community.

What You Bring 

You are someone who: 

• Designs partnerships, programmes and processes: You build processes grounded in ambition to create long-term, holistic and regenerative system change, balancing structure with adaptability.

• Thinks in systems: Connect themes (e.g., upland dynamics, agri-food innovation), can sit with the discomfort of complexity, and intentionally and attentionally guide others through change.

• Communicates with empathy and understanding: You listen deeply, build trust across diverse stakeholders, and foster inclusive collaboration with stakeholders.

• Operates from shared purpose: You connect people, ideas, and interests to unlock collective potential.

• Learns and adapts: You’re open-minded, curious, and quick to adjust to emerging needs and insights while maintaining the momentum.

• Results-driven: You combine innovative thinking with structured execution to deliver tangible outcomes.

You also bring: 

• Several years experience in partnership development, landscape restoration and/or fundraising with a track record in the UK/Ireland.

• Solid understanding of the UK/Ireland’s environmental, agricultural, or rural and sustainable development sectors.

• Strong nature finance & funding literacy, including a clear view of where funding and market-based finance mechanisms deliver and where they don't, and interest in regenerative, new economy and bioregional approaches.

• Fluency in English; additional bioregional languages (e.g., Welsh, Irish) are a plus.

• A broad network of stakeholders working in landscape restoration in the UK/Ireland.

What We Offer 

• A purpose-driven role where your work directly contributes to restoring the conditions that create thriving landscapes and shaping a regenerative future.

• A competitive gross monthly salary between €5,100 and €6,000 (based on 40 hours/week), tailored to your level of experience and local cost of living.

• Flexibility to work remotely, with the freedom to design your workday to suit your life and energy, as well as work commitments and fixtures.

• Room to grow, with opportunities for personal and professional development through learning, reflection, and experimentation including a personal learning budget of 1,750 GBP/ 2,000 euro per year.

• A supportive team culture that values creativity, collaboration, and continuous learning.

Commonland Foundation 

Commonland is an international non-profit that supports people and organisations to restore landscapes and shape a regenerative future for all. With our holistic approach – underpinned by the 4 Returns Framework – people and organisations all over the world are working with nature and their community to restore landscapes. Our core values are empowering each other, putting words into action, and being compassionate & honest.  

How to Apply 

We are excited to learn more about you and how your competencies fit this role. Please submit your CV via the application link before 29.09.2026 and answer a few questions related to the key criteria for this position. Because your answers play a key role in our initial selection process, we encourage you to provide thoughtful responses. Please reach out to Pieter Ploeg (pieter.ploeg@commonland.com) in case of questions regarding this position.

We are committed to an inclusive and fair recruitment process and encourage thoughtful, authentic responses. We kindly ask applicants not to use AI tools such as Claude when completing their application. All applications are reviewed by our team, not by AI systems. As we carefully review each submission and have limited capacity, we may close the application window once enough applications are received. We therefore encourage interested candidates to apply as early as possible. The first-round interviews take place on 5 October.

We believe it is essential to centre and prioritise a wide diversity of voices and experiences in our work. Hence, we warmly encourage applications from people with diverse identities and backgrounds. While we welcome applications from all qualified candidates, internal applicants may be considered with priority.