Since its conception by Sir Peter Scott in 1963, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ has become the most authoritative source of information on the global extinction risk of species and is widely used to underpin decision-making and conservation action around the world. The IUCN Red List is the result of a massive data gathering and data management exercise produced by a vast partnership. The work is carried out by members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), by IUCN members and partners, with support from and in close association with the IUCN Biodiversity Assessment and Knowledge Team (BAKT). The day-to-day running and management of The IUCN Red List is handled by the BAKT’s Red List Unit.

The Unit processes thousands of assessments every year and we are recruiting a Junior Professional to help with some of the daily tasks.

The salary for this position is £23,500 p.a.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES

The Junior Professional provides assistance to colleagues in the IUCN Red List Unit throughout the process of updating and publishing one of IUCN’s key Knowledge Products, The IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This includes processing assessments submitted for publication, assisting the European Regional Red List and Greek National Red List projects, assisting with updating the Red List web site, acting as the first point of contact for general enquiries to the Red List, and assisting colleagues with communicating Red List information and Red List training.


SPECIFIC DUTIES

Processing assessments for publication on The IUCN Red List

• Carry out standard quality checks on submitted assessments to ensure these are of a suitable standard for publication on The IUCN Red List. This includes checking the required minimum supporting information has been provided and the Red List Categories and Criteria have been applied appropriately.
• Check and, where necessary, help to finalize GIS distribution maps for submitted assessments.
• Return any sub-standard assessments to assessors and assessment project teams with appropriate comments to help improve their quality for resubmission later.

European Regional Red List and Greek National Red List

• Assist the assessment process for both the European Regional Red List and Greek National Red List by helping as required with training, checking assessments, and processing submitted assessments for publication.
• Assist assessors to produce range maps for the species being assessed, or help with the conversion of range maps in kml or other formats to the required IUCN map format and standard.
• Assist with the production of the European Red List reports; this may include helping with analyses of the data, proof-reading text, sourcing photographs, etc.

Updating The IUCN Red List web site

• Assist with updating of existing pages and create new pages on The IUCN Red List web site, as requested by senior colleagues in the Red List Unit.
• Assist with testing functionality of the Red List web site and report any issues in a timely manner.

Communicating Red List information

• Assist colleagues in the Red List Unit and IUCN Communications teams with preparing materials for Red List media releases, including helping to identify suitable stories for media releases and assisting Communications Teams to source photographs.
• Assist colleagues in the Red List Unit and IUCN Communications teams with answering media enquiries, where necessary.
• Respond to general enquiries from Red List web site users. This involves compiling a range of standard replies to common questions and identifying appropriate experts within IUCN and the IUCN SSC network to forward specific enquiries on to, where necessary.

Assisting with Red List meetings and workshops

• Assist Red List Unit colleagues to prepare materials for Red List meetings and Red List workshops.
• Co-facilitate Red List Assessor Training workshops and provide assistance for Red List Assessment workshops, as requested by senior Red List Unit staff.
• Prepare and deliver presentations about The IUCN Red List at meetings and workshops, as requested by senior Red List Unit staff.