Species Survival Officer – Freshwater Conservation

The Species Survival Officer - Freshwater Conservation will lead the implementation of an ex situ conservation programme for the white-clawed crayfish (Austropotamobius pallipes), hosted at Dublin Zoo and delivered in close partnership with Fota Wildlife Park, and other key stakeholders. This role is a 3-year fixed-term contract and will be based primarily at Dublin Zoo. The post holder will work under the supervision of the Conservation and Science Manager, as part of the Conservation and Science Team, and will have overall responsibility for the coordination, delivery, reporting and development of the ex situ conservation programme for the white-clawed crayfish. The role will be approximately 50% dedicated to hands-on husbandry and management of white-clawed crayfish within an ex situ hatchery and associated facilities at Dublin Zoo, and 50% focused on project coordination, administration, research, reporting, stakeholder engagement, training, and education/outreach. Working closely with Dublin Zoo, Fota Wildlife Park, the IUCN Species Survival Commission, and the wider conservation community, the post holder will play a key role in implementing the IUCN Assess–Plan–Act–Network–Communicate model to support the conservation and recovery of Ireland’s native freshwater biodiversity, with a particular focus on halting the decline of the white-clawed crayfish and establishing biosecure insurance populations for future conservation translocations.