Opportunities to join a Community Steering Group

Tags

IES News Climatology & Carbon Management Impact Assessment Land Condition

Join the Climate Action, EIA & Land Condition Communities' Steering Groups

We have a number of exciting opportunities to join one of our Community Steering Groups and to take a leading role in your field! The Climate Action Community, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Community and Land Condition Community are all opening to expressions of interest for their Steering Groups.

Our Communities are groups of members brought together around a shared professional interest, goal, or challenge. Communities are an integral part of the IES ecosystem, providing thought leadership for their area of focus, and a forum for members to network, collaborate and shape their field. At the IES we know that our members are the experts. Communities are a key tool for directly engaging with our members, channelling their expertise into a unified voice, and informing the development of tailored resources. Being member-led, they provide members with the agency to set their own priorities and develop associated workplans aligned with their needs and interests.

The Steering Groups take a leading role in their Community, working collaboratively with IES staff to deliver the annual Community workplan.

We are inviting expressions of interest from current IES members (Fellows, Full Members, or Associates) to join the Steering Groups. Each Steering Group has space for up to 10 members in total. Terms will last for two years.

Benefits of joining a Community Steering Group

Help shape the IES’s work in your specialism and develop tailored resources
Engage with fellow environmental professionals and expand your network in the sector
Build on your leadership skills and support your continuing professional development
Deepen your connection with the IES and gain opportunities to engage with the wider sector through partnerships with external organisations
Play a key and rewarding role in supporting the IES to work with speed, vision and expertise to solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges

Who can express interest?

Expressions of interest are open exclusively to professional members of the IES (Fellows, Full Members or Associates).

Current IES members and those interested in applying for professional IES membership can express interest. If successful, your appointment would be conditional on you having submitted an application to become an Associate, Full Member, or Fellow of the IES by 1st June 2026. Find out more about joining the IES and membership requirements.

We will be appointing between 1 and 4 positions, depending on the number of existing members of each Steering Group. Our goal is to represent a range of sectors and backgrounds across the environmental sciences, so regardless of your professional background, we would love to hear from you.

The IES is committed to fostering an inclusive culture which reflects the diversity that exists within society, enabling us to deliver outputs that reflect the diverse needs of our members. In recruiting for these roles, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your ethnicity, age, sex, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, educational background, national origin, religion and beliefs.

What is involved?

Each Steering Group meets four times per year (once per quarter). Meetings are typically 1 hour long and are held virtually. In-person meetings may be organised from time to time depending on member interest.

At Steering Group meetings and via email in between meetings, the work you will be involved with includes:

Supporting the delivery of the Community's annual workplan
Helping shape Community activities
Being an ambassador for the Community and sharing Community outputs
Engaging with IES staff and partners on areas related to Community activities
Providing feedback for relevant publications, events and policy outputs as appropriate

Terms on the Committee last two years, and ordinary members can have two concurrent terms. If in the Chair position, terms of office are three years, with two potential concurrent terms. Members are expected to attend the majority of meetings and take part in actvities in the workplan between meetings to drive forward activities.

How can I apply?

If you would like to express your interest in joining the Steering Group, please get in touch. Please send the following information to Ethny Childs (ethny@the-ies.org).

Your CV
A short statement (max 500 words) covering which Community Steering Group you want to join, why you want to join the Steering Group, your expertise and what you will contribute to the group

This information will be used to process your expression of interest and will be shared with the Chair of the Steering Group (if in place), as well as other members of the IES staff team. Expressions of interest will be assessed against the relevance of your experience and the strength of your statement of interest.

The deadline for expressions of interest is Tuesday 26th May 2026, 12 noon BST. Member terms will start from 1st June 2026.

The Institution of Environmental Sciences is committed to fostering an inclusive culture for our staff and volunteers which reflects the diversity that exists within society, enabling us to deliver outputs that reflect the diverse needs of our members. After completing your expression of interest, we also request that you fill out our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Monitoring form. We collect this data to monitor the effectiveness of our advertising and recruitment strategies, ensuring they are open to all sections of the community. It is anonymous and held separately to your expression of interest.

If you have any questions about the application process, would like to have an informal conversation about the roles, or you anticipate needing reasonable adjustments to apply for this role, please email Ethny Childs (ethny@the-ies.org). Alternatively, you can call the IES office on +44 (0)20 3862 7484.