What is it like to work at UNEP-WCMC? 

Making the right decisions to save the planet is crucial. We work with businesses, governments, research bodies and more to put nature at the heart of decision-making. Working at the Centre, you feel that you are part of something fundamentally important, achieving transformative and systemic changes across all sectors to make a material difference to the world and its inhabitants.

Working at UNEP-WCMC is career inspiring, and it is an amazing institution to be a part of.  

Our staff 

Our staff have an unrivalled passion for biodiversity and are eager to share their vast knowledge to help others learn, succeed and flourish. 

Approximately 230 staff of around 45 nationalities work at UNEP-WCMC and thrive on the diversity of our organisation. We trust and look after each other while achieving great things. 

We pride ourselves in the exceptional people working at the Centre and are very lucky to attract and retain a range of talented individuals, from recent graduates through to global experts that have been with us for decades. It is important to us to provide staff with exciting opportunities for personal growth and development to help them make the most of their careers. 

Our Benefits

UNEP-WCMC offer some fantastic employee benefits. Some of the highlights include:

• Generous Annual Leave Allowance
  - 25 days annual leave PLUS UK public holidays (8 days a year)
  - No requirement to take Christmas shutdown days from your holiday entitlement (3 days)
  - Ability to purchase up to 10 additional annual leave days a year on top of the 25 day allowance, meaning you could benefit from 35 days holiday a year maximum!
  
  
• Pension Contributions
  After 3 months, WCMC will contribute 8% of your salary into our pension scheme (the legal minimum is the UK is 3% and UK average employer contribution is around 4.5%). After 12 months service, we contribute 12% with no compulsory employee contribution required.
  
  

• Flexible Hybrid Working
  WCMC operates a Flexible Hybrid Working policy, which requires employees to attend the offices in Cambridge a minimum of 2 days a month, and the rest of the time you can work from home. We do encourage attending the office more frequently as this fosters employee and team engagement. In addition, we have found that attending more frequently in person, during the probation period is needed for new starters, to enable them to come up to speed in the role, meet our people and understand our culture and the way we work.
  
  We also offer the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world for up to 6 weeks per year but please note you must be a UK resident to work for us.
  
  
• WCMC Sponsorship to Work in the UK
  WCMC has a sponsorship licence which permits us to sponsor individuals for a Skilled Worker Visa (directly linked to working for WCMC only) by providing a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). This does incur costs which the employee is responsible for (and also some for WCMC). Please note that as a charity, WCMC cannot pay for these employee costs. However, the UK Skilled Worker Visa immigration route offers excellent opportunities for individuals to live and work in the UK, which is especially valuable post Brexit! The route is also highly beneficial for UNEP-WCMC as we are able to employ individuals with valuable skills from outside the UK, and ensure that WCMC continues to employ a diverse, and highly skilled workforce.
  

• Employee Assistance Programme
  WCMC provides free, confidential access to an independent EAP service. This includes confidential counselling, advice lines (including financial and legal issues), a free GP (General Practitioner (doctor)) service, Bereavement counselling, Funeral Concierge service and a Will preparation service too.
  

• Maternity and Shared Parental Leave Policies
  WCMC offers a very generous maternity pay policy, of up to 18 weeks’ pay at 90% of average salary (to those that qualify for Statutory maternity leave and pay). Our policy gives further details.

For more information on our benefits, please refer to the Job Pack for any vacancy you are interested in and refer to Page 8 (Our Benefits / Offer) or drop us an email at recruitment@unep-wcmc.org for more information.

Check our current vacancies.