Rural Surveyor

We’re looking for an enthusiastic Rural Practice Chartered Surveyor to join our Land & Estates team, working across the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire area, with a particular focus on the diverse portfolios at West Oxfordshire, Thames Valley and Cliveden.

In this role, you’ll support the day‑to‑day management of our let estate portfolio while providing expert technical advice to colleagues on a wide range of land management matters. You’ll be part of a friendly and skilled team of estate managers, building surveyors and lettings specialists who collectively care for our extensive land and property holdings across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

We are seeking someone with strong rural surveying skills, an entrepreneurial mindset and a genuine passion for nature conservation. You’ll play a key role in helping us deliver our People and Nature Thriving strategy—shaping positive change in the rural landscape and offering trusted, up‑to‑date guidance to colleagues across the Trust.

This position is based at the Coleshill Estate Office (SN6 7PT), where you’ll be working alongside both the local estate team and the wider National Trust staff community at West Oxfordshire.

A full UK driving licence and access to your own vehicle are essential due to travel requirements (mileage claimable).

What it's like to work here

The management of our tenancies and assets, together with the relationships we have with our tenants, underpins our national £40m+ annual rental income and is absolutely essential to the delivery of our conservation work. We’ve recently redefined our strategy and made some revolutionary changes to significantly increase the outcome we want to deliver for nature and people.

If you join our team, you’ll build on these strong foundations and take on unique, interesting case work and associated projects that will shape the future of the UK’s biggest private landowner and the properties it owns and protects.

As this role principally covers the West Oxfordshire, Cliveden and Thames Valley, your contractual place of work will be the Coleshill Estate Office. Our hybrid working policy means you can balance office and home working with site visits and meetings at other National Trust places. We’ll talk about this in more detail at interview, but you should expect to be at a National Trust site for 40–60% of your working week. We’re supportive of hybrid working with time split between home, Coleshill Estate Office and our property offices.

What you'll be doing

If you thrive on variety and enjoy delivering highquality professional work, this role offers the chance to make a meaningful and lasting difference across diverse property portfolios. You’ll step into a position where no two days are the same, contributing to essential daytoday estate management and helping shape how our land and assets are cared for into the future.

You'll be involved in delivering a range of work, which on a day-to-day basis might include:

• commercial lettings;
• management of agricultural tenancies and agri-environment schemes on in hand land;
• woodland creation and management; access rights and boundary disputes;
• work with restrictive covenants;
• managing commons and working with commoners;
• easements and wayleaves;
• and occasional acquisitions and disposals.

Whilst working with our structured governance framework, we need you to be an effective and convincing champion of best practice.

As part of the Land and Estates team, you'll bring a range of skills to ensure we safeguard and effectively manage our land better for nature and build on the relationships we have with our tenants. You'll provide insightful advice, and considerate stakeholder management, and have forward thinking approaches to managing and conserving our land and buildings.

Who we're looking for:

A member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)

• Knowledge of land use, agriculture, asset management, land management, environmental issues, conservation and sustainable development and understand how that translates to National Trust Strategy
• Strong verbal and written communication skills including influencing and negotiation
• The ability to analyse, interpret and resolve rural surveying problems using technical knowledge to implement workable solutions
• Strong demonstrable consulting skills of listening, building trust and acting to deliver a high-quality service
• The ability to work as part of a team to achieve the best results, demonstrating best practice and sharing ideas and thinking
• Demonstrates practical experience collaborating within structured project teams to achieve shared objectives.
• Understanding team dynamics, contributing effectively to collective goals, and adapting to different roles and responsibilities within a project environment.

The package

The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.

• Substantial pension scheme of up to 10% basic salary
• Free entry to National Trust places for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• Rental deposit loan scheme
• Season ticket loan
• EV car lease scheme (for roles that meet the salary criteria)
• Perks at work discounts such as gym memberships, shopping discount codes, cinema discounts
• Holiday allowance up to 32 days relating to length of service, plus holiday purchase scheme, subject to meeting minimum criteria.
• Flexible working whenever possible
• Employee assistance programme
• Free parking at most Trust places