Two ‘jobs of a lifetime’ are up for grabs on a remote island in Scotland - here’s how to apply

Staff are being sought to relocate to St Kilda in a rare opportunity to live and work on an uninhabited Scottish island.

What are the jobs and how can I apply?

The National Trust for Scotland, which has owned the island since 1957, is seeking both an archaeologist and a seabird and marine ranger, and the posts start this summer.

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Former St Kilda archaeologist Craig Stanford described his role as a "job of a lifetime", given the unique environment. Those taking over his post will be expected to conserve the culture heritage of the archipelago and teach visitors about the history islands.

Photo: Getty

The ranger will chiefly monitor the population and breeding patterns of seabirds on St Kilda and record marine sightings in the surrounding waters.

NTS staff stay in the old manse on the island, which is fitted with phone lines and an internet connection. Food is usually delivered by MOD helicopter from a shop on the island of Benbecula, with staff usually ordering three weeks of supplies at a time.

For more information on the jobs, visit www.nts.org.uk/vacancies.

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Where is St Kilda?

St Kilda is more than 40 miles from its nearest neighbour in the Hebrides and has been dubbed the 'island on the edge of the earth'.

The island - the UK’s only dual World Heritage Site - was populated for almost two thousand years before its last permanent resident was evacuated in the 1930s.

Photo: Ian Rutherford

But an estimated 5,000 visitors now flock to the UNESCO world heritage site each year, thanks to the growing popularity of boat trips from the neighbouring islands of Skye and Harris, the quickest of which still take nearly three hours.

Tourists are drawn to an abandoned village dating back to the 19th century, its spectacular coastline, the highest sea stacks and cliffs in Britain, and Europe’s most important seabird colony.

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In 2019, Conde Nast Traveler ranked St Kilda (which lies 40 miles west of North Uist) alongside Biarritz, in France, the Dolomites in Italy, Lapland in Finland, and the Swiss Alps, in its list of 20 of the most breathtaking landscapes in Europe.

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