Catchment Advisor

Catchment Advisor

Full time

Permanent

Salary - up to £38,721 (depending on experience)

Location–Northeast

About the role

We are looking for an experienced agricultural and/or river restoration specialist to join our Catchment Team. In this position you will be one of 3 Catchment Advisors covering the northeast, acting as the company’s internal and external stakeholder point of contact and delivering our catchment management initiatives to ensure the protection of water resources now and into the future.

With a background of working with the agricultural sector, and by building relationships at the local farm level, you will provide on-farm advice that supports sustainable farming and the adoption of good farming practices in order to minimise pollutants reaching local watercourses. You will develop a thorough understanding of your catchments and be able to identify and address risks to the provision of clean, safe and sustainable drinking water.

A focus of your work will be working with farmers and external partners to tackle the issue of pollutants in our water sources. For this you will need experience in working with a range of stakeholders to deliver on the ground initiatives to address sources of pollution, including field trials of alternate products and methodologies, as well as confidence in approaching and working with farmers, landowners and other stakeholders.

We are seeking an individual with strong communication and stakeholder engagement skills who will develop good relationships and partnerships with farmers, landowners, agronomists, regulators, local authorities and NGOs. You will be confident attending meetings and events as a representative of Northumbrian Water and you will lead and support partnerships to deliver environmental improvements.

You will also help maintain the company’s catchment risk assessments and investigate sources of point and diffuse water pollution from a range of substances including pesticides and cryptosporidium, through the collection and analysis of water quality sample data and land use risk assessments.

This role has also been defined as a safety or security critical role and as a condition of a formal offer of employment you’ll be required to undergo a drug and alcohol test.

Prospective employees and agency workers in defined safety and security critical roles will be required to undertake a drug and alcohol test after the job offer has been made. This will be prior to or within four weeks of their start date.

Prospective employees and agency workers who fail a pre-employment urine drug screen will have their sample analysed by the Company appointed laboratory as a matter of course. Failing a pre-employment drugs or alcohol test may lead to the job offer being revoked

About you

You’ll be approachable and engaging, with (1) demonstrable experience of agri-environment schemes and giving farm advice and/or (2) practical experience of designing and delivering river restoration projects. You will have good presentation skills and good report writing skills, you’ll be IT literate and familiar with using a GIS application.

We need you to be proactive in order to manage and prioritise your own workload, with a mixture of office-based activity, organising and attending meetings, organising events for farmers, as well as conducting farm advice visits. Given the nature of this role we need you to be flexible and travel around Northumbrian Water’s operating area so you’ll need a full driving licence and access to your own vehicle.

Ideally, although not essential, you’ll hold a BASIS Certificate in Crop Protection or Soil & Water, and be FACTS qualified. You’ll also be educated to a minimum of HNC or equivalent in agricultural science, agronomy, environmental science or a related subject.

Here at Northumbrian Water, Diversity, Inclusion and Equity means bringing your full self to work. We encourage and welcome applications from all underrepresented groups, as we believe and strive for community representation within all our teams, structures and organisation

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.

We are proud to serve our customers and we’re committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.