Who are we?
Thames Water is the UK’s largest water and wastewater company. We make a daily difference to our 15 million customers by supplying 2.6 billion litres of water through 32,000 km’s of pipes, to keep taps flowing and toilets flushing. We are an essential service and have operated throughout the Covid19 pandemic.
At Thames Water, every one of our actions, big and small, matters every day. Water is essential to daily life, and that means our business is always open.
What you’ll be doing
Thames Water has made a commitment to reduce abstractions in vulnerable catchments as part of our long-term environmental ambition, as well as work towards restoring rivers in flagship catchments, a key part of the recently launched Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy.
As a result of this commitment, we are recruiting for three new positions within our Water Asset Strategy & Planning team and this role is one of the positions which will develop our in-house freshwater ecological capability as well as assist with our longer-term succession planning. As the Ecologist, you’ll develop our knowledge of freshwater ecology in vulnerable rivers, including iconic chalk catchments, and wetlands to realise the potential impact of groundwater abstractions and the complexity of the ecosystem response to natural (drought & flood) variability, changes in land use, river geomorphology, the impact of invasive non-native species (INNS) and climate change.
This is a new and exciting ‘hands-on’ role that will include management of existing and new ecological data, looking at the ecosystem on the ground in vulnerable catchments, the conditions needed to thrive and how we may be affecting these conditions. You’ll use a range of indicators to characterise these ecosystems and modelling tools to help assess complex ecosystem responses to impacts and you will need to report on the results of the monitoring and modelling. This will include looking at rivers where we have already made abstraction changes to assess the extent of benefits achieved as well as carrying out ecological surveys.
Finally, you’ll inform of the outcomes from ecological analysis & modelling to environmental stakeholder groups and our regulators to assist with decision making, providing recommendations on the prioritised need for further ecological investigations as well as supporting the development of river and wetland restoration solutions.
We’re looking for you to
- Have excellent verbal and written communication skills to communicate data analysis outcomes and assist translation into real-life asset and environmental decisions
- Working knowledge of UK aquatic invertebrate sampling and analysis procedures, qualified to undertake bankside identification to family level, including the ability to identify INNS and provide advice on their management
- Be experienced in using a range of ecological indicators, for example, EFI (Environmental Flow Indicators) and biotic indices such as LIFE (Lotic Invertebrate Flow Evaluation) and PSI (Proportion of Sediment-sensitive Invertebrates)
- Have experience in freshwater ecology, protected species and groundwater-dependent terrestrial ecosystems and carrying out and/or using data from river habitat surveys
- Be experienced in undertaking MoRPH river surveys and be able to use their outputs as a feed into demonstrating net gain using the Biodiversity Metric 3.0
- Develop your skills using modelling tools for defining bespoke ecological targets such as R-HEFT and DRIED-UP
- Possess a good understanding of the relevant legislation and regulatory requirements, including protected species licences, Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) and Water Framework Directive (WFD) water body assessment and classification
- Be numerate and familiar with IT and software appropriate for the role, including GIS and office software
- Have a degree in ecology, conservation, or a relevant subject or equivalent role experience. Ideally, you’ll be working towards professional qualification with the Charted Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM)
- Have a full driving licence as you will need to travel as part of this role
What’s in it for you?
A fascinating role where you’ll have the opportunity to work as part of a small team dedicated to working in catchments vulnerable to groundwater abstraction to help deliver on our environmental ambitions.
You’ll have the chance to apply and enhance your ecological skills and knowledge while developing our understanding of freshwater ecology in vulnerable rivers, including iconic chalk catchments, those flagship catchments targeted for long term restoration and associated groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems.
Our competitive salary package includes an excellent contributory pension, 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service and a wider benefits scheme.
We’re proud of the positive ways of working we have adopted during the pandemic. We want to create a more flexible and dynamic environment so all our colleagues can thrive. For our office-based roles, we’re moving to a hybrid approach where we’ll provide options around working from our offices, our operational sites and home dependent on role/team/individual. This will be discussed during the assessment process.
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work. If you join our team, you’ll enjoy fast-tracked career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and unparalleled benefits. We’re also proud to be an equal opportunity employer, Stonewall Diversity Champion and Disability Confident Leader and we’re a Times Top 50 Employer for Women.
Click here to find out more about working at Thames Water.