Job Description
We are looking for a Senior Advisor to provide national leadership on groundwater quality, shaping how England manages one of its most vital natural assets. In this high‑impact, strategic role you’ll be at the heart of setting the Environment Agency’s technical direction on protecting and improving groundwater quality, influence national policy, guide major programmes, and provide expert advice on complex issues such as diffuse pollution, emerging pollutants and climate change impacts on groundwater. Your insight will help drive evidence‑led decisions that protect ecosystems, support sustainable abstraction and safeguard drinking water supplies.
Key Responsibilities
* Set the technical direction for protecting and improving groundwater quality across the UK.
* Influence national policy, guide major programmes and provide expert advice on complex hydrogeological issues.
* Translate cutting‑edge science into practical regulation and guidance.
* Mentor and support technical specialists, set standards and best practice, and represent the Environment Agency at a national level.
* Communicate complex science clearly and inspire confidence in stakeholders, including government, industry and the research community.
Required Experience & Skills
* Significant industry or regulatory experience as a groundwater quality specialist.
* Technical skills in hydrogeology, including constructing and interpreting conceptual models, hydrogeological risk assessment, groundwater chemistry/quality and contaminant transport in the sub‑surface environment.
* Honours degree (or equivalent) in geology, hydrogeology or a relevant discipline, ideally complemented by an MSc qualification.
* Detailed knowledge of relevant groundwater legislation and practical experience in its implementation.
* Chartership, or a commitment towards working for chartership, is desirable.
* Proactive, self‑motivated, effective communicator and credible influencer with an adaptive style.
* Enthusiastic and credible groundwater advocate, able to manage relationships successfully and create collective outcomes.
* Will be asked to give a 10‑minute presentation (title provided) as part of the interview process.
Competencies
Scientific Knowledge
Explain how your qualifications and experience provide you with the necessary scientific and/or technical knowledge to perform this role and how you develop and maintain your technical knowledge.
Influences and Persuades Others
Tell us about a time, within a groundwater regulatory framework, when you have successfully affected, shaped or transformed the opinions of others, which led to a subsequent change in their behaviours and actions. How did you structure your engagement? What was the outcome?
Legislative Knowledge
Within a regulatory setting for groundwater, tell us about a time when you have used legislation to bring about a significant positive benefit to the environment. What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?
Focus on Efficiency, Innovation and Quality
Describe a time when you identified an opportunity to improve a process or method that delivered a positive environmental outcome for water, explaining how you enhanced efficiency or innovation while maintaining data quality and technical accuracy.
EEO Statement
We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve, and we welcome flexible working patterns for all vacancies, including job share. We also have a Guaranteed Interview Policy to support applicants with a disability.
Contact and Additional Information
Contact Kirsty.Darby@environment-agency.gov.uk or Kirsten.johnstone@environment-agency.gov.uk for further information. Candidate/Additional Information Pack details are available upon request.
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