Senior Catchment Scientist

Are you a catchment or environmental scientist? If so, we have a great opportunity for you in our Catchment Delivery Team.

The Wessex Water Catchment Delivery Team has worked with farmers and landowners for 15 years to deliver catchment management within the Wessex region and improve water quality. The team has a reputation as one of the best catchment management teams in the industry. 

What you'll do

Working with other scientists, technicians and catchment advisers in the development of catchment management schemes, your role will contribute to providing the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of catchment management in improving water quality. This will involve contributing to the development of robust field monitoring programmes.

Your work will be instrumental in the understanding of the impact of catchment management within ground and surface drinking water catchments for pesticides and nutrients.

Day to day, you will:

• collate, analyse, interpret and report catchment-derived data
• develop data analysis routines to support the scope and delivery of catchment management projects
• apply and/or develop modelling to improve the understanding of catchment-scale hydrological processes and nutrient/contaminant loss
• ensure that data collection and analysis are quality assured, robust, and presentable to a wide range of both internal and external audiences. 

The team fosters an environment where new ideas and innovation are welcomed and encouraged, and there will be plenty of opportunities to get out into the field to collect data. You will also be required to keep informed of developments in the wider industry and academic community to incorporate new scientific knowledge, mitigation measures or ways of working into our schemes.

What you'll need

To succeed in this role, you will have a sound scientific approach and a background in catchment science, environmental science, soil science, hydrology, hydrogeology or related fields.

Key requirements for the role include:

• a master's degree in geography, environmental science or a similar subject
• knowledge and thorough understanding of catchment processes, diffuse and point source pollution, nutrient and pesticide cycling, water management and/or agriculture
• highly numerate with strong capabilities in data handling and demonstrated data analysis (incl. spatial data) and statistical analysis experience
• experience designing and executing workflows via code-based tools, e.g., R/Python and GIS
• coding and IT skills, including RStudio, ArcGIS Pro (or other GIS software) and Microsoft Office
• project management experience of scientific projects, with the appetite to learn and develop wider project management skills
• experience in the preparation and delivery of clear, thorough and coherent scientific outputs, such as reports, graphs and visualisations
• strong communication skills, including the ability to write reports and present compelling arguments to a range of internal and non-specialised audiences
• being organised and methodical, with an ability to plan your own workload
• ability to work independently and with others within a multidisciplinary team, and more widely with colleagues across the company and industry
• a full UK Driving license.

Desirable requirements include:

• a PhD in Environmental Science, or related field
• a knowledge and experience of environmental legislation, drinking water regulations and issues relating to water abstraction
• an understanding of environmental mitigation measures (e.g., nature-based solutions)
• experience in sourcing/managing/maintaining scientific equipment
• health and safety experience, including managing and maintaining risk assessments and method statements
• the ability to swim.

What you'll receive

• A combined pension contribution of up to 20%.
• Career progression and professional development opportunities.
• 25 days' holiday rising to 28 with length of service.
• The opportunity to sell up to five days of holiday every year.
• The opportunity to buy up to ten days of holiday each year (subject to conditions).
• A healthcare package that allows you to claim back healthcare costs.
• Life assurance of up to eight times your salary.
• The opportunity to lease a new electric car through salary sacrifice (subject to conditions).
• Cashback and discounts from more than 3,000 retailers.
• One paid volunteering day each year.
• Enhanced family leave and pay arrangements.
• Access to an interactive health and wellbeing platform.
• Support from trained mental health first aiders.
• A £1,000 referral fee if you recommend someone who is successfully recruited by us. 

Who we are

YTL UK is part of the international YTL Group based in Kuala Lumpur. The UK companies include:

• Wessex Water – one of the top-performing water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, serving 2.9 million people across the South West
• YTL Developments – a major UK developer currently redeveloping a 350-acre former airfield into an award-winning, exciting mix of houses, apartments, schools, commercial space, restaurants and hotels, to make a truly sustainable new community
• YTL Construction UK – a top 20 UK contractor providing fully integrated services to infrastructure, residential, commercial, industry, energy and environmental sectors
• YTL Live – the development and operation of an entertainment complex that includes a 20,000 capacity arena, conferencing and exhibition space
• plus a number of other retail, environmental and specialist businesses.

Our people tell us that YTL UK is a great place to work, which is why so many of them stay with us! You will have a unique opportunity to develop and progress your career within such a diverse group.

We are passionate about diversity and inclusion – with that in mind, all applicants are welcome. We are delighted to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and are a Disability Confident Employer.

If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the recruitment process, please inform a member of our Recruitment team.