Field Monitoring Officer - 30224

We welcome applications from individuals of any age, gender, or ethnic background. What matters most to us is that you want to make a real, practical contribution to protecting the environment.

We’re looking for a Field Monitoring Officer to join the Sussex Team, helping us deliver quality environmental monitoring including river and bathing water quality, effluents, macroinvertebrates, diatoms, groundwater and fish monitoring.
You’ll be responsible for data input, interpretation and management using phone apps, standard IT and specialised systems.
You will participate in the Fish Survey Program. This work is carried out in various depths of water, using methods such as electric fishing and seine netting. You will be confident taking part in boat work and handling fish whilst adhering to biosecurity procedures. You will be required to undertake training as an Officer in Charge for fish surveys.
The work can be very physically demanding, and you’ll be required to sample in all weathers. You will be working alone for long periods of time, and will need to prioritise your Health, Safety and Wellbeing, be self-motivated and organised.

You will train and mentor team members to ensure consistent delivery to a high standard.
You will be responsible for ordering sampling equipment and maintaining stores/depots.
As an effective communicator, you will be required to liaise with site contacts, members of the public and internal customers.
You will have an incident role.

We collect field-based samples and environmental data for local, national, and statutory requirements. This data provides key information to serve diverse community and environmental needs.
Our team covers a large area including Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent, so the ideal candidate must be comfortable spending most days driving long distances across urban and rural locations. You would be required to travel anywhere within our patch and be expected to support neighbouring teams when needed.

A full UK driving licence is essential for this role.
Experience/Skills required:
• Field work experience/ working outdoors
• Working in water confidently and safely
• Experience of health, safety and wellbeing procedures including carrying out risk assessments
• Problem solving and practical thinking
• Training and mentoring
• Able to work independently as part of a dispersed team
• Excellent organisational skills and time keeping
• Working to operational instructions or set standards
• Be confident using technology (we use standard IT systems, iPhones and specialised systems)
• Ability to communicate effectively with external and internal customers
• Confident driving long distances in rural and urban locations
Desirable:
• Electric fishing experience
• Water and ecological monitoring experience
• Freshwater fish identification
• Experience of biosecurity procedures

This role is 37 hours/week Monday to Friday with some weekend overtime. We welcome flexible working patterns so clearly include any information on your application. This post benefits from flexitime.
You will be provided with a badged van which can be kept at home. The base location for this role is our Shoreham Depot (BN43 5LG) where you will drop off samples most days. Your time will be spent driving and conducting field work outside, with some key admin responsibilities.
For enquiries about the role please contact Michael Collins on 07768 006248 or michael.collins@environment-agency.gov.uk. We welcome applications from individuals of any age, gender, or ethnic background. What matters most to us is that you want to make a real, practical contribution to protecting the environment.

Please describe any recent experiences where you have demonstrated your ability to collect, record, update and manage field material or data, and the equipment and systems used.

Explain a situation where you have exhibited good health and safety practices and tell us how you keep health and safety as a top priority in all your work activities.

Please give an example of when you have had to plan and prioritise your own work to meet a deadline. Please include any challenges you faced and how you overcame these.

Full UK driving licence