Groundwater and Contaminated Land Technical Specialist - 25325

We are the Environment Agency. We work with government, local councils, water companies, businesses, and communities to make our environment cleaner, safer, and healthier for people and wildlife. We tackle the effects and causes of climate change, perhaps the most serious long-term threat to the environment that we face.

This specialist role is an exciting opportunity to protect and enhance the quality of our groundwater resource. Work will include providing specialist technical advice, keeping up to date and applying relevant legislation and interpreting complex groundwater quality issues, covering:

Reviewing land contamination reports and remediation strategies and provide appropriate regulatory advice.

Seek opportunities to secure voluntary remediation at sites affected by historic contamination, particularly where this protects and enhances priority groundwater areas.

Maintaining team resilience, providing technical support for the planning, permitting and incident management processes within the team and area wide.

Managing the Water Industry National Environment Programme Groundwater Quality schemes and catchment programme

Supporting and coaching the team and engaging with our National E&B Groundwater team to ensure Area issues are addressed in accordance with our guidance Framework Directive decision making

Support safeguard zones delivery of action plans, ensuring they are incorporated into area priorities

Lead on projects including high profile infrastructure projects

Being supported to undertake or maintain an existing role to support the Environment Agency’s wider response to pollution and flooding incidents.

Responding to incidents is a central part of what we do. You will be required to have an incident role and make yourself available to respond to incidents or provide business continuity support during an incident. This may attract an additional payment and full training and alternative working arrangements will be available to support you with your incident role.

The Groundwater and Contaminated Land Team regulate and protect the heavily utilised groundwater resource in the Kent and South London, whilst also implementing strategies to improve groundwater quality.

The team specialise in land contamination, landfill engineering, groundwater protection, and hydrogeology. Our technical advice is indispensable to other Environment Agency teams and external partners such as water companies and Local Authorities when making decisions regarding building and high-profile infrastructure developments, incident management, and permitting.

A degree in a relevant scientific/engineering discipline, a good understanding of geology/ hydrogeology and chemistry.

Desirable:

Experience in landfill engineering work

Experience in the investigation, remediation of sites affected by historic contamination.

Demonstrating good awareness of groundwater quality issues together with knowledge of relevant environmental legislation and policy. with a track record of achieving results, you'll be able to demonstrate your ability to work with, lead others, establish good customer, partner relationships using your analytical skills, scientific knowledge to identify problems making recommendations to resolve them. Also demonstrating your potential for coaching others to develop their technical capabilities.

Using a range of communication skills, techniques to transpose complex data, information for a range of audiences.

Well developed computing skills with the ability to use tools available i.e. Arc Geographical Information System.

You will be supported to develop your technical, professional skills including chartership with an appropriate professional body.

The role will be based at Orchard House, Addington, Kent. We currently have a hybrid working arrangement with a mix of home and office working.

Interviews will be held January / February 2023. We encourage you to refer to our "EA capability dictionary" which can be viewed by searching online using any web browser. You may find it helpful to research the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) approach when formulating your response.

For further details or an informal chat about the role, please contact Priya Sharma priya.sharma@environment-agency.gov.uk .

We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies.

Please note we do not assess CVs. Answers to these competency questions will be used for interview selection so ensure you draw out your skills and experience in your responses. You have up to 250 words so please do use them to tell us what we need to know about you.

Please provide an example of where you have had to make a difficult decision in order to solve a complex problem. Please describe how you reached the decision including what tools and information you used to help inform the decision and how you came to select your chosen course of action.

Please note we do not assess CVs. Answers to these competency questions will be used for interview selection so ensure you draw out your skills and experience in your responses. You have up to 250 words so please do use them to tell us what we need to know about you.

Describe how you have presented a case in a convincing and attractive way changing the direction of an organisation, winning people over, and ultimately encouraging them to follow a different route willingly. What did you do that made the difference in succeeding where logic and reason alone would fail?

Please note we do not assess CVs. Answers to these competency questions will be used for interview selection so ensure you draw out your skills and experience in your responses. You have up to 250 words so please do use them to tell us what we need to know about you.

The role involves leading the Environment Agency's contribution to multifaceted programmes of work, being the lead contact for water companies, responding to incidents and high-profile programmes and projects. Give an example of a piece of work or project you have done highlighting your approach to ensuring delivery to time, budget, and quality. Describe your approach to dealing with conflicting priorities.

Please note we do not assess CVs. Answers to these competency questions will be used for interview selection so ensure you draw out your skills and experience in your responses. You have up to 250 words so please do use them to tell us what we need to know about you.

The role involves keeping up to date with the latest tools and techniques relating to protecting and improving groundwater quality, furthermore there is an increasing need to be flexible enough to help team colleagues and for them to help you as priorities change. Describe, with examples, how you have helped colleagues develop their knowledge and skills to enable them to do a job and improve their performance.

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