Senior Environment Officer - Water Quality - 28717

The Environment Agency are committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We don’t just talk about diversity; we seek it, embrace it and live it, for the benefit of our staff, our communities and our environment. Everyone starting in a new role will be welcomed into the team and given all the training and support needed. As part of your comprehensive induction, you will be provided with all the equipment required for your role.

We are seeking two enthusiastic, self-motivated and inspiring individuals to take a lead in Water Quality for the Land and Water teams in Thames Area. You will be taking a lead in completing compliance and enforcement work at sites with permitted discharges to water, as well as incident response for a range of environmental incidents. You will be supporting less experienced colleagues in this work.

This is both an internal and external facing role.

You will work closely with team leaders, helping to inspire and motivate the teams to achieve successful environmental outcomes.

You will also help support and mentor Environment Officers within the teams, both in delivering their work, and also in their ongoing development. You will work with other Senior Environment Officers (SEOs) to identify and deliver any training needed.

You will have a good understanding of incident management and be prepared to fulfil an Environment Management Duty Officer role or equivalent. You will be confident in dealing with a wide range of customers and stakeholders. You will work closely with the other teams across the Area as well as help deliver work in the Land and Water sectors.

The roles will support the two Land and Water teams in Thames Area. We will consider candidates who wish to be based at any of the office bases listed above.

The role will sit within one of two Land and Water area based teams, part of the Environment Management Department in Thames Area which in turn is part of the Operations Directorate - South East Hub.

Based in either Wallingford, Reading or Farnham, your focus will be on water quality but you will be part of a busy team delivering regulation and incident response for water quality, water resources and agriculture.

The successful candidate will:-

Be able to motivate, coach, support and develop Environment Officers;

Have well developed influencing and communication skills;

Have a good understanding of the enforcement governance process;

Have significant experience of dealing with complex permit compliance work

Be able to work collaboratively with other teams across Thames Area to improve and protect the environment.

If you would like to find out more about this role please contact; Lucy Bee, lucy.bee@environment-agency.gov.uk, or JC Hall, jc.hall@environment-agency.gov.uk.

Travel will be required to offices that are not your base office within Thames Area as well as occasional travel to meetings and conferences in other parts of England e.g. Birmingham.

You will also be required to make visits to third party sites within Thames Area.

We anticipate interviews taking place in the weeks commencing 15 April and 22 April 2024. There may be flexibility, so please ask if you are selected for interview and are not available during this period. The interviews will be face to face.

PLEASE NOTE: We do not accept CV's and your answer to the following question will be used for interview selection - please draw out your skills and experience in your response. Using the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action Result) can help when formulating your answers.

Communicating effectively to a range of stakeholders is crucial in this role.

Tell us about a time you needed to deliver a complex message to your audience. What was key to your success?

A Senior Environment Officer is expected to be a respected technical coach and is able to support less experienced colleagues in gaining the skills to deliver water quality compliance and enforcement.

Please tell us about an experience you have of using your technical knowledge to coach others. What methods did you use to help them develop, how did you adapt and what was the outcome?

A Senior Environment Officer should have experience of improving environmental performance and compliance in water discharge activities.

Please describe how you would apply your experience to date to secure compliance with a permitted discharge.

A Senior Environment Officer harnesses the team to deliver results on time, to required standards and in line with organisational processes and procedures.

Please describe a time when you have delivered a piece of work that involved working with others, ensuring they delivered on your behalf?

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