Associate / Associate Director - Flood Risk and Sustainable Water Management

At Tetra Tech, you’ll work on meaningful projects that help shape resilient, sustainable places across the UK. Joining our Flood Risk and Sustainable Water Management team, you will play a key role in delivering development-led projects that respond to complex flood risk, drainage and water environment challenges.

Purpose & Scope of the Role

As an Associate or Associate Director within our Flood Risk and Sustainable Water Management team, you will lead and support a varied portfolio of development-led projects, with a particular focus on planning applications, Environmental Impact Assessments and wider catchment technical studies. You will provide clear, practical and commercially informed advice on flood risk, drainage and sustainable water management matters, helping clients navigate policy, regulation and stakeholder requirements to develop robust and deliverable solutions. Your work will include preparing, reviewing and overseeing technical reports and supporting documents for planning and environmental submissions. You will also bring familiarity with hydraulic modelling and the interpretation of outputs to inform technical advice, assess constraints and support solution development.

Working closely with environmental consultants, planners, engineers and project managers, you will help ensure flood risk and sustainable water management are fully integrated into project design and assessment. You will engage directly with clients, local planning authorities, the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authorities, water companies and other stakeholders, helping shape project strategy, respond to technical queries and represent the team in meetings and workshops. You will also contribute to project management, fee proposals, bid writing and wider business development activity, while supporting the development of junior colleagues through mentoring, coaching and technical guidance.

Your Impact in this position

You will play a key role in delivering practical, sustainable flood risk and water management solutions that support high-quality development outcomes. Your technical advice will help clients progress projects through the planning and environmental process, while your leadership will strengthen team capability, improve delivery quality and contribute to business growth.

Core Capabilities

• Technical Leadership: Strong experience in flood risk management, drainage or environmental water management consultancy, with the ability to provide authoritative advice on flood constraints, mitigation and sustainable water solutions.
• Planning and Environmental Assessment: Experience supporting development projects through the planning system, particularly where flood risk and drainage inputs are required for Environmental Impact Assessments, planning submissions and related reporting.
• Project Delivery & Quality Assurance: Ability to manage and support multiple projects, oversee technical outputs, review reports for quality and accuracy, and help ensure successful delivery to time and budget.
• Stakeholder Engagement & Communication: Confident communicator with strong report writing and presentation skills, able to engage effectively with clients, multidisciplinary teams, planning authorities, regulators and other external stakeholders.
• Collaboration & Professional Growth: Team-oriented with a proactive, commercially aware approach, able to support junior colleagues, contribute to bids and proposals, and help develop long-term client relationships.

Skills, Qualifications & Experience

You will have substantial experience in flood risk management, drainage or environmental water management consultancy at a senior level, with a strong track record of supporting development projects through the planning and environmental process. A sound understanding of UK flood risk policy, planning guidance and the wider regulatory context is essential, along with the confidence to advise on flood risk constraints, mitigation and sustainable water solutions. Experience of working with multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders is essential, as is the ability to lead technical conversations and build effective working relationships. You will be comfortable managing your own workload and supporting others, with a strong focus on quality, collaboration and delivery. Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential, together with the ability to produce concise reports, present technical advice effectively and contribute to business development. Experience of major development, regeneration or infrastructure projects would be beneficial, as would knowledge of DCO, EIA or other statutory consenting processes. Familiarity with sustainable drainage, nature-based solutions, local authority planning processes and flood risk consultation would also be an advantage. Degree in a relevant discipline and Chartered status with CIWEM or a similar professional body is strongly preferred. UK project experience is essential, along with a full UK driving licence. Eligibility for SC clearance is advantageous.

Working Environment

This role will ideally be based in London, Bristol or Leeds, however other locations can be considered. Hybrid working is supported. Projects are UK-wide, so occasional travel to client meetings, site visits and team meetings will be required, including associated flexibility in working hours.

About Tetra Tech

Tetra Tech is a leading provider of consulting and engineering services working across the full project lifecycle worldwide. We have a wide range of expertise across our teams, providing a global support network with a personalised approach to client relationships to better understand where we can add value. We provide a collaborative environment that supports individual performance, innovation, and creativity. We support public and private sector clients on local, national, and international projects to deliver sustainable and resilient solutions. Our operations in the UK, Ireland, and the Netherlands include more than 6,000 employees who are Leading with Science to solve our clients’ most complex problems.

In alignment with the Equality Act 2010, we will make reasonable adjustments to support candidates and employees requiring additional arrangements. This could include adaptations to work schedules, training approaches, or the physical workspace. Please inform us if you need any accommodations during the recruitment process or in your day-to-day role.