Senior Ecologist in Reading

Are you passionate about ecology and ready to make a real impact in the water and wastewater sector? As a Lead Ecologist within our Major Projects and Programme team, you'll be pivotal in shaping environmental aspects for projects across Greater London, the Home Counties and beyond.

Working closely with Environmental Assurance Engineers, you'll ensure ecological best practices and legislation are embedded in infrastructure projects, driving sustainability and compliance while protecting biodiversity.

What you’ll be doing as a Lead Ecologist:

• Support the Principal Environmental Engineer in delivering assurance across a portfolio of projects in both waste and water.
• Your key responsibility will be to assure de-risking, impact assessment and mitigation activities throughout the project lifecycle with a specific focus on ecology-related risks.
• Work closely with multidisciplinary teams, fostering a collaborative environment.
• Conduct ecological walkovers for protected species.
• Review contractors' biodiversity and Protected Species documentation, including Method Statements for ecological surveys, Preliminary Ecological Appraisals, biodiversity net gain (BNG) assessments, and protected species licensing to ensure they meet the required standards.
• Support BNG commitments across major capital projects and Thames Water.
• Act as a critical interface between Major Projects and Programmes and various internal and external stakeholders.
• Enhance biodiversity and drive Contractor’s compliance in BNG, protected species and habitats legislation.
• Promote ecological awareness to embed a culture of environmental responsibility.
• Support managers' relationships with regulators such as Natural England, environmental groups, and stakeholders, ensuring compliance with relevant environmental legislation at project and programme levels.

The role advertised is a hybrid position based at Clearwater Court, Reading. On average, two days a week you will spend at our operational sites or offices, with the rest of your working time spent working from home. 36 hours a week, Monday to Friday.

What you should bring to the role:

• Passion for protecting and enhancing the environment.
• Educated to degree level (or equivalent) in an appropriate ecological/environmental discipline or possess equivalent role-specific experience.
• Protected species and habitat survey, impact assessment and mitigation knowledge.
• Experience with the industry standard Biodiversity net gain Metric.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to confidently interact with colleagues and stakeholders of all levels.

Extra qualities that would be a great fit for our team:

• An understanding of the regulatory environment we work in to achieve compliance with our environmental regulatory requirements.
• Full member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM).
• Experience working with the Utilities industry.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary from £53,000 - £63,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (Plus, bank holidays).
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Generous pension scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.