Flood Defence Team Member - Rainham, Essex

What will you do

Are you passionate about the outdoors and eager to contribute to a greener, more sustainable future? This is your chance to be part of a dynamic team working on the front line to combat the climate emergency and address environmental challenges like flooding, drought, and coastal changes. This is an exciting time to join the UK's biggest environmental organisation and influence how we do things in the future. As part of the Environment Agency, you will play your part in protecting and improving the environment. We are working with government, local councils, businesses, civil society groups and communities to meet these challenges and at the same time make our environment a better place for people and wildlife. Job Responsibilities:

• Operate and maintain flood and coastal risk management assets, ensuring their optimal performance in safeguarding communities.
• Respond to incidents and emergencies related to flooding and other environmental challenges, playing a vital part in our 24/7 standby roster. Your dedication will be compensated in addition to your basic pay.
• Operate our assets during incidents and contribute to initiatives, such as installing flood barriers, building sandbag walls, deploying high-volume pumps, and providing assistance to affected communities during flood situations.
• Utilise a wide range of tools and equipment, which may include chainsaws, strimmers/brush cutters, heavy plant machinery, boats, and more.
• Participate in various tasks such as structure maintenance, vegetation management, small construction projects, soft engineering methods, beach maintenance, and culvert and grill clearances.

Your work will be critical both to improve the environment and to protect local communities from flooding, and you will operate, maintain and respond to a range of assets, from a large flood relief channel and flood storage reservoirs to local flood defences. Your day-to-day duties will involve working in both urban and rural environments and will typically involve a mix of asset operation and response, asset maintenance, for example vegetation control and small construction tasks and incident response. Use of IT devices will also be required to track work tasks and communicate with team members.

Qualifications

What you will need:

• This is a physical job. The ability to work in all weather conditions in a mix of urban and rural environments, as part of a dedicated team is required.
• A valid UK manual driving license.
• Ability to travel to your base depot within 60 minutes in order to respond to incidents and meet urgent business needs.

We're looking for people with:

• A passion for the outdoors and a genuine commitment to protecting the environment.
• Literacy and numeracy skills, along with a willingness to learn our in-house systems and use IT devices.
• Some understanding of site health and safety requirements, but full training will be provided.

Where you will work: You will be expected to travel to your depot to check in daily and then will be dispersed from there in smaller teams to carry out the field work tasks for that day within our geographical area. More on this and the shift patterns will be explained at the interview.

Why this job

• Meaningful Impact: As an emergency responder, you'll be at the forefront of safeguarding communities and ecosystems. Your efforts will directly contribute to our ambitious goal of achieving Carbon Net Zero by 2030, leaving a lasting positive impact on the environment.
• Diverse and Exciting Job Enjoy a diverse range of duties that involve maintenance, vegetation management, small construction projects, soft engineering, beach maintenance, and responding to flood incidents. Every day will be different and fulfilling.
• Training and Support: Practical ability and awareness of health and safety risks are beneficial but, if you have no prior experience? No problem! As a new Flood Defence Team Member you will be enrolled in our Water Environment Worker Apprenticeship. You will also be provided with further training in the use of tools, equipment, and health & safety protocols, and be mentored by experienced colleagues to ensure you have all the knowledge and skills needed to succeed.
• Continuous Learning: Enhance your practical abilities and environmental awareness through hands-on work. We encourage and support further development, including specialist training when required.
• Team Environment: Work as part of a close-knit team of like-minded individuals who share your passion for the environment. Together, we make a real impact and create a better world for all.

As an organisation we strive to reflect the communities we serve. To achieve this, we welcome applications from all backgrounds regardless of race, sexual orientation, and religion.

Career oportunities

You'll benefit from a culture that embraces difference and is inclusive where you'll feel supported and trusted to do the right thing. We'll invest in you and allow you to grow and shape your career. Specifically, and where appropriate, we will support you to complete and achieve our Water Environment Worker apprenticeship. What's more, you'll have access to our great benefits package including:

• Starting salary of £25,308 + an Outer London weighting of £2,186 per annum rising to £27,293 for Team Member Level 2C after 3 years subject to satisfactory performance
• A generous career average pension scheme
• Overtime opportunities through standby and incident pay
• 25 days holiday + 8 bank holidays for full-time employees working a standard business hours pattern – our Flood Defence Team Members work non-standard business hours pattern, for example a 9-day fortnight so holiday entitlement will be adjusted accordingly
• Great career opportunities
• Maternity, paternity, and adoption leave scheme
• This is a full-time job. In rare cases, there may be the option for a job share or working set days a week rather than full time, but full days will need to be worked

Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the UK's biggest environmental organisation. Join us and together let's tackle the challenges of a changing climate and build a more sustainable future.