Suds Supervisor Of Works

This is a Full Time, Permanent Position. An exciting opportunity has opened to be part of the Hull City Council Flood Team and Living with Water partnership. We are looking for an enthusiastic team member who has good knowledge of SuDs and is committed to creating a better environment for all.

Hull has the 2nd highest level of flood risk in the UK outside of London. The risk is a combination of multiple sources; tidal, fluvial, surface water, sewer and ground water. There are many organisations with a role in managing the flood risk. These organisations have formed the Living with Water Partnership which aims to create a thriving community in Hull and Haltemprice through working together on flood risk management to become an international exemplar for living in harmony with water.

The role will be integral to the delivery, performance, and long-term management of the sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) across the city, both through new development and retrofit programmes. The postholder will take a leading technical role in ensuring that the relevant national and local SuDS policies and standards have been complied with throughout the planning process and post-delivery. Responsibilities will include oversight of construction quality in a Clerk of Works capacity, supporting adoption processes, enforcement, and maintaining accurate asset records as the Council undertakes long-term stewardship of SuDS.

Working effectively with the Living with Water partners to facilitate the delivery of the 25-year Blue Green Plan will be central to this role. Assist project managers with feasibility, design, and construction of retrofit SuDS, and identify opportunities to align SuDS delivery with other capital or infrastructure projects.

To successfully deliver SuDS and achieve multiple benefits, there needs to be co-ordinated working between many different council departments and stakeholders such as Yorkshire Water, therefore, the postholder will be responsible for the facilitation of communication and meetings across multiple stakeholders to achieve consensus to maintain programmes to cost, quality and time.

The postholder will be responsible for assessing SuDS designs to ensure that all proposed features are appropriate, compliant with national and local standards, and supported by suitable long-term maintenance arrangements. This will include providing coordinated, consistent technical advice that aligns with the advice of Planning Development Management, Highways, Biodiversity Officer, Flood Team, Open Spaces, Grounds Maintenance and Yorkshire Water. This will also involve influencing the development and refinement of local and national policy to ensure that SuDS requirements and principles are fully embedded within key strategic documents, including the Local Plan, Corporate Property Strategy, Local Nature Recovery Strategy, Housing Strategy, and Highways Design Guides and Standards.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Customer Focus – Work in a team with colleagues from Flood, Highways, Planning, Legal, Parks and Grounds and Streetscene to ensure that the new SuDS through development are in-line with both national and local guidance during the planning and design stage. Work with the Living with Water partners to enable the delivery of the capital investment programmes. This includes assisting colleagues, consultants and contractors on feasibility, design and construction of the required assets to manage integrated flood risk. At construction stage work with the developer, consultants and contractor and other clerk of works (Highways or Yorkshire Water) to monitor and inspect the SuDS as they are installed at the various stages and to follow the required process for adoption of the features. Responsible for the co-ordination of meetings to understand design requirements or enforcement issues and to resolve any challenges with the process. Ensure such meetings are well orchestrated and accurate written records of discussions and outcomes produced.
• Performance Management - Compliance and regulation- ensure that the SuDS required are constructed in accordance with the approved designs and work with colleagues to influence all involved to understand the value of well-designed and appropriately constructed/landscaped/planted SuDS. Work with Ecology, Open Spaces, Arboriculture Team, Grounds and seek external advice where needed to ensure that vegetated SuDS are planted with the appropriate species for the specific SuDS requirements.
• Statutory Obligations – Knowledge and understanding of CDM (Construction Design and Management) regulations and the Health and Safety at Works Act to ensure compliance when working on active construction sites.
• Influence - Promote the concept widely internally amongst the relevant council teams, externally with professional partners and with communities around the value of well-designed and correctly installed SuDS. This includes setting up workshops and CPD sessions, attending conferences to share best practice and case studies and working with community groups and schools, using engagement tools and techniques to educate and engage. Lead on early engagement with developers and other stakeholders to ensure the integration of SuDS to achieve the benefits of SuDS in accordance with national and local guidance.
• Policy - Work with other teams such as Grounds and Highways to ensure that the maintenance requirements are understood and resourced. This includes setting policy around the adoption and maintenance of SuDS in line with relevant legislation and working on the setting of commuted sums.
• Technical skills- Understand the guidance such as Sewers for Adoption and the CIRIA SuDS manual and have the ability to interpret drawings and guidance to determine whether the post-construction SuDS have been delivered in accordance with the guidance and approved plans. With partners work on modelling technical solutions into actual programmes of works including long term maintenance and costing of proposals. Accountable for ensuring that new SuDS assets are to the correct standards and to assist and inform relevant colleagues to ensure they are entered onto the council’s asset register. This includes ongoing monitoring of the assets and register ensuring changes are logged.

The above principal accountabilities are not exhaustive and may vary without changing the character of the job or level of responsibility.

We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.

We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.

The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.