Marine Water Quality Improvement Officer

You will deliver an ambitious work programme to improve marine water quality in Marine Protected Areas and Water Framework Designation waterbodies. This will include practical restoration, land, and habitat management , monitoring and stakeholder engagement work planned across the affected areas.

Working with teams across Wales you will collaborate with other water quality officers in ensuring delivery of the project objectives and targets and in developing objectives and a marine plan for future delivery. You will ensure good governance of the project, including strict adherence to NRW’s procurement and wellbeing, health and safety practices. 

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Lily Pauls at [email protected]

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

Natural Resources Wales has been putting in place an exciting new programme of marine work with support from Welsh Government’s Water Capital Programme. NRW will deliver a suite of projects focussed on Welsh coasts and seas. In addition, we will be undertaking feasibility and evidence work that will help us to put in place better management for our coasts and seas in the future.

In this role, you will sit within the Marine Sustainable Management Team and work closely with a range of technical specialists in NRW, and partners and stakeholders across Wales.

What you will do

• Work with other water quality officers, external stakeholders and other NRW staff, to plan and develop the detailed marine programme of site restoration, land, and habitat management, monitoring and stakeholder engagement work across the project delivery period.
• Collate evidence and information to develop future on the ground restoration and habitat management works and monitoring works to exemplary standards, commissioning information and close supervision of contracts.
• Maintain detailed records of progress with project implementation to support reporting at key milestones. Collate and analyse project monitoring data to develop a series of actions and objectives for the catchments. Present and share evidence  and learning via written reports and a marine plan.  
• Attend and actively contribute to regular meetings across various teams and supporting them at Project Steering Group meetings.
• Attend events and give talks to a wide range of interest groups
• Manage the budget allocated to project elements you are responsible for and maintain relationships with third party suppliers to meet value for money and spend profile requirements.
• Work with a wide range of stakeholders using a variety of engagement methods to increase understanding and appreciation of the requirements for and societal benefits resulting from catchment restoration
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Knowledge of coastal restoration techniques, partnership working and catchment management  
2. Experience managing contracts.
3. Excellent team working and communication skills and the ability to represent the project to a variety of audiences including external stakeholders.
4. The ability to currently and legally drive a car in the UK.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential:  Level A1 – able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

If you think you have what it takes to do this role, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch and we will be happy to discuss the role with you in more detail.

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.