Project Officer

Are you ready to undertake environmental projects that help protect and restore the River Dee? As our new Project Officer, you'll be at the forefront of designing and delivering practical, high-impact solutions, working with farmers, landowners, communities, and agencies to improve the health of this precious river.

This role will help support and manage multiple conservation interventions that will work towards our targets within our 2027 strategy like:

• Restoring 40km of riverbank habitat
• Improving 150 polluting drains
• Supporting healthier soils across 1,800 acres of farmland

About the Welsh Dee Trust:

As part of the wider Rivers Trust movement, the Welsh Dee Trust is a small, fast-paced and independent charity committed to a river Dee free of pollution and full of wildlife.

Our work focuses on practical, on-the-ground solutions to tackle key challenges facing the river, including habitat restoration, sustainable drainage, and pollution prevention.

A cornerstone of our success is our collaborative approach, working closely with local communities, landowners, and stakeholders to identify and implement pragmatic projects. Cumulatively, these efforts aim to make a significant and lasting impact on the River Dee and its wildlife.

2025 will be the third year of our current five-year strategy which can be found here: www.welshdeetrust.com/strategy-and-impact. 

The strategy includes 3 delivery programmes: Water Wise Farming, Restoring River Habitat and It Shouldn't Be in the Dee, which include targets such as restoring 40km of riparian habitat, improving 150 polluting drains and improving health across 1800 acres of farmland. In 2025, work will start on developing our bigger, better and more impactful 2027- 2032 strategy.

About the role

The Project Officer will play a key role in delivering practical projects that improve the health of the River Dee and its tributaries. Working within a passionate and committed team, the role involves planning and implementing a variety of river restoration, pollution reduction, and community engagement activities. The Project Officer will be responsible for overseeing works on the ground, liaising with landowners, contractors, and volunteers to ensure that projects are delivered to a high standard and in line with environmental best practices.

This role requires a hands-on, proactive approach. The ability to use standard computer software is essential, and experience with mapping and data analysis using ArcGIS or similar software is highly desirable.

Strong communication and organisational skills are also key, as the role involves building trusted relationships with farmers, local communities, and a range of partner organisations.

The successful candidate will be passionate about rivers and environmental protection, with a practical mindset and the ability to work independently as well as part of a team. They will be supported by colleagues across the Welsh Dee Trust and will contribute to the organisation’s wider mission of protecting and restoring the River Dee for nature and people.

Duties

• Work with landowners, fishing clubs and other stakeholders to identify and deliver habitat restoration and water quality projects across the Dee catchment.
• Ensure Health and Safety is managed correctly for all staff and contractors.
• You will draw up and manage capital intervention projects, including the identification of contractors and obtaining the necessary number of quotes.
• Ensure that all capital intervention schemes are based on the best available scientific and policy knowledge and working practices. This will require regular liaison/involvement with project partners.
• Ensure that projects are delivered on time and to budget and report progress to your Line Manager.
• Undertake monitoring activities such as electrofishing, walk-over surveys etc.
• Draft project reports and other reporting.

Knowledge and Experience:

Essential:

• Strong personable skills, including the ability to engage a wide variety of audiences.
• Experience with using computers, particularly Microsoft Office packages.
• Knowledge of either River ecosystems or Agriculture.

Desirable:

• Experience using Arc GIS mapping systems.
• Welsh language speaker
• A solid understanding of an area of river ecosystems e.g. hydro geomorphology, water quality testing, community engagement, water company treatment etc.

Deadline: Midday Monday 18th August 2025
Interviews: A first round of online interviews will take place during the week commencing 25th August, successful candidate will be invited to a second in-person interview.