Principal Environmental Permitting Advisor

Are you a positive person with a good understanding of Environmental Permitting Regulations? Are you seeking to increase your depth of understanding in this field? If so, we have a great new opportunity for you within our Water Quality Environmental Permitting team as our Principal Environmental Permitting Advisor.

The Environmental Permitting team provides a wide range of services and guidance across the business to ensure regulatory permit applications, variations and queries are delivered on time. The team liaises with a range of skilled professionals across the company, from Modellers to Engineers and Compliance.

We are looking for someone who has proven experience in water quality and environmental permitting, with a good understanding of wastewater processes, sewerage systems or waste discharges.

Working alongside the Environmental Permitting Manager, you will be leading on complex permitting applications and developing the knowledge of a team of six technical professionals, responsible for maintaining a register of around 1,700 discharge permits.

The team supports the company, covering all stages of the permitting process across different business assets, including water supply assets, sewerage network systems, water recycling centres and medium combustion plants. A key area of the role is ensuring timely permit delivery, working closely with engineering and compliance teams to meet the regulatory compliance dates.

As the Principal Environmental Permitting Advisor, you will assist the Manager in leading our dialogue with regulators, the Environment Agency (EA), to plan resourcing requirements, provide a shared forward look and understanding, and implement any regulatory changes.

Key to this role is the ability to communicate technical information to a wide audience, enabling project delivery and future compliance.

You will:

• lead on complex and innovative environmental permitting schemes, ensuring they meet the requirements of the business
• represent the Environmental Permitting team in collaborative work with wider teams across the business, including Compliance, Modelling and Engineering, to collate data and evidence for complex Environmental Permits
• lead on the delivery of an Environmental Permitting training programme to develop the technical skills of the junior members of the team, supporting their professional development and providing resilience within the team
• take responsibility for ensuring the permitting database and associated management systems are in place, maintained and updated to enable effective company-wide use
• ensure knowledge of current and future Environmental Permitting legislation is shared across the permitting team and the wider business
• assist the Environmental Permitting Manager with the prioritisation of permit applications and management of the team's resources
• deputise for the Environmental Permitting Manager as and when required
• conduct occasional site audits, training and improvement actions.

To succeed in this role, you will have a good understanding of Environmental Permitting Regulations and their implementation in practice. Be passionate about developing the technical knowledge and experience of the team and have strong verbal and written communication skills, which are adaptable to different audiences. You will need to be innovative and positive in your approach.

In addition, we are looking for:

• a degree or equivalent in a STEM subject
• an understanding of wastewater, sewerage and water supply processes and the associated regulations applicable
• experience in environmental permitting, either in the water industry or another regulated sector
• experience with GIS software packages and data collation and presentation.
• a full clean driving licence
• strong verbal and written communication skills.

Most of all, you will be a great team player who is passionate about growing and developing a talented team. The role is based in our head office in Bath, with a mix of home and office working. There will be some travelling to sites across the Wessex Water region, but the role is primarily office-based.

• A combined pension contribution of…