Senior Principal Water Resource Consultant

The Opportunity

Ofwat's most significant infrastructure investment since privatisation is now underway, with billions committed to boosting water supply, nature‑based solutions, leakage reduction, and smart metering. The decisions being made today will shape the resilience of the UK's water supply for generations, and the people making those decisions need the best possible support.

You will join a multidisciplinary, collaborative team working with water companies, regulators (including the Environment Agency and Ofwat), design engineers, contractors, planners, and a wide range of other stakeholders.

In this role, you will take a leading hand in planning, delivering, and implementing water‑resource projects, ensuring they meet scope, budget, timescale, quality, and regulatory requirements. You will bring experience to the team and support the development of early‑career colleagues across technical areas such as WRMPs, Regional Water Resource Plans, Drought Plans, water‑resource modelling, demand management, options development, environmental assessments, and the RAPID‑led gated process for SROs.

You will be client‑facing, with an appetite for growing internal and external networks. You will have experience running commercial projects, bids, and proposals, and you will support the wider Water and Environment department as needed, working flexibly across a varied and fast‑growing portfolio.

The work you lead will help water companies plan for a future where supply is secure, demand is managed smartly, and the environment is genuinely protected. From WINEP investigations to Strategic Resource Options and Drought Plans, your contribution will feed directly into national resilience strategies that matter far beyond the project boundary.

You will also play a meaningful role in shaping the next generation of water‑resources professionals, sharing the knowledge and experience that takes years to build and helping your colleagues grow in a team that values expertise and curiosity in equal measure.

You hold a degree in Geography, Geological Sciences, Environmental Science, Civil Engineering, or a relevant subject, and ideally a postgraduate qualification in Hydrology, Hydrogeology, or Water Resources Management. You are Chartered or actively working towards chartered status with a body such as CIWEM, ICE, or the Institute of Water.

You bring extensive experience in the water industry, ideally from consultancy, water company, regulatory, or academic backgrounds. Your expertise spans water‑resource projects including WRMPs, Drought Plans, regional plans, and supply‑demand balance assessments, and you are comfortable across hydrological, hydrogeological, and environmental assessment work, including HRA, SEA, and WFD.

You are used to working at pace in multidisciplinary teams, building trusted relationships with clients and stakeholders, and delivering complex programmes with technical rigour and commercial awareness.

• We put people first: a friendly, inclusive, and collaborative environment where everyone feels valued.
• We are driven to achieve:
  Named in the top 50 companies to work by Glassdoor 2025; recognised by Corporate Knights as one of the world's top 10 most sustainable companies 2025; named Best Place to Work and International Consulting Firm of the Year at the NCE Awards 2024.
• We do what is right:
  Industry‑leading training and development, paid professional subscriptions, and a professional progression plan supporting you to become chartered with ICE.
• We are better together: a supportive and collaborative team environment, an Early Careers peer group, and a wider ERG network.
• Growth: an exciting growth journey across the UK.
• Great Benefits: competitive salary, bonus schemes, enhanced pension plan, annual leave with the option to buy/sell additional days, private medical insurance, group income protection & life assurance, discounted gym membership, and more.
• Hybrid / Flexible working: a healthy work‑life balance with a hybrid approach to flexible working.

Stantec provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for future and current employment and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. We prohibit discrimination in decisions concerning recruitment, hiring, referral, promotion, compensation, fringe benefits, job training, terminations, or any other condition of employment.

Stantec is in compliance with laws and regulations and ensures equitable opportunities in all aspects of employment.