Principal Consultant - Water Resources Management

About The Role

Are you a water resources management professional who enjoys leading complex projects, working with multidisciplinary specialists and helping clients solve challenging water environment issues? Do you thrive in a role that combines technical expertise, project leadership, client engagement and commercial awareness while contributing to sustainable water management solutions across the UK and Ireland?

We’re looking for a Principal Water Resources Management Consultant to join our growing team. This is an exciting opportunity to take a leading role within a collaborative group of hydrologists, hydro geologists, water resource specialists, geomorphologists, ecologists and environmental scientists delivering innovative, evidence-led solutions for some of the UK’s most important water and infrastructure projects.

Our Water Resources Management team supports clients across the water, energy, infrastructure, development and environmental sectors
, helping them respond to increasingly complex challenges relating to water resources, flood risk, environmental protection, catchment management and regulatory compliance. Working alongside recognised technical specialists, you’ll contribute to projects that have a genuine influence on the sustainable management of water environments and the resilience of future infrastructure.

This is a genuinely varied role where you’ll lead the delivery of technically challenging projects and programmes, coordinate multidisciplinary teams and develop strong relationships with clients, regulators and stakeholders. You’ll have the opportunity to shape project approaches, provide technical leadership, support business development activities and contribute to the continued growth of our Water Management capability.

Whether your strengths lie in water resources, hydrology, flood risk, catchment management, environmental assessment or integrated water management
, you’ll have the opportunity to work across the full project lifecycle while helping develop innovative solutions that balance environmental, social and commercial priorities.

• A degree (BSc, MSc or equivalent) in hydrology, hydrogeology, water resources, environmental science, civil engineering or a related discipline
  .
• Significant experience delivering water management, water resources, hydrology, flood risk or catchment management projects within consultancy, the water industry, a regulatory environment or a related sector.
• Proven experience leading and managing complex projects or programmes
  , including responsibility for budgets, programmes, resources and quality assurance.
• Strong technical understanding of UK water management legislation, policy and regulatory frameworks
  , including relevant environmental assessment processes.
• Experience building and maintaining effective relationships with clients, regulators, contractors and multidisciplinary project teams
  .
• Excellent technical report writing, review and communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Commercial awareness, including experience contributing to proposals, tenders, framework opportunities or business development activities
  .
• Strong organisational, leadership and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and support collaborative team delivery.

• Chartered status (or are working towards chartership) with a relevant professional institution such as CIWEM, ICE or the Geological Society
  .
• Experience working with water companies, regulators or major infrastructure clients
  .
• Knowledge of Water Framework Directive, abstraction licensing, drought planning, catchment restoration or nature-based solutions
  .
• Experience using hydrological, hydraulic or water resources modelling tools
  .
• Experience mentoring or developing junior colleagues.
• GIS capability using ArcGIS or QGIS
  .
• A full UK driving licence
  .

At APEM, we balance technical excellence with flexibility and wellbeing. You’ll be part of a team that works across some of the most interesting and complex water management challenges in the UK, supported by specialists across water resources, hydrology, hydro-ecology, geomorphology, water quality and ecology.

As part of the APEM Group and now within Applus+, we continue to grow and diversify, offering the opportunity to work on innovative and nationally significant environmental consultancy projects.