Principal Environmental Economist - Water

The Vacancy

Binnies is a world-leader in Environmental and Critical Human Infrastructure projects in the Water and Flood Risk Management sector delivering exciting projects for clients including the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, Local Authorities and Water Utility Companies. Our team also works on other large infrastructure projects across sectors such as transport and renewable energy.

We are looking for a Principal Environmental Economist to take a leading role in delivering and shaping our growing portfolio of water and catchment work where we are developing and testing innovative approaches to catchment management and providing nature-based solutions via blue-green infrastructure to the water industry. The role will also cover the economic appraisal of flood schemes and large water company infrastructure projects.

You would become an integral part of our multi-disciplinary National Environmental Services Team. We would be happy to welcome you into one of our offices in Redhill/London, Bradford on Avon, Swansea, Birmingham or Chester and offer flexible working.

As a Principal Environmental Economist within our Water and Catchments team, you will provide a leading role in economic appraisals of water resources and water quality schemes as well as flood schemes, through the application of natural capital approaches, cost benefit assessments and multi-criteria analysis.

The role will also require you to help translate national ambitions, such as Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs), Environmental Land Management (ELM), and wider land use frameworks into practical, investable solutions at catchment and landscape scale.

Working at the intersection of natural capital, policy, and delivery, you will help lead and support projects that unlock environmental and commercial value from nature-based solutions in support of Binnies’ Solutions By Nature business; a joint venture providing nature-based solutions via blue-green infrastructure to the water industry. This includes enabling high-integrity habitat creation, nutrient neutrality solutions, carbon and biodiversity markets, and integrated catchment management approaches aligned to water company, infrastructure and public sector priorities.

You will be able to combine technical expertise in natural capital assessment and ecosystem services with a strategic, market-facing mindset, helping clients navigate regulatory change and capitalise on emerging opportunities in nature markets.

You will be responsible for:

• Helping lead Natural Capital and Nature Market projects across a diverse client base, including water companies, infrastructure providers, developers, landowners and public bodies, with a focus on aligning delivery to BNG, LNRS priorities and wider policy drivers;
• Adapting and applying environmental appraisal approaches to assess the costs and benefits of a range of solutions to meet environmental regulatory requirements covering catchment management options, engineering solutions and flood scheme appraisal;
• Applying and advancing natural capital approaches, including mapping, modelling and valuation, to support strategic decision‑making, catchment planning and the development of investable nature‑based solutions;
• Integrating ecological and environmental data into natural capital frameworks, working closely with ecology and environmental specialists to ensure robust, policy‑compliant outputs that support BNG delivery, habitat creation, and long‑term monitoring;
• Supporting the development and delivery of LNRS‑aligned and catchment‑based strategies, helping clients prioritise interventions that deliver multiple benefits across biodiversity, water, climate and natural capital outcomes;
• Driving high‑quality technical reporting and stakeholder engagement, ensuring outputs reflect best practice, emerging standards (e.g. BNG metrics, natural capital accounting) and are accessible to both technical and non‑technical audiences;
• Contributing to a wide range of environmental projects, including biodiversity net gain strategies, habitat restoration, nutrient management, and wider nature‑based solutions…