Geomorphology Advisor

Team / Directorate: Flood Risk & Water Management North / Operations

Starting salary:  £36,246 rising to £39,942 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Fixed Term appointment until 31st March 2026

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: To be confirmed

Post number: 203176

The role

You’ll be joining the Hydrology, Geomorphology and Water Resources Management Team in South Wales, within our Flood and Water Management Department. We are a large multi-functional team that covers South and Mid Wales. You’ll be working on some of Wales most iconic rivers from the Teifi to the Wye and everything in between. The role will include a mixture of site and office-based work, and you’ll have the opportunity to provide practical solutions that will help us address the Nature and Climate Emergency.  

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to an NRW office within South Wales and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Lloyd Jones at lloyd.jones@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Interviews will be conducted in person. The location/time will be confirmed at a later date.

Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you will do

• Analyse, interpret and prepare reports on technical scientific data, providing good quality information to the relevant teams, to support their decisions and to help them to protect the environment. 
• Investigate and comment on referred permit applications, providing a technical response to NRW permitting centre, authorities, developers, NRM teams in line with current NRW policy, to influence and promote sustainable permitting and development. 
• Advise on compliance with the Water Framework Directive (WFD), and other relevant legislation.
• Act as a technical advisor on river restoration, bioengineering and natural flood management (NFM) measures
• Provide technical input into guidance for Flood Risk Management, Permitting, Enforcement, Restoring Sustainable Abstraction, and other appropriate projects.
• Provide technical input to the development of future geomorphological practices, particularly focussing on its role in the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources.
• Provide technical support to NRW colleagues on complex geomorphological issues.
• Contribute to the successful development and implementation of emergency plans including drought and flood incident management.
• Support health & safety best practice by actively promoting awareness and ensuring the provision of safe working practices to comply with Environment Agency policies and standards.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Degree in relevant scientific subject (e.g. physical geography, environment science or civil engineering).   
2. Graduate member of appropriate professional body (e.g. CIWEM or ICE) working towards becoming chartered. 
3. Able to demonstrate competency in geomorphological  science and have the ability to apply practically and innovatively at an operational level.  Experience will have been gained over and number of years using geomorphological methods,  techniques  and calculations, with some experience of working on site on rivers.
4. Good understanding of hydromorphological elements of the Water Framework Directive, as well as the ability to write technical reports on such aspects.
5. Ability to convey technical information to non-specialists. 
6. Ability to undertake fieldwork in sometimes physically demanding environments.
7. Full UK driving licence.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential: A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh) previous Level 1 
• Desirable: B2 - Upper intermediate level (able to discuss work matters) previous Level 3

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97%
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

If you think you have what it takes to do this role, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch and we will be happy to discuss the role with you in more detail.

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

Apply for this role

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