U.K. nationals: Permitting Officer (Water Resources)

We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment, helping to ensure that people can enjoy it. We look after the water environment and land quality, promoting sustainable development and helping protect and enhance wildlife habitats. We also work closely with businesses, enabling them to operate whilst complying with relevant environmental regulations.

Being a Permitting Officer is an important role at the Environment Agency. You’ll join one of our national water resources permitting teams and you’ll help create a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. You’ll assess a variety of applications for water resources licences across the country. You will carry out technical assessments and communicate with customers and other environmental bodies. You will issue licences in line with relevant legislation and guidance.

The role can be challenging, requiring you to manage a busy workload and consider new technologies, novel scenarios and environmental sensitivities. You will be fully supported in your training and development, with mentoring and coaching helping you become confident in the role. There is the opportunity for you to specialise in certain topics and be in control of your own development and career path.
 

Water Resources teams determine applications for abstraction, impoundment and transfer licences from surface water and groundwater. These licences cover different uses including agriculture and irrigation, hydroelectric power generation and drinking water supplies.
You will work with a team of permitting officers doing similar work, based in the National Permitting Service (NPS) hub at Sapphire East in Solihull, moving to Aqua House in Birmingham city centre in the summer of 2020.
 

You’ll ideally have some experience in a customer-focused role be able to manage multiple deadlines. You will be interested in the environment and keen to protect it by regulating potentially damaging activities. This means dealing with complex and difficult situations. You will be comfortable working to challenging performance targets.

Relevant work experience would be advantageous, however your ability to demonstrate the key skills we’re looking for is more important. You’ll be able to:

• organise and prioritise a large workload
• adapt communication style to suit audience and deliver difficult messages
• make sound and timely decisions
• integrate into a team
• be computer literate
• be passionate about the environment
• have a willingness to learn a broad range of topics

Please do not be put off applying if you don’t have a degree or other qualification because we will provide you with all the training you’ll need.

For further information, please contact Chloe Pearson at [email protected] or 020 7714 1137. Please note, that you will initially be based in our Solihull office and we will be moving to Birmingham city centre in the summer of 2020. Interviews for this role are likely to be conducted week commencing 24 February 2020.