Number of jobs available: 1
Region: National
City/Town: Various
Grade: Staff Grade 5
Post Type: Fixed Term
Role Type: Business Management & Improvement
Working Pattern: Full Time, Part Time, Compressed Hours
Salary Minimum: £43,198 Pro Rata
Closing Date: 19/01/2026, 23:55 hours
Job description attachment 1
AS05 Job Family Role Profile Advise & Shape, Grade 5
Candidate pack:
Candidate Pack – 32792.docx – 2042KB
Converted File Candidate Pack – 32792.docx.pdf – 720KB
Security checks level: Basic Check
Job description
Do you want to work for an organisation that values difference and includes everyone? Then the Environment Agency is the organisation for you! We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities for everyone and having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve.
We are looking for an enthusiastic, self-motivated individual to join the Water Portfolio Management Office (WPMO) in E&B Water on a 12-month assignment.
The Water Portfolio aims to provide a comprehensive and strategic overview of all our collective work on water. Integrating this into a common framework to enable effective prioritisation and critical decision making on where the biggest impact/improvements to the water environment can be made.
The Water Portfolio consists of 15 priority programmes that will deliver change or transformation, alongside a series of other initiatives that deliver smaller scale improvements.
As the Water Portfolio Advisor, you will be an integral part of the WPMO, supporting the Portfolio Manager and Senior Advisor to oversee the alignment of programmes and projects with the EA2030 strategic goals, ensuring resources are prioritised and our investment delivers maximum value and benefits. You will play a key role in performance tracking and data analysis to support decisions that optimise business outcomes.
Key responsibilities include:
Leading programme reporting and analysis, supporting programme leads in adopting the new Unified Reporting Tool.
Providing monthly updates to the Water Portfolio Board on delivery, risks, milestones, and benefits.
Building a strong Programme Lead community for priority programmes.
Driving continuous improvement in reporting, with a focus on risk, benefits, and dependency management.
Embedding the annual Water Portfolio management cycle and integrating new products and ways of working.
The team
The Water Portfolio Management Office sits in Water Futures within the wider Environment & Business Water Directorate. Water Futures is a small department that provides a welcoming and supportive environment, responsible for providing long term strategic direction for water and leading the co-creation of a sustainable water environment.
In E&B we promote a positive, inclusive, and supportive culture where everyone feels valued. We use evidence, expertise, engagement, and innovation to enhance delivery, and influence policy.
Experience/skills required
We are looking for a self-motivated individual who works effectively on their own initiative as well as part of a team. You will be adept at organising and prioritising tasks, confident at reviewing and analysing data and information and presenting this in a clear and effective format, and have a proven record of delivering to a high standard.
You will be able to engage and communicate effectively across a variety of different mediums and be skilled/curious to explore and utilise A.I. to help us work more effectively and efficiently. The successful candidate will need to feel comfortable working across a wide range of teams and levels, demonstrating you can solve problems, build consensus and take effective decisions. Knowledge of E&B Water and experience in portfolio and programme management would be a distinct advantage.
Contact and additional information
You’ll have an EA Office base, but the location is flexible. We are a dispersed team and work virtually using smart tools to stay connected and strike a good balance between work and personal life. Occasional travel and over-night stays will be required.
You’ll have an inclusive incident management objective in your development plan. We’ll help you find and train for a role to suit your needs. #LI-DNI
If you have any questions about the role, please contact Lindsey Noakes (lindsey.noakes@environment-agency.gov.uk).
Interviews are due to be held via MS Teams week commencing 9th February 2026.
If you consent to being held on a reserve list, we’ll hold your details for 6 months and may offer you an alternative post.
Length of contract: Up to 12 months
Competence 1: Achieves Results
Description
More information on how to answer competency questions can be found in the candidate pack.
Please note that that your answers to the competency questions will be used to determine interview selection. Applications are “blind” assessed using your answers to the competency questions asked. In the event of a large number of applications responses to the first question will be used to provide an initial sift.
Feedback is generally not available at sift stage.
Being able to work in an agile way and quickly and easily adapt to changing business parameters or metrics is a key part of the Water Portfolio Management Office ways of working.
Describe a time when you had to adapt a project plan to take into account changed parameters or a sudden change in project scope.
- What was the situation?
- How did you gauge the size of the change needed?
- How did you manage this?
- What impact did this have on productivity?
- What was the outcome?
Competence 2: Communicates Effectively
Description
A key part of this role is the effective review, analysis and evaluation of reporting information and communicating this clearly to the Water Portfolio Board.
Give an example of when you have used data and information to support your communications.
- What were you communicating and who was your audience?
- How did you decide what to include or omit?
- What feedback did you receive from the audience/recipients?
- What did you learn from this?
Competence 3: Takes Decisions and Solves Problems
Description
As a Water Portfolio advisor, you will regularly need to decide on the best course of action to resolve specific issues. You will need to apply evidence, analysis and business knowledge to provide sound advice and decide on the best course of action.
Describe a time when you had to solve a particularly complex problem in your current/previous role.
- What was the issue?
- What made it complex?
- What information did you need in order to solve it?
- What was the outcome?
Competence 4: Manages the Business
Description
The Water Portfolio Management Office works across E&B Water and the wider business to ensure we maximise the return on our investment and benefits to the water environment.
Describe a time when you have had to obtain resources from another area of the business outside your own, in order to complete a project or piece of work?
- How did you identify the alternative resource?
- What was it?
- Who did you approach to obtain this resource?
- What was the outcome?
- What did you learn from this situation?
If you are applying from the Civil Service please note that the Environment Agency is not a part of HM Civil Service and you would not be a Crown Servant in the event of being appointed. Therefore, you will not be eligible for continuous service. For applicants who currently work in local government or other bodies listed in the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government etc) (Modification) Order 1999, you may be eligible for continuous service for the purpose of calculating any future redundancy payment. If you are unsure of your status then you should contact your own HR Team.
We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please include clearly any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application.
We also have a Guaranteed Interview Policy to support those with a disability who are seeking employment. We have committed to guaranteeing an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
The Environment Agency, as a Non-Departmental Public Body, is committed to providing value for money and utilises Central Government frameworks and contracts for all external recruitment needs. For this reason, we are unable to engage with the market directly through post, email or phone calls . Should you wish to become a support supplier on one of these frameworks or contracts please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-crown-commercial-service-supplier/becoming-a-supplier-through-the-crown-commercial-service-what-you-need-to-know for more information.
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Although the Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body sponsored by Defra, we subscribe to and align with the candidate guidance on the use of artificial intelligence found on the Civil Service Careers website. Please review for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
