Principal Flood Risk Management Officer

Working with partners, developers and our residents to manage local flood risk.

The Opportunity

Salary: £46,731 to £49,764 per annum.

Location: Your office base will be Chichester and a typical week will combine homeworking with attendance at the office and some site visits. This is led by the needs of the service.

Working pattern: Full-time, 37 hours per week. Flexible working options available, to be agreed with your line manager.

Employer Pension Contribution: 19.70% this alters per annum on the 1st April each year.

Annual leave: 30 days holiday + Bank holidays = 38 days.

As a Principal Flood Risk Management Officer, you will be the professional lead for flood risk management, working on the delivery of the County Council's duties. With your "Can do" attitude, you will champion managing flood risk and sustainable solutions for the County with both internal and external stakeholders.

In this role your work will be varied. Day to day tasks include:

• Consenting and enforcement (in relation to work on watercourses).
• Acting as a statutory consultee on sustainable drainage schemes under the planning system.
• Delivering the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy Action Plan.
• Project appraisal and development (in relation to local flood risk).
• Cooperation with other Risk Management Authorities.

What we need for you:

• Able to research and analyse information to make sound judgments on development proposals or policy.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Able to build credible working relationships.
• Ability to utilise strong advisory and persuasive skills to promote and support controversial policy proposals, provide expert advice, manage enforcement action effectively, and advocate for economic development initiatives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience in a relevant specialism, preferably in a flood risk management role.
• Experience in dealing with flood risk issues and relevant legislation leading to production of policy documents, committee reports and recommendation papers.
• Experience of managing initiatives and effectively managing resources to deliver defined objectives.
• Sound & accurate IT knowledge, including GIS.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Working for us

We care hugely about wellbeing and developing our team to be the best they can be. Alongside this, we also offer the below benefits:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our Staff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans

For a full list this can be found at our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information

The reference number for this role is EIE01365.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Dominic Henley (Principal Flood Risk Management Team Manager).

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.