Undergraduate Water Resources Environmental Assistant - 1 year placement

About the role

Undergraduate Water Resources Environmental Assistant

Full Time

Location - Office based (Sandon Valley House, Essex)

Contract Type - Undergrad / 1 year FTC (37 hours per week)

Salary - £24,243 per annum

We have an exciting opportunity to join the Water Resources Planning team as an undergraduate placement environmental assistant. This role will help to deliver water resources related investigations and environmental protection and enhancement schemes in one of the driest and most water-stressed areas of the UK.

If you are currently studying for an undergraduate degree in Geography, Environmental Science or similar with an ambition to pursue a career in water resources and hydroecology and you have a passion for protecting our water environment and associated habitats, then this opportunity will hit the mark.

You will gain invaluable hands-on experience in planning and delivering investigations and schemes to protect our water environment, analysing hydrometric, hydrochemical, hydroecological and other water resources related data and preparing technical reports suitable for regulatory submission. You will gain experience of working within a tight regulatory framework relating to water abstraction licensing, Water Framework Directive, Habitats Regulations and the emerging area of Environmental Destination, as defined within the National Framework for Water Resources.

You will support the Environmental Scientist and other colleagues to deliver the Water Industry National Environment Programme and contribute to reporting relating to our Drought Plan, Water Resources Management Plan and Business Plan.

About you

• Enthusiastic individual, who already has hydrological and hydrogeological skills and is eager to learn and develop skills in water resources.
• Currently studying for an undergraduate degree in geography, environmental science or a related subject and looking for a Year in Industry placement, as part of our degree, to start in September 2025.
• A strong team player with a driving licence and your own car, and the ability to work on your own initiative and with an ability to form positive and constructive working relationships with other water resource team members, consultants & regulators, including the Environment Agency.
• Experience of organising, analysing and interpreting environmental data to support scientifically credible decisions relating to the management of waterbodies and related water dependent sites.
• Fully conversant in the use of Microsoft Office packages with the ability to organise and manipulate data, use formulae and statistics and create charts in Excel.

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity which means bringing your full self to work. We encourage and welcome all applications, as we believe and strive to be an equal opportunity employer committed in having a diverse community represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.

About us

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we're committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.

We're aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in the job description, and that female candidates are less likely to apply if they don't have the full range of skills, however if you have some of the skills listed, we'd encourage you to apply.

NWG at a glance:

Our purpose at NWG is caring for the essential needs of our communities and environment, now and for generations to come.

We do this by providing reliable and affordable water and wastewater services for our customers.

We make a positive difference by operating efficiently and investing prudently, to maintain a sustainable and resilient business.

Our vision is to be the national leader in the provision of sustainable water and wastewater services.

Our benefits

We're a Great Place to Work because of the amazing people who work for us, and to say thank you we offer a range of benefits to colleagues.

• Enhanced maternity pay
• Enhanced annual leave with additional special leave for Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve
• Company pension scheme
• Digital GP
• Award winning wellbeing website
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Life assurance
• Qualification loans
• Professional subscription
• Buy and sell annual leave
• Discounts and cashback offers

About us

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.

We are proud to serve our customers and we're committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

Our values

Our values describe our main principles, qualities and attributes. They are the guiding principles which define who we are, what we do and how we do it. They make us different from our competitors and guide our decisions and actions to drive us towards our vision.

Our values are:

• Results Driven - We take responsibility for achieving excellent business results.
• Ethical - We are open and honest and meet our commitments with a responsible approach to the environment and our communities.
• Customer Focused - We aim to exceed the expectations of our internal and external customers.
• Innovative - We continuously strive for innovative and better ways to deliver our business.
• One Team - We work together consistently, promoting co-operation, to achieve our corporate objectives.