Environment Advisor

We currently have an Environment Advisor position available for a motivated individual to join our team based in Exeter on a full time, permanent basis. You will receive a competitive salary of up to £35,000 is available for an exceptional candidate, plus benefits.

South West Water is part of Pennon Group, a successful and stable business which prides itself on sustainability. We provide reliable, efficient and high quality drinking water and waste water services for a population of c. 1.7 million in Cornwall, Devon, and parts of Somerset and Dorset.

We know that the support and commitment of our staff is key to our success so you will receive the opportunity for ongoing development and training for a long term career with us. We’re one of the largest companies in the South West and are proud to have been awarded Investors in People recognition. In return, we offer an excellent range of benefits which include: free car parking at the majority of our sites, company Sharesave Scheme, childcare support, and various health benefits.

Our 2020-25 business plan set out our ambitious targets for reducing pollution incidents.

While we have significantly improved our performance in some key areas, particularly in reducing the most serious pollutions, we know we have more to do to tackle minor, less serious pollutions.

One of the key areas that we want to improve is around pollution incidents that happen on the network of sewers that move wastewater from customers’ homes to our treatment works. As our network is spread over a large and often rural area, it can be a challenge to identify and respond quickly enough to potential pollution.

To help us improve, we have established a dedicated task force to focus on pollutions and employed more operators to carry out sewer cleansing and pumping station inspections and maintenance. In addition we are looking very carefully at what caused them through Root Cause Analysis and what we can do to prevent them happening again.

As part of a central team, an Environment Advisor will be required to work closely with Wastewater and Drinking water teams to provide specialised support around all pollution related matters. You will become integral to activities of the area teams working closely with the Pollution Technicians and Environmental Monitoring Technicians.

Primarily focussed on reviewing pollution event information and reporting on internal systems, you will review available information to ensure accuracy and liaison with the regulator to provide incident updates and impact evidence. Additionally, you will support the area and regional management teams report/monitor performance, identify proactive improvement solutions and implement under the Pollution Incident Reduction Plan (PIRP).

 Responsibilities as our Environment Advisor will include:

- Monitoring and keeping track of all pollution incidents in the area and ensure all event information and impact evidence is captured in our Pollution Incident Reporting System in line with the 28-day pollutions process
- Being responsible for ensuring incident feedback has been provided to the regulator and formulate responses to regulator questions with assistance from Wastewater and Drinking Water operational teams
- Using existing knowledge and experience to review incident information to ensure accuracy and consistency, challenge inconsistencies
- Preparing Incident Summary Reports for submission to the Regulator covering ‘no impact’, ‘third party’ and non-event scenarios
- Building and maintaining constructive relationships with the environmental regulator and provide internal advice and updates on EA guidance and regulations covering pollution incidents
- Assisting with the co-ordination of the area level response to pollution incidents - Adler &Allan /self-report/LA reporting
- Liaising with local management teams and ensuring all appropriate incidents are recorded in PIRS
- Supporting operational teams with impact/third party investigations
- Proactively identifying pollution reduction opportunities
- Innovating and identifying practical solutions to help the business achieve its performance targets
- Attending functional pollution review meetings
- Supporting or leading in-house training in respect of pollution issues and risks
- Supporting the business in the event of environmental incidents
- Keeping up to date with new legislation and maintaining a working knowledge of all environment legislation and any developments that particularly affect the water industry

 What we are looking for in our Environment Advisor:

- Minimum of 5 GCSE’s or equivalent, including English and Mathematics at grade C or above
- Bachelors or Higher Degree or equivalent qualification or relevant work place experience preferred
- Experience in an environmental role advising a business on systems and processes and/or have had a front-line environmental responsibility (desirable)
- Previous experience working within the water industry, environmental or regulatory environment (desirable)
- Good communication skills with the ability to liaise confidently both verbally and in writing
- Good organisational skills with the ability to prioritise work effectively innovate and work well under pressure
- Ability to work on own initiative in a constructive manner and as a member of a team
- Computer literate and skilled in the use of MS Office including Word and Excel
- Investigative mind
- Great attention to detail
- Full UK driving licence
- Able and willing to travel across the operational area

Closing date: 1st November 2020

If you are looking for a new challenge, pl