Flood Risk Consultant

Flood Risk Consultant

We’re looking for a passionate flood risk consultant with a minimum of 2 years’ experience in the rivers and coastal sector, with experience in undertaking a range of projects of varying size and complexity supporting both private and public sector projects.

You will enjoy problem solving and be innovative in providing solutions to your clients. You will be organised and responsible in balancing your own workload. We work in a fast-paced environment, so being able to work as part of a team, to support each other to manage deadlines and produce high quality results for our clients is essential.

About the Environment-Resilience-Renewables (E-R-R) Group:

We are home to one of the most successful groups of engineers, environment scientists and project managers in the fields of renewables, industry, offshore, coasts, rivers, ports, and other inland developments. The group is around 200 people strong and growing and is based in 9 main offices in the UK (Brighton, Leeds, Newcastle, Peterborough, London, Edinburgh, Exeter, Manchester & Liverpool). We work closely with other groups in the UK, notably Maritime, but also Mobility & Infrastructure and Industry & Buildings, as well as our overseas teams, to deliver collaborative multi-disciplinary projects for our clients.

By integrating our deep domain experience, technology, and specialist partners, and working with our clients, we deliver solutions that are smart and robust – from optimising and refurbishing existing assets or creating new in sustainable ways that enhance society.

About the Team:

We have an established Flood Risk and Hydraulic Modelling Team with a reputation for delivering high quality work. As a team, we’re committed to continually developing and improving our methods and digital ways of working (modelling software). We encourage and support personal development through training opportunities, mentoring, chartership and the opportunity to work within an integrated team.

Our team encompasses a range of different skill sets all designed to help clients understand, assess, mitigate, and manage flood risk and surface water drainage.

On a day-to-day basis our team are involved in writing Flood Risk Assessments, Flood Warning and Emergency Planning, Surface Water Drainage Design and Strategies as well as many wider flood risk management projects.

We work with a variety of both public sector and private clients supporting them in understanding their strategic and specific flood risk management concerns and issues. Current projects include preparing Flood Risk Assessments to support planning applications for residential, industrial, and commercial developers, developing surface water drainage design for Local Authority review, supporting the development of Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) including renewables, water infrastructure and carrying out flood modelling studies for Internal Drainage Boards.

About the Role:

The primary focus of this role will be to support the team in the production of Flood Risk Assessments and Surface Water Drainage Strategies. Therefore, the Applicant must:

• Have experience in assessing all sources of flood risk;
• Be able to interpret flood data from the Environment Agency, SEPA and Natural Resources Wales and from modelling exercises;
• Be able to write Flood Risk Assessments reports for smaller developments independently.
• Be willing and able to input into complex Flood Risk Assessments for larger NSIP developments which are undertaken within the DCO / EIA process, with support from senior colleagues;
• Have demonstrable knowledge of relevant policy in England, Wales, and Scotland, including National Planning Policy Framework and supporting Planning Practice Guidance, TAN15 and Fourth National Planning Framework (NPF4).
• Be a confident user of GIS software.
• Be able to communicate and liaise with other disciplines across the business, for example, civil engineers, geomorphologists, and ecologists.
• Be confident with liaising with clients, external stakeholders including the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authorities, and Internal Drainage Boards.

This is a client-facing role and you will have the opportunity to communicate effectively with both existing and new clients. Therefore, experience in managing client expectations, providing progress updates, and being able to translate ‘technical’ concerns into simplified language for all to understand is advantageous.

As you become integrated within the team and gain knowledge of our internal processes you will become involved in proposal writing, technical input to fees, scope of works and programming. Therefore, basic commercial awareness and understanding the importance of being efficient and organised is a requirement.

As part of the role, you will have opportunities to become involved in designing and writing Surface Water Drainage Strategies. Whilst prior experience in this area is not essential, it is strongly desired that you will have had exposure to either the MicroDrainage or Causeway software, along with displaying a willingness to learn and support in this aspect.

Whilst we do not expect you to have flood modelling skills, we work closely alongside our Flood Modellers on many of our day-to-day activities. Exposure to or understanding of flood modelling software such as TuFlow / HEC-RAS / Flood Modeller would be advantageous. If you have an interest in this area, flood modelling is open to all team members as a development opportunity within our team.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or master’s Degree (Flood Risk / Planning / Geography / Oceanography / Environment Sciences or Engineering);
• Working towards chartership with CIWEM or other appropriate Organisation(s).

About Royal HaskoningDHV:

Royal HaskoningDHV has been connecting people for 140 years. Together, through our expertise and passion, we have helped contribute to a better society and improved people’s lives with work underpinned by our sustainable values and goals. We are an independent international engineering and project management consultancy leading the way in sustainable development and innovation. Royal HaskoningDHV is an Equal Opportunities Employer. We have the clear goal of driving diversity and inclusion across all dimensions. Together, we are embarking on a journey where each and every one of us, individually and collectively, welcomes and celebrates individual differences. We recognise that embracing diversity unlocks innovation and creativity and fosters collaboration. We want our employees to reflect the diversity of our communities and the customers we serve.

Locations:

Birmingham, Brighton, Exeter, London, Peterborough