Job description

Researcher and Science Communicator
We at Allen & York are incredibly excited to be partnering with Water Resources East to support recruitment of this important role.
Permanent
(A two-year secondment opportunity will also be considered for this position)
Location: Home-based, with occasional travel to sites in London and the east of England
Salary: circa. £35k per annum depending on experience
Full time, 37 hours per week (part-time and flexible working possible)
Attractive benefits package: 26 days annual leave plus Bank Holidays increasing to 30 days, bonus scheme, pension scheme, health and wellbeing benefits

The Opportunity
We are looking for an energetic, experienced and confident Researcher and Science Communicator with a passion and interest in caring for the natural world around us. The successful candidate will support the Technical Director to lead detailed research packages and communicate WRE's work to our members, stakeholders and the wider world.

The Role:

• Lead research activity and your own investigations to bring the water resources story to life - especially in the changing climate and with the environment under severe pressure - using exemplary writing skills and the latest data visualisation techniques to engage key audiences.
• Help communicate the wider water security challenge impacting Eastern England and the implications of WRE's Regional Water Resources Plan for key sectors including agriculture, energy, industry, navigation and customers of the public water supply.
• Develop new ways to bring WRE's ground-breaking work including their flagship projects like the Norfolk Water Strategy Programme to a wider audience in the UK and abroad, including through journal articles and other publications, conference presentations, traditional and social media etc. This will include representing WRE at senior meetings with national and regional stakeholders, such as with government, regulators and the other four regional planning groups.
• Lead on the logistics and content creation for WRE's own engagement activity supporting their small but busy team - newsletters, webinars, social media activity and WRE's website.
• Provide strategic input to all WRE's reports and publications, helping the team define the right narrative and structure, and develop maps, charts and other exhibits, and write report sections, to communicate our key messages. Provide the liaison point with WRE's report design contractors to produce documents to the highest professional standards that fit their brand.
  
• Develop and execute a stakeholder engagement strategy to grow their membership and ensure the next round of regional water resources planning through to 2028 builds upon the collaborative, co-creation process that WRE has undertaken to date.

About you:
As well as being enthusiastic and committed member of the team, the ideal candidate will:

• Be a confident self-starter, able to work on own initiative.
• Have outstanding written and oral presentation skills - these will be tested during the selection process. Including copywriting, proofreading and editing.
• Be numerate, analytical, inquisitive and able to convey complex datasets, patterns and relationships visually as well as in writing.
• Have a background in water resources from an academic or professional background, or a related environmental science discipline, possibly with a post-graduate degree.
• Have a proven track record in and use of online platforms such as Zoom, MS Teams, Slido and Miro.
• Be a good team player with a can-do attitude.
• Have knowledge of the UK water industry and/or water and environmental land management issues faced globally, nationally and within UK regions.

In addition, the following would be an advantage:

• Experience in web design, content production and video/audio podcasting.
• Experience in writing funding/bid applications.

About Water Resources East
Water Resources East (WRE) was formed in 2014 by Anglian Water, who applied international best practice to develop a more collaborative approach to water resource management planning in a region under significant pressure due to population growth and economic ambition, the need for enhanced environmental protection, and significant climate change impacts. In June 2019, Water Resources East became an independent legal entity (a Company Limited by Guarantee), and a new multi-sector Board of Directors was formed along with a new membership model. Water Resources East now operates as an independent, inclusive, collaborative, exploratory and forward-thinking membership organisation, working with over 200 organisations.

Over the last two years WRE has finalised the first-ever multi-sector, best value regional water resources plan for Eastern England, due to be published in December 2023. This has involved a detailed co-creation, engagement and collective decision-making process with key national, regional and local stakeholders, including regulators and policy-makers. To learn more, visit https://wre.org.uk/the-regional-plan/ .

Water Resources East is an Equal Opportunity Employer

They believe that equal opportunity means inclusion, diversity and fair treatment for all. Their commitment to diversity and inclusion includes the recognition that their work and the success of their organisations is best advanced by the leadership and contributions of people of diverse backgrounds, beliefs and culture.