Flood And Climate Resilience Specialist

The starting salary for this role is £43,923 per annum for working 36 hours per week. This is a secondment opportunity until 31st December 2024.

Help Make Surrey a Greener Place to Live!

Are you looking for an opportunity to shape local development, improve our environment and reduce flood risk? We have a great opportunity for a Flood and Climate Resilience Specialist to join our team at Surrey County Council.

The role is based out of our Merrow Depot in Guildford however, we also support a hybrid working model, including days working from home if desired. A laptop and mobile phone are provided for this role.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 30 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependents leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days plus 1 team volunteering day per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Team

Surrey County Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for the county. As LLFA we have the responsibility of managing the risk of flooding from ordinary watercourses, surface water and groundwater. We do this in partnership with other Risk Management Authorities such as the Environment Agency, Water Companies as well as Borough and District Councils.

The Flood Risk Planning and Consenting Team act as statutory planning consultees for surface water drainage on all major planning applications and carry out our role as regulatory authority for works affecting ordinary watercourses. We provide advice on over 1500 proposed developments per year, as well as providing pre-application advice and support on planning policy.

We are passionate advocates for Sustainable Drainage (SuDS), climate change action and green/blue infrastructure, and seek to enhance development in the county so that it provides better water quality, amenity and biodiversity benefits, as well as reducing flood risk.

We're a busy, friendly and active team; who can often be found out for a collective walk or run, volunteering to plant trees or testing our baking skills.

About the role

To help us achieve our goals we are looking for an officer to work with the team to:

Assess planning applications against requirements for sustainable drainage within the National Planning Policy Framework and Technical Standards
Provide advice to Local Planning Authorities on strategic planning consultations, local policy and Development Consent Orders
Provide pre-application advice to developers on drainage schemes
Promote and deliver SuDS across Surrey County Council and Partners
Carry out assessments of Ordinary Watercourse consent applications
Investigate and answer customer flood risk enquiries
Shortlisting

To be considered for shortlisting you will be asked to answer the following questions along with uploading your CV:

What are your motivations for applying?
What knowledge do you have of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) and the Town and Country Planning processes?

Please tell us about, and provide examples of, your experience reviewing and influencing strategic planning decisions or policy.
Please tell us about, and provide examples of, your experience supporting and coaching other team members in a professional environment.
Please provide examples from your work and/or home life that evidence your ability to communicate with different stakeholders and create positive change.

You will need to manage your own workload effectively to meet tight deadlines whilst being a part of a dynamic and busy team. As well as this, you must be a confident communicator and negotiator, capable of explaining technical information clearly and sensitively. In addition, you will be confident using IT systems with experience of using spreadsheets and GIS.

We welcome applicants with transferrable skills and we provide detailed 'on the job' and formal training opportunities for successful candidates.

Contact us

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment.

For an informal discussion please contact Amy Rodwell on 0300 200 1003

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 04/02/2024 with interviews taking place week commencing 12/02/2024.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applications where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups