Senior Consultant - Catchment Management

Description

In this position you will join the Land Practice, combining agricultural, soil and landscape expertise with water management capabilities. You will lead consultancy projects that develop evidence‑based catchment management solutions, balancing land use, food systems, water resources and environmental outcomes. The role offers the chance to shape new business opportunities, strengthen core capabilities and engage with stakeholders across water, regulatory and environmental sectors.

• Manage and deliver catchment projects for governments, utilities and private clients, covering conceptualisation, data gathering, risk assessment, visualisation and climate data processing.
• Assess catchment vulnerabilities, water‑quality impacts and resource resilience to climate change and biodiversity loss.
• Produce spatial catchment risk assessments and prioritise adaptation and mitigation options, including improved agricultural practices and nature‑based solutions.
• Evaluate adaptation and mitigation benefits against metrics such as water quality, resources, air quality or biodiversity and quantify wider benefits.
• Develop and embed catchment plans and strategies into sectoral policies, strategies and funding mechanisms.
• Create costed implementation plans with associated finance strategies.
• Design monitoring and evaluation frameworks with indicators for catchment policies, plans and programmes.
• Contribute to business development by preparing proposals and engaging proactively with clients.
• Facilitate and deliver capacity‑building workshops.
• Lead a small team of technical experts.
• Lead technical, analytical and policy‑focused work and produce robust reports and proposals.
• Provide clear, evidence‑based advice to clients and internal teams.
• Produce professional‑standard written documentation in English.

Requirements

• Hold a Bachelors (2.1+), Masters or PhD in a relevant scientific discipline.
• Demonstrate experience in catchment management for water‑quality or water‑resources improvement.
• Possess knowledge of nature‑based solutions and interventions to reduce diffuse and point‑source pollution.
• Understand water, agricultural, land and environmental policy and farming systems.
• Show strong numeracy, attention to detail and ability to scrutinise data.
• Maintain a proven track record in client relationship management and project delivery.
• Exhibit excellent written and oral communication skills for diverse audiences, including scientists, policymakers and the public.
• Proficiency in advanced Excel (VLOOKUP, INDEX‑MATCH) and/or Python for data analysis (desirable).
• Experience with geospatial analysis in QGIS or ArcMap (desirable).
• Familiarity with environmental modelling tools such as SCIMAP, FarmSCoper or SAGIS (desirable).
• Background in consultancy, including proposal writing, project management and client relationship management (desirable).
• Knowledge of water industry regulation (desirable).
• Demonstrate strong project management across multiple concurrent projects.
• Interact confidently with professionals across environmental, water and agricultural sectors, including national and international policymakers.

Benefits

The work environment promotes inclusion, encouraging diverse thinkers and doers, and supports each employee to find their place and make a positive impact through project work. Flexible working arrangements—including remote, office and hybrid options—are available to support work‑life balance, and wellbeing is central to the culture.

The remuneration package includes a range of benefits that support physical and mental health, reflecting the company’s commitment to valuing its people. Ricardo is an Equal Opportunity and Disability‑Confident employer, with an ambitious diversity, equality and inclusion approach that drives innovation and a richer working environment.

Training + Development

Interview process

Visa Sponsorship

Security clearance