Location
Flexible within Mid Wales and North Wales, with a contracted base at a Natural Resources Wales office. Hybrid working arrangements available with regular face-to-face meetings planned in advance. Interviews will be held in person at the Natural Resources Wales Office in Buckley.

Hours
Full Time - 37 hours per week. Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered and can be discussed at interview stage.

Salary
Grade 7: £45,367 - £50,877 per annum

About the Role
As the Lead Specialist Advisor for Hydrology and Water Resource Management at Natural Resources Wales (NRW), you will be a highly skilled technical expert working across North Wales and the Upper Severn region, focusing on the River Dee and River Severn Regulation Schemes. You will lead and contribute to complex work programmes that safeguard water resources for people and nature. Your responsibilities will include advising on day-to-day operations, supporting national infrastructure projects, and driving environmental improvement initiatives. You will represent NRW on technical and strategic groups at Wales, UK, and European levels, influencing regulatory strategy and collaborating with a broad range of stakeholders on complex and politically sensitive matters. You will also lead and mentor staff, manage resources, and ensure all work is delivered safely, on time, and within budget. This role requires active participation in incident response activities and a commitment to NRW’s Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy as well as your own professional development.

Experience
- Extensive operational experience in hydrology and water resource management.
- Experience in water resource modelling (e.g. Aquator software, Pywr) is advantageous but not essential.
- Proven ability to communicate complex issues effectively to diverse internal and external stakeholders.
- Demonstrable skills in providing innovative and effective solutions and challenging inappropriate ones.
- Experience in programme and project management.
- Understanding of NRW’s key duties and how hydrology services support them.
- Ability to lead, mentor staff, and manage resources to deliver workplans within budget and timescale.
- Experience working with multi-agency response teams and providing expert advice at strategic and tactical levels.

About you
- Highly motivated and able to work flexibly within a hybrid working environment.
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence and build relationships across a range of stakeholders.
- Committed to health and safety, equality, diversity, and inclusion.
- Willingness to participate in incident response activities.
- Committed to continuous professional development.

Qualifications
- Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant science or engineering discipline such as physical geography, environmental science, or civil engineering, or significant related vocational experience.
- Member of or working towards membership of a relevant professional body.
- Full UK driving licence is essential.