Senior Aquatic Ecologist

Company Description
**At AECOM, we’re delivering a better world.**

We believe infrastructure creates opportunity for everyone. Whether it’s improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive.

Our clients trust us to bring together the best people, ideas, technical expertise and digital solutions to our work in transportation, buildings, water, the environment and new energy. We’re one global team - 47,000 strong - driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world.

**Here, you will have freedom to grow in a world of opportunity.**

**Job Description**:
We are looking for an experienced **Senior Aquatic Ecologist** (**Fisheries**) to join the Water Environment and Aquatic Ecology Team at AECOM. We have multi-disciplinary offices throughout the UK, and you would play a key role in providing technical expertise and undertaking surveys for new and existing projects, as well as in the continued growth and development of our team.

The successful applicant will have a good understanding of many areas of fisheries and freshwater ecology, including survey design, mitigation, and reporting, as well as wider consideration of aquatic ecology in planning and impact assessment. They will be able to analyse and interpret survey data and provide robust technical opinion based on this, including for Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA).

You will join a growing, friendly, and highly motivated team, and contribute to a diverse range of projects: fisheries baseline data collection and monitoring for major infrastructure and utility projects, fish passage and weir removal projects, fish rescue and translocation, habitat restoration for regulators and the private sector, pollution response surveys, water quality investigations, etc.

**Role Responsibilities**

You will contribute to projects for a range of clients by:

- Providing fisheries ecology input into EcIA, planning, mitigation, and multi-disciplinary projects.
- Authoring technical reports and working with multi-disciplinary teams to provide specialist input.
- Undertaking data analysis and processing.
- Production of EcIA documents in line with CIEEM guidelines.
- Managing aquatic ecology input into projects, including survey design and costing.
- Playing an important lead role in a team of multi-skilled aquatic ecologists in AECOM’s nationwide offices and laboratories.
- Supporting the wider environmental business.

**Qualifications**:

- A degree (preferably MSc) in Aquatic Ecology or related discipline (e.g. Freshwater/Marine Biology/Ecology/Zoology).
- Member of CIEEM, CIWEM, IFM, or similar professional body or eligible to qualify.
- Has an understanding of implementing industry standard monitoring techniques and analyses for fish and associated consenting/permitting requirements.
- Familiar with legislation relating to the aquatic environment and its implementation, including the Water Framework Directive (WFD).
- Experience of the EcIA/EIA process, from baseline data collection (desk-based and field surveys) to impact assessment and mitigation design.
- Experience of WFD compliance assessment.
- Previous commercial and/or regulatory experience.

**Desirable experience/skills**:

- Experience of fish pass and screening design, installation, and monitoring, including legislative drivers and best-practice guidance.
- Knowledge and experience of using novel monitoring techniques.
- Wider aquatic ecology surveys, River Habitat Survey, River Condition Assessment for Biodiversity Net Gain, etc.
- Understanding and experience of industry standard WFD-compliant monitoring techniques and analyses for macroinvertebrates, macrophytes, and/or phytobenthos.
- Experience of HRA and Appropriate Assessment.
- Specific training relevant to the role, e.g., RYA Powerboat Handling Level 2, Water Safety, 4x4 driving, trailer towing, etc.
- First Aid at Work qualification.
- CSCS Card.

Additional Information

With infrastructure investment accelerating worldwide, our services are in great demand, and there’s never been a better time to be at AECOM Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm - access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation and benefits programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We also provide a robust global well-being program. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together - your growth and success are ours too.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

Join us and let’s get started.