Agricultural Advisor

Hello, we’re Severn Trent and we think water is wonderful. Oh, we’re pretty keen on people too.

Over the last five years we have developed a programme of catchment management schemes across 44 catchments. These schemes aim to halt and reverse the rising trend of cryptosporidium, nitrate and pesticide levels in raw water and promote biodiversity on farms.

If you want to do more because you care, we’d love to talk to you. There really is something for everyone here.

**EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW**

Our Catchment Management and Biodiversity team have an opportunity for you to join as our new **Agricultural Advisor **to enhance biodiversity and help farmers reduce the levels of nutrients and pesticides entering the water environment close to our water supply sources.

In your new role, you’ll support the development of and deliver catchment specific advice campaigns resulting in behavioural change amongst farmers and land managers, leading to a reduction in diffuse water pollution from agriculture. You’ll be responsible for implementing these campaigns, engaging with, and influencing local farmers, partners and stakeholders and securing agreement and ownership at catchment scale on key pollution issues and solutions.

Covering the Peckforton and Towerwood Ground Water Catchments (Cheshire), you’ll be responsible for the day-to-day running of the catchment schemes and contact with farmers within your specific catchment. Collecting and interpreting agronomical data from farms and then using this data and your knowledge to provide evidence to help influence the farmers to reduce pollution and make land management changes, such as growing cover crops to reduce leaching from land.

Some of your other key accountabilities will include:

- Responsible for managing demonstrations, workshops, advice delivery and communication activities within their catchments.
- Liaising with agricultural specialists, contractors and agronomists to ensure delivery of catchment action plans.
- As appropriate, undertake direct delivery of advice to farmers, influencing farmers to make behavioural and management changes on their farms
- Support the delivery of our biodiversity ambitions by promoting our biodiversity grants to landowners.
- Provide assurance for reporting purposes that land management changes and biodiversity enhancements have been completed by landowners.
- Produce a monthly progress report and update the risks & issues register for inclusion within internal and external reporting.
- Record all farmer engagement on the engagement recording database on a monthly basis.
- Maintain relationships with farmers in the catchment on an ongoing basis to ensure good future uptake of schemes and support for the agricultural community.
- Where needed and appropriate engage with farmers outside of your priority catchments (Peckforton and Towerwood) to support the wider team and business commitments.
- Attend local stakeholder meetings including CABA partnership workshops.
- Work with other local initiatives to promote 1 contact 1 visit principle between organisations. If appropriate hold regular local steering group (local partnership group/liaison group where relevant) meetings.
- Develop new delivery processes, action plans and catchment communications plans for their local catchment area.
- Where applicable, carry out catchment water quality monitoring on a monthly basis, increasing to fortnightly during high-risk periods.
- This includes following health and safety protocols, completing appropriate sample documentation and delivering samples to nearest collection hub.

**WHAT YOU’LL BRING TO THE ROLE**

We’re seeking our new Agricultural Advisor to be comfortable driving delivery via a range of tools, including specialist advisory support and incentives including the Severn Trent Environmental Protection Scheme (STEPS), our Swap Your Nozzles Scheme, STEPS Biodiversity Schemes and other opportunities.

To be successful, it’s expected that you’ll have experience in agriculture/land management, stakeholder engagement and building strong working relationships with the farming community.

Additionally, you’ll have effective project planning and organisation skills with the ability to write presentations, deliver results thoroughly and interpret data, identify problems and their root causes.

You’ll need to possess strong technical skills and an ability to build and maintain strong relationships with the farming community, so communication skills are key. You’ll need to have a good analytical mind and be able to interpret data to identify problems and root causes and then deliver results through others.

As this role involves travel a full UK driving licence is required. FACTS and BASIS Training is desirable but not essential/ A qualification in an agricultural field or in n environmental field, to BSc level or equivalent status, is preferred.

The right skills and experience are important. But if you have t