Job Description

Salary

from 47,753 depending on experience

Location

Hanningfield, Chelmsford

About the role

Bluespaces Lead

Working hours

37 hours per week

Permanent

Salary

from 47,753 depending on experience

Location

Sandon Valley House, Hanningfield / Hybrid working


We're open to discussing flexible and part time working

About the role

Are you passionate about caring for the environment? At Essex and Suffolk Water we are committed to our role in the recovery of nature, including restoring and regenerating our natural systems and wildlife. Our Environment and Sustainability teams are key to deliver this commitment.



The team is committed to improving the water environment for our customers through our Bluespaces Programme. Our water environment refers to areas adjacent to surface water within our region, for example streams and rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, wetlands, coastal areas, and beaches. Bluespaces are those parts of the water environment that are accessible to the public.



The purpose of this role is to ensure high quality Bluespace improvements are delivered. To achieve this, you will lead the planning and implementation of the Bluespaces Programme. You'll manage activities of internal and external team members, overseeing the quality and accuracy of the team's work, providing technical guidance, and managing activities. This means you'll bring together the Bluespaces to work effectively.



The successful candidate will oversee programme risk management, identifying and escalating risks to your line manager, the Integrated Catchment manager. This includes financial risk as you will manage the Bluespaces budget, forecasting against targets.



Partnerships and engagement with internal stakeholders and external delivery partners is key for this role, particularly Durham Wildlife Trust and the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust. Engagement with external Governance Group and the Environment Agency is key as you will ensure effective WINEP delivery.

About you

If you are passionate about the environment and sustainability with a degree in a relevant field, or equivalent technical experience then we want to hear from you.



You'll use your ability to influence and communicate persuasively to foster successful collaborative relationships with stakeholders and external partners.



You'll manage a diverse workload, often overseeing multiple projects at once. To ensure successful delivery, you'll draw on your proven track record in delivering environmental or catchment improvement initiatives.



Data will underpin your decision-making, so you'll need to analyse and interpret information from multiple systems to inform your actions. You'll be able to write clear proposals and reports, and manage complex budgets. You'll also have demonstrable experience in developing policies, strategies, and programmes.



Overall you'll demonstrate the ability to foster teamwork, co-operation, and high performance all underpinned by strong ethics.



Interviews will take place online week commencing 9th June 2025.

Here at Northumbrian Water/Essex & Suffolk Water, we embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, and encourage all colleagues to bring their most authentic self to work.

Our colleague network groups include our Rainbow Support Network (LGBTQIA+), REACH (Race, Ethnicity, and Cultural Heritage), WiSTEM (Women in STEM) and Thisability (disability and neurodiversity) networks. They provide a safe space for colleagues from diverse backgrounds, welcoming all colleagues regardless of their personal characteristics to participate in valuable conversation that improves our organisational awareness, understanding and inclusivity.

We encourage and welcome all applications, as we strive to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to having diverse communities represented within all our teams, structures, and organisation.





Please note this role will require a DBS to be completed prior to employment

NWG are an inclusive employer who support the rehabilitation of offenders, we will not, however consider candidates who have certain unspent convictions to ensure our commitment to fostering a safe and secure working environment for all OR colleagues, suppliers, customers and third parties.

About us

Here are NWG we strive to make Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) a Great Place to Work, for all. We embrace and value Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and encourage you to bring your full self to work. As an equal opportunity employer we're committed to having a diverse community represented across our business.



We're aware that not everyone will have every skill listed in the job description, however if you have some of the skills listed, we'd encourage you to apply

NWG at a glance:

Our purpose at NWG is caring for the essential needs of our communities and environment, now and for generations to come.

We do this by providing reliable and affordable water and wastewater services for our customers.

We make a positive difference by operating efficiently and investing prudently, to maintain a sustainable and resilient business.

Our vision is to be the national leader in the provision of sustainable water and wastewater services.

To support us in achieving our vision, we have five core values which are the guiding principles, defining who we are, what we do and how we do it.

Our benefits

We're a Great Place to Work because of the amazing people who work for us, and to say thank you we offer a range of benefits to colleagues. Our 'Tap Into' benefits include:

Generous holiday entitlement starting at 26 days plus bank holidays and additional time off on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. There's also the option to buy or sell holidays. Company pension scheme, where we'll double match your contributions up to an employer contribution of 10%. Free access to local attractions. A fantastic discount scheme, with savings on days out, shopping, travel and more. Award winning 'Living Well' wellbeing support, including access to a digital GP service for you and your family members. Support with sustainable travel - through salary sacrifice cars and a cycle to work scheme. Financial wellbeing support - access our community savings scheme, financial education and low cost loans through Salary Finance. We also provide 4 x Life Assurance and an Income Protection Scheme. Support with your development - we offer a range of development opportunities, can support you through an interest free qualification loan and we'll even pay for any relevant professional body subscription.
This role has also been defined as a safety or security critical role and as a condition of a formal offer of employment you'll be required to undergo a drug and alcohol test.

Prospective employees and agency workers in defined safety and security critical roles will be required to undertake a drug and alcohol test after the job offer has been made. This will be prior to or within four weeks of their start date.

Prospective employees and agency workers who fail a pre-employment urine drug screen will have their sample analysed by the Company appointed laboratory as a matter of course. Failing a pre-employment drugs or alcohol test may lead to the job offer being revoked

About us

NWG (Northumbrian Water Group) provides water and sewerage services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England as Northumbrian Water, and water services to 1.5 million people in the South East of England as Essex & Suffolk Water.


We are proud to serve our customers and we're committed to delivering great service, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do.

Our values

Our values describe our main principles, qualities and attributes. They are the guiding principles which define who we are, what we do and how we do it. They make us different from our competitors and guide our decisions and actions to drive us towards our vision.


Our values are:

Results Driven

We take responsibility for achieving excellent business results.

Ethical

We are open and honest and meet our commitments with a responsible approach to the environment and our communities.

Customer Focused

We aim to exceed the expectations of our internal and external customers.

Innovative

We continuously strive for innovative and better ways to deliver our business.

One Team

We work together consistently, promoting co-operation, to achieve our corporate objectives.

Colleague benefits

We're the great company we are because of you - our people. As our way of saying thanks, we offer you a wide range of benefits and discounts to take advantage of.


To find out more about our benefits, see our benefits booklet attached to this advert.

Eyecare

Discounted Medicals

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle2work

Buying & selling annual leave

Long service awards

Salary sacrifice car scheme

Computer

Loans

Award winning wellbeing site

NWG savings scheme

Company pension scheme

Pre-retirement workshops

Life assurance

Discounts & cashback offers

Qualification loan

Documents

Business Plan 2025-30 - Essex & Suffolk Water - Download
Business Plan 2025-30 - Main Report - Download
Business Plan 2025-30 - Northumbrian Water - Download
Restore and Regenerate - Our Environment Strategy to 2050 - Download
Bluespaces Lead 2025 Job description.docx - Download