Overview

We have a career opportunity for a Senior Aquatic Ecologist who will contribute as key member of our Environment Division in Galway.

The successful candidate will assist in the delivery and management of projects for key public and private sector clients in Ireland.

The Role

• Management of aquatic ecology team delivering high quality, consultancy services to RPS clients.
• Preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment Reports (EIAR) and Appropriate Assessments (AA, NIS) on the likely impacts of proposed plans/ projects covering a range of sectors including water, transport, waste, energy and land use.
• Site surveys/ assessments and specialist aquatic ecological surveys and monitoring as and when required (e.g. macro-invertebrates (Q value and SSRS), fisheries surveys, white-clawed crayfish, freshwater pearl mussel etc.).
• Statistical analysis of ecological data to support ecological assessments.
• Consultation with relevant stakeholders including: government departments, planning authorities, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Inland Fisheries Ireland, and other regulatory bodies.
• Project management of Environmental Impact Assessment and Appropriate Assessment processes including coordination of specialist inputs, liaison with stakeholders, public consultation and compilation of statutory documentation.
• Presentation at Oral Hearing.
• Integration with multi-disciplinary teams focussed on creating solutions. This will include working with internal RPS departments, our clients and other third parties such as engineers, architects, planners, environmental consultants, hydrologists, archaeologists, landscape architects etc.
• Management of resourcing and budgeting on projects.
• Business development and reporting to senior management and directors.

The Candidate will ideally have:

• Clear experience working as an aquatic ecologist and delivering environmental impact assessments.
• A master’s degree (Level 9) in biology, zoology, botany or a related environmental science subject with a focus on aquatic ecology / water quality assessment.
• A minimum 10 years’ employment experience in ecological consultancy.
• Full Membership of CIWEM, CIEEM or similar. Chartership (Ecologist / Scientist / Environmentalist) desirable, or working towards chartership.
• Excellent field skills with demonstrated field survey experience in aquatic ecology.
• Knowledge of relevant Irish and European legislation e.g. Water Framework Directive, Habitats Directive, EIA Directive, and Irish regulations.
• Experience in writing environmental and appropriate assessment impact assessments as part of the EIA and AA processes, and recommending appropriate mitigation measures.
• Excellent report writing skills.
• Demonstrable ability to manage a varied ecological workload.
• Full clean driving licence.

Desirable:

• Experience in catchment science and management, Water Framework Directive.
• Experience of licensable activities/surveys for protected species.
• Experience as an expert witness, e.g. at planning oral hearings.
• Experience utilising GIS systems e.g. ArcGIS, QGIS and or others.

If you would like to join a company that will challenge you to be creative in designing sustainable solutions and is passionate about the service it provides, join RPS.

In return, you will be offered a dynamic and stimulating career with an attractive reward package along with a great team environment. In addition, we deliver a comprehensive training and development programme for all professional levels.

At RPS, we are a recognised leader in multidisciplinary engineering, environmental, project communications and project management consultancy. Internationally, we have over 5,000 people developing pioneering, revolutionary ideas on strategic, sustainable policies and projects. In Ireland, we employ 600 of the most talented, high-performing professionals in the industry.

Applications will be accepted via the following link only:
https://www.joinrps.com/showJob.aspx?j=4567&s=s

(Registration needed) including the relevant Ref. Number (J4567)

We do not require the assistance of Agencies at this time.

Note: As with all positions, due to the dynamic nature of RPS’s business, key responsibilities will evolve and change over time.