Senior Freshwater Ecological Consultant | UK

Our core purpose is to enable nature and business to thrive together.

Our brand mission is to be chosen by clients as their preferred specialists and regarded by people in our industry as the company to work for. We aim to be the most innovative, pragmatic and fast-growing environmental consultancy in the UK.

With offices across the UK, our experts are committed to delivering exceptional outcomes to our clients across a range of environmental services and ecological contracting.

Our services include but are not limited to: terrestrial ecology, freshwater ecology, hydrology, marine laboratory, habitat management, arboricultural services, geographic information systems (GIS) and mapping, environmental impact assessments.

We are seeking a Senior Technical Specialist to join our dynamic team, responsible for managing and delivering complex freshwater projects. You will lead surveys, conduct data analysis, and prepare technical reports, with expertise in macroinvertebrate surveys and biological indices used to assess river health.

In addition to project work, you will manage and mentor junior staff within the freshwater team. With experience at Consultant or Senior Consultant level in environmental consultancy, you will contribute to business development, preparing quotes and tenders, and building client relationships. As a technical expert, you will produce accurate, concise reports and environmental assessments to meet regulatory and investigatory standards.

If you are a highly skilled professional looking to make a significant impact, we invite you to apply and join our growing team.

Salary – ranging from £34,000 – £45,000 per annum, dependent on skillset.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead and deliver aquatic ecology projects, including macroinvertebrate surveys and consenting projects with supporting environmental assessments.
• Produce high quality reporting and assessment deliverables for clients, within allocated time and budget constraints.
• Technical ability to review and approve a range of deliverables produced by others.
• Coordinate field surveys, liaise with clients and landowners, and ensure compliance with Thomson’s methods.
• Assist in business development by preparing tenders, quotes, and supporting revenue growth.
• Stay updated on ecology, legislation, and survey techniques for continuous professional development.

Required Qualifications & Experience:

• Proven experience in aquatic ecology, hydro-ecology, or related fields.
• Strong technical knowledge of survey techniques, ecological assessments, legislation, and project management.
• Experience with macroinvertebrate surveys and analysis.
• Full, clean UK driving licence and access to a car with business insurance.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in hydro-ecology monitoring (water quality, flow gauging).
• Sales/marketing experience in the environmental sector.

Key Skills:

• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple projects and work independently.

At Thomson we support hybrid working arrangements, employees can work a mix of remote and office working. We have office locations in Guildford, Birmingham (Kenilworth), Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester and Ipswich.

Working at Thomson

At Thomson, we strive to be the very best at what we do, both in the eyes of our customers and our colleagues. We believe in One Thomson; we draw on and value every individual’s unique skills and experience to come together and support each other in delivering an exceptional service.

Our people are our greatest asset. We want Thomson to be a great place to work, where everyone feels supported to be the best they can be. We are proud of our friendly, supportive, ‘nothing is too much trouble’ culture. We live and breathe our RISE (Respect, Integrity, Support, Excellence) values. Your opinions matter to us; we are constantly evolving.

We promote a healthy work-life balance to ensure we have an engaged, productive and happy team. We are flexible and committed and welcome new challenges.

We recognise the importance in training and developing our team as well as offering a competitive pay and reward package.

Involving ourselves in our local communities is important to us and we are proud of our continued achievements in fund raising for charity. We work hard but have fun too.

We are passionate about career development so we make sure we nurture talent. Our people benefit from access to a diverse range of industry-accredited external training, as well as in-house training opportunities led by our specialists. The variety of projects we deliver across the breadth of environmental services encourages cross-team working and collaboration. We can offer you the opportunity to contribute to and lead on high-profile, once in a life-time projects.

You’ll enjoy all the benefits we have to offer which include: 25 days annual leave, healthcare cash plan, enhanced stakeholder pension scheme, life insurance, discounted gym membership, paid professional memberships, clothing allowance, outstanding performance rewards, long service awards, free parking and regular local and company social events.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

As an equal opportunities employer, Thomson is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, gender reassignment, being married or in a civil partnership, being pregnant or on maternity leave, disability, race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation.

We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply to and join Thomson.