Starting salary: £27,919 (MEng) £27,239 (BEng)
Location: Thames Barrier, London, West Malling, Tonbridge
The challenge
Environmental change is having a major impact on people’s lives. But so can you.
We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment and make it a better place for people and wildlife. Adapting to climate change is integral to everything we do, and we operate at the place where environmental change has its greatest impact on people’s lives. We work closely with a wide range of partners to make sure we are reducing the risk from flooding to communities and that there is enough water for people and wildlife. We also apply the environmental standards within which industry can operate.
The iconic Thames Barrier is one of the largest movable flood defence barriers in the world and, together with the Thames’ tidal walls and embankments, protects over £321 billion worth of property and 1.42M people from tidal flooding in London.
Flood and coastal risk management teams in Kent, South London and East Sussex cover large river catchments, such as the Medway and coastlines serving both rural and urban populations. We take a catchment-based approach to deliver solutions ensuring that the work we do meets the needs of local communities and enhances habitats.
As a Civil Engineering graduate at the Environment Agency, you can have a major impact on reducing the risks to people, households and businesses from flooding. You’ll also contribute to our challenge of becoming a carbon net-zero organisation by 2030.
Our structured Graduate Training Scheme lasts between four to five years and offers you a mix of internal and external placements. This allows you to build skills in everything from asset management to project feasibility, planning and design to project management, and site supervision to incident response. Spending between six months to a year in each placement gives you plenty of time to get to grips with the real issues, gain the necessary experience and make your mark on a project.
Your placement journey is flexible allowing you to move into the teams that best suit your individual development needs and interests. Placements can include roles in teams such as:
Thames Tidal Defences Asset Performance (Thames Barrier role)
The two Asset Performance teams based at the Thames Barrier contribute towards maintaining the existing tidal flood defence system in London. This includes the Thames Barrier, which the Environment Agency owns and more than 250km of tidal walls. These assets need to be maintained and improved to deliver the aims of the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan. You will help us develop innovative asset management approaches, apply new technology to improve maintenance of our assets, carry out asset performance assessments, review and respond to planning applications affecting flood defences and act as client on both small and large maintenance and improvement projects.
Asset Performance (West Malling/Tonbridge role)
The Asset Performance teams cover a large geographic area of river and coastline. They are responsible for the inspection, assessment, maintenance, and operation of assets that reduce flood risk to people and property.
Roles based in these teams are highly varied and require working on site, for inspections, in project teams and with partners. You will have the opportunity to assess the performance of flood defences, identify improvements to how we maintain our assets, manage maintenance work and act as client on improvement projects.
Partnerships and Strategic Overview (PSO)
In PSO you will help to develop future flood defence projects, which can include modelling and financial benefit calculations; liaise with professional partners and the public; and be involved with the Environment Agency’s flood risk permitting activities.
Programme and Contract Management (PCM)
In PCM you will be involved in the delivery of the flood and coastal erosion risk management investment programme as a project manager. You will gain skills in business case development, financial and contractual management and supplier communication.
Accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), our programme leads to Incorporated (IEng) and then Chartered (CEng) status following your professional review. You’ll learn by working alongside expert engineers and will also have the support of professional development advisors to coordinate your training. At every step, your placement journey will be tailored to your individual development needs.
The person
We’re looking for graduates with the innovation and passion to create a better place for people and wildlife. To join us, you’ll need to hold a MEng or BEng degree in Civil Engineering. It’s also essential that your degree is ICE accredited, satisfying the academic requirements of becoming an Incorporated/Chartered Engineer with the ICE.
Keen to learn, you will be ready to make the most of all the placements. You’ll already show some evidence of the skills you’ll need to develop during the programme including leadership, collaboration, people skills and problem-solving.
The benefits
Our benefits package includes generous annual leave, an excellent pension and flexible working arrangements. We’ll also look after your wellbeing through our employee assistance programme, shopping and leisure discounts, and interest-free loans for bikes and season tickets.
The Environment Agency is committed to having an inclusive workforce that reflects the full diversity of the communities we serve and welcomes applications from individuals of any age, gender or background.
For more information about the benefits of working at the Environment Agency, have a look at our careers webpage here https://environmentagencycareers.co.uk/working-here/
Apply
For more information and to apply, please click:
External Opportunities – Environment Agency Jobs (tal.net)
Graduate Civil Engineer – 27318 (Thames Barrier)
Graduate Civil Engineer – 27319 (West Malling)
If you have any questions about the scheme, please feel free to email gradengineers@environment-agency.gov.uk using ‘Graduate Civil Engineers KSL’ as the subject title of your email.
Closing date for applications: 15 October 2023.
Interviews will be held in November 2023. We expect successful candidates to start as soon as possible.
Diversity: it’s in our nature
