Marine Water Quality Advisor

Team / Directorate: Renewable Energy Advice / Evidence, Policy and Permitting

Starting salary:  £41,132 rising to £44,988 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern:  Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview Date: 18/09/2025

Post number: 203996 ENV

The role

As the Specialist Advisor for Marine Water Quality, you will be the technical expert to lead on marine water quality advice for marine developments, including offshore renewable energy projects. Your specialist input will directly influence decisions, plans, guidance, and strategies across both Government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW), helping to ensure marine development is underpinned by sound environmental evidence.

You’ll work closely with colleagues across NRW, Welsh Government, and the marine sector, contributing to cross-cutting programmes and shaping sustainable marine policy. You’ll also build strong external partnerships with Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, government officials, consultants, and industry representatives.

This role reports to the Renewable Energy Advice Team Leader.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Rebecca Tillson Rebecca.Tillson@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Interviews will be held on Microsoft Teams. 

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

This role is part of the Renewable Energy Advice Team within the Sustainable Places, Land and Sea Group. You will collaborate closely with colleagues across teams and directorates at Natural Resources Wales (NRW), playing a vital role in the organisation-wide Marine Programme, including the Offshore Renewable Energy Programme. You will also develop strong external partnerships with Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies, Welsh Government officials, sector representatives, and their consultants to support sustainable marine development

What you will do

• Prepare technical assessments, drawing on a range of complex information and data in relation to marine water quality.
• Provide specialist technical advice internally to directly inform NRW’s external casework responses, and also internal casework determination where NRW is the regulator, (for example, marine licenses). Internal advice will also directly inform NRW’s marine and coastal management functions.
• Provide specialist technical advice externally to (a) developers and regulators at a local, regional and national level, (b) regional and national stakeholder fora and (c) expert witness role at inquiries as appropriate.
• Lead development of relevant casework guidance.
• Develop procedures, tools and guidance and lead the delivery of new ways of working. Inform the development of NRW, Welsh Government and other Partners policy, statutory advice and guidance documents.
• Liaise with external stakeholders such as sector representatives, Welsh Government, partners, JNCC and other Environment Bodies in the UK to ensure the timely and effective delivery of project, policy or strategy obligations.
• Advise on evidence gaps and project manage agreed evidence projects, in line with the agreed evidence programme.
• Contribute to task and finish groups, commissioned through the Business Boards, to prepare defined products as required.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development  through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Knowledge of: Welsh, UK and EU legislation related to marine and coastal ecosystems and assigned sector(s); Welsh, UK Government policy drivers in marine and coastal ecosystems and assigned sector(s) and the issues and opportunities in Wales.
2. Substantial experience in provision of specialist technical marine advice, at a regional or all-Wales level, in marine benthic ecology.
3. Experience of:  technical analysis and interpreting a range of environmental information and data; analysing large data sets.
4. Specialist technical knowledge related to marine and coastal water quality.
5. Working with/in Welsh Government, statutory nature conservation bodies, eNGOs, public bodies and marine sector representative bodies.
6. Good project management, work planning and prioritisation skills.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential:  Level A1 – Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

Apply for this role

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