Career Opportunities

The South East Rivers Trust (SERT) is a busy, charitable organisation, consisting of approximately 40 employees and 10 Trustees, working across the rivers in the South East of England. Our rivers flow through a mixture of urban and rural locations, benefiting people’s wellbeing and pleasure, which we want to protect and enhance. We work to improve our rivers through education and practical conservation; we are looking to actively grow our team to deliver practical work, to improve water quality and to enhance natural beauty for all.

SERT is made up of five teams, running about 60 projects at any one time. We work with multiple stakeholders, from landowners to councils, delivering a wide range of environmental benefits. By joining us, you will have an exciting opportunity to use your skills, experience and passion to make a real impact on our natural world by running your own projects, while working as part of a team. You will be making a real difference to rivers and the wider environment in this corner of the UK. Most roles offer the chance to not only plan and monitor changes in our rivers, but also to be hands on — getting into the water and physically improving the ecosystem. We operate a hybrid working policy with most staff attending the office in Leatherhead once a fortnight, working from home and outdoors in our catchments.

SERT’s 12 catchments, located across the south east of England

Benefits you will enjoy if you work for us:

  • 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays. After three years’ service, staff receive an extra day of annual leave each year (maximum of 28 days).
  • Hybrid working
  • Pension contribution of 9% salary, subject to 6% employee contribution
  • Life assurance (3 times your  annual salary when signing up to the SERT pension scheme).
  • Time off in Lieu
  • 4 staff awaydays per year
  • Flexible bank holidays
  • Enhanced leave policies including sickness, maternity and paternity
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Wellbeing team, with trained Mental Health First Aiders

Commitment to career development and training, including but not limited to:

  • Individual career development plans
  • Attendance at external training and conferences relevant to role
  • Internal training relevant to role
  • One personal development day per year
  • Access to resources and training via affiliated memberships

If you don’t see a vacancy that you feel is suitable for you listed below but would like to explore the opportunities at the South East Rivers Trust, please send us your CV and contact details to jobs@southeastriverstrust.org. A member of our team will be in contact with you. Please note, all CVs and applications are kept on file for six months.

Take a look below at the jobs available at the South East Rivers Trust.

  • Senior Project Officer (Restoring Rivers & Catchments)

    Salary: £32,573 – £41,558 (per annum)

    Are you looking at developing the next step of your career, and do you have relevant experience leading and developing our rivers?  We have an exciting opportunity for you to come and join us as a Senior Project Officer on a permanent basis.

    The South East Rivers Trust is an environmental charity bringing rivers and their catchments back to life. Working in 12 river catchments across the south east of England, the Trust connects communities and mobilises citizen scientists to educate and engage people on the importance of rivers, and supports and challenges stakeholders, businesses and individuals to protect them. The Trust uses data and evidence to target positive action and works with nature to make rivers healthy again. This includes tackling water pollution, addressing water scarcity, reconnecting rivers and restoring habitats.

    Working at the South East Rivers Trust is rewarding, fulfilling and busy. We work collaboratively and with passion, and this is reflected in our core values of: delivering high quality work, using expertise and scientific understanding, building good and effective relationships and bringing positive energy to all we do. If this sounds like an environment that you would thrive in, we would love to hear from you.

    We lead on a range of exciting, challenging and fulfilling projects which vary significantly in size, complexity and type. No two projects are the same. We often have the opportunity to direct and mould them into novel, bold and ambitious schemes which are directed and/or monitored with a science-based approach. The projects will typically cover natural flood management (NFM), water resource management, fish passage including weir removals, easements or fish passes, wetland/backwater creation and in-channel habitat improvements such as the introduction of large wood and gravel through to re-channelling works.

    The Senior Project Officer role is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and knowledgeable individual to oversee all stages of river and catchment enhancement projects, from conception to development, design and physical implementation. Working in the Restoring Rivers and Catchments Team, you will use your proven ability to lead on our larger projects, ensuring that they are delivered on time, on budget and to a high standard. We encourage creative thinking to come up with exciting, ambitious and novel solutions with the possibility to put your own stamp on the project. The role will require you to manage, delegate and work collaboratively within the Trust and with external partners, stakeholders and professional services to identify and deliver meaningful and impactful projects for the benefit of the environment and communities.

    Please see the full job description Senior Project Officer JD.

    How to apply:

    To apply for this position, please send the following documents to jobs@southeastriverstrust.org.

    The deadline for applications is 5th May 2024. We reserve the right to close the recruitment early.

    If you would like to discuss this position, please email jobs@southeastriverstrust.org with your enquiry and a member of our team will be in contact shortly.

    Please note: All applicants must have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor applicants from overseas.

  • Project Officer (Restoring Rivers & Catchments)

    Salary: £29,203 – £38,189 (per annum)

    Could your next career move make a big impact on the environment?

    This is an exciting opportunity to work in the Restoring Rivers & Catchments Team, developing and delivering a portfolio of physical enhancement projects on the ground. The Project Officer role is suitable for an experienced and knowledgeable individual to build on their existing skills, overseeing all stages of river and catchment enhancement projects; from conception to development, design and physical implementation. You can have practical impact and influence on the natural environment creating sustainable and healthy rivers for the future.

    River enhancement projects will typically include weir removals, fish passage easements (such as rock ramps, nature-like bypasses or technical fish passes) and river re-naturalisation projects (such as habitat enhancements, reconnecting floodplains & palaeochannels, re-meandering, and backwater creation). Catchment management projects are likely to include wetland creation, Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) and Natural Flood Management (NFM) measures. We would be interested to know about any experience you have in the above fields when you apply.

    Using your freshwater expertise and proven ability, you will proactively lead on smaller and medium scale projects while working closely with other staff, external partners and stakeholders. You will work with the rest of the team, drawing on the experience of more seasoned staff to help your personal career progression and likewise overseeing Assistant Project Officer and imparting your knowledge onto them. Most importantly of all, you will support the whole team, your line manager and the wider organisation.

    This is a great opportunity to join and support a growing and dynamic organisation making a real difference for the environment.

    Please see the full job description here.

    How to apply:

    Please email the following to jobs@southeastriverstrust.org.

    The deadline for applications is 5th May 2024. We reserve the right to close the recruitment early.

    If you would like to discuss this position, please email jobs@southeastriverstrust.org with your enquiry and a member of our team will be in contact shortly.

    Please note: All applicants must have the right to work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor applicants from overseas.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

At SERT, we are committed to offering equal opportunities and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital/civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We use a redacted process to reduce unconscious bias during shortlisting and ensure all applicants are judged solely on merit. Our equal opportunities monitoring forms helps us understand the diversity of applications we receive and are analysed on an annual basis.

SERT offers flexible working options to support everyone as individuals. Please get in touch if you require assistance with the application and/or interview process and our team will do the best to accommodate reasonable adjustments, where possible. For more information, please refer to our EDI Policy

Privacy notice

When submitting your application to us, it is important you are aware of what will happen to your personal data after the position is filled. Please read our Applicant GDPR Notice.