Farming, Water and Natural Capital Advisor x2

Westcountry Rivers Trust is recruiting TWO Farming and Natural Capital Advisors with a
Cornwall focus.
These are permanent contracts after a successful 6-month probation period.
The roles are 37.5 hours per week.

We support hybrid working, therefore there will be the opportunity to work from home in this
role and to work flexible hours. Travel across the Westcountry for fieldwork, events and
meetings will be required.

About Westcountry Rivers Trust

Formed in 1994, the Trust was established to restore Westcountry rivers. Measures to protect
rivers can help to save money for farmers, lower costs for water companies, boost tourism,
reduce the need to dredge estuaries and even benefit human health. 

Today the charity works with a wide range of stakeholders from landowners to local communities,
businesses, farmers and water companies to restore and protect the rivers, lakes, estuaries and
coastal areas for the benefit of people, wildlife and the local economy. There has never been a
more important time to work on the rivers of the West Country as the impacts of climate
emergency and the ecological crisis is forcing society to invest in building catchment
resilience.

Spurred by a shared love of rivers, the Westcountry Rivers Trust is very much a grassroots
organisation, brought into existence from the bottom up. In the early 90s, a group of
individuals, passionate – but concerned – about the waterways around them, began to stitch
together their ambitions for restoring Westcountry rivers, laying the foundations for the Trust
we know today.

Everything the Trust does is informed by the best available science. Their work is driven by an
‘ecosystems approach,’ considering the function of the entire catchment, not just the rivers
that flow within them

It was this new perspective – not to mention the hands-on and tireless approach to river
restoration – that grabbed the attention of so many supporters and funders and which lies
behind the flourishing rivers trust movement. Since then, the Trust now has circa 75 employees
with an annual turnover of c£3m running multi-annual projects spread across a wide range of
funders.

The Trust has three main delivery teams and a support services team. Our employees work on
delivery sites, from home and from the office.

The Role

The Farming, Water and Natural Capital Advisor will provide support to the Land Team in
delivering project work on our catchments, with a particular focus in Cornwall. Within
Cornwall, Westcountry Rivers Trust has several active projects delivering land management
advice: including water management, phosphate mitigation and nutrient neutrality, and natural
flood management. There will also be a need to liaise with project partners within the area.

There shall also be broader catchment management outputs to include but are not limited to,
soil sampling, tree planting opportunities, habitat creation and restoration opportunities,
monitoring, and community engagement.

Reporting to the Land Team Manager the post holder will be encouraged to develop their
knowledge and experience of working with farmers using interventions such as those outlined
above to develop resilient, transformational land management, contributing to the sectors
climate mitigation and environmental efforts, with a focus on protecting and enhancing water
quality.

The role will be home, office, and site-based, working at various locations on our catchments
throughout the South West (although principally in Cornwall), supporting on the delivery of an
array of project outputs for the Trust.

Key responsibilities include:

• Working with farmers to evaluate their water use, conducting water audits and developing
  plans for increased water storage on the farm, including reducing mains reliance.
• Supporting the Land Team’s Nature based solutions outputs and opportunities for tree
  planting, natural flood management schemes, habitat creation and restoration, and soil
  sampling.
• Working with landowners to create phosphate mitigation solutions.
• Applying for consents, permits and exemptions required to deliver project work.
• Working with the Operations Team to safely and professionally deliver work on WRT projects
  and tenders.
• Creation and support on applications to environmental schemes such as the Woodland Creation
  Offer, Countryside Stewardship and Sustainable Farming Incentive.
• Proactively develop leads and contacts over time, to build on WRT existing coverage across
  the target catchments to engage directly with farmers, landowners and growers to raise
  awareness of the project and build opportunities for project delivery through liaison with
  Senior Advisors to delegate follow up.
• Undertake surveys, monitoring (eg. water quality, soil or nutrient) or analysis as required
  – supporting evidence of actions for case studies, reports and project promotion.
• Co-ordinate, attend and contribute to relevant meetings, workshops or stakeholder groups to
  achieve Project aims and to share best practice, raise awareness and promote WRTs role.
• Work closely with the Project Manager to ensure project outputs, deadlines and reporting
  are met as well as with other key members or Teams at WRT eg. for delivery, admin etc.
• Proactively build contacts across sectors to further identify opportunities which align
  with project remit or achieve mutual objectives eg. Countryside Stewardship, Community
  Initiatives etc.
• Report writing.

Knowledge and Experience

• Appropriate Degree level qualification (or equivalent qualification or work experience) in
  an agricultural or conservation/farming related discipline.
• Sound knowledge of agriculture and local farming practices, as well as Agri-Environment
  schemes and relevant Policies or Legislation; in particular soil and water conservation.
• Experience of catchment-scale approaches and processes, familiar with concepts of Ecosystem
  Services, Natural Capital, Natural Flood Management, Nature Based Solutions etc.
• Knowledge and competence in Microsoft Office applications, accuracy and attention to detail
  with record keeping.
• Local area knowledge an advantage.
• BASIS Soil & Water trained (Desirable).

Skills and Competencies

• A proactive approach and evidence of using own initiative with effective problem-solving
  skills.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to communicate, engage and present at multiple
  levels and across different sectors.
• Ability to develop and maintain good working relations with colleagues and external
  clients.
• Adaptable and organised in prioritising workload, managing conflicting demands and working
  effectively to deadlines with minimum supervision.
• Ability to travel regularly and to remote sites.
• A professional and business orientated approach.
• A sound working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook.

Attributes

• Reliable, positive attitude and work ethic
• Ability to deliver accurate and timely project reporting and administration.
• Team player, tactful, diplomatic and confident. Willing to work with others to seek
  solutions.
• Approachable, professional, trustworthy.
• Innovative, adaptable, practical.
• Supports and promotes the WRT ethos.

This role is a new role within the Trust and as so the duties may be subject to change as this
area of work develops.

You will need the ability to travel to, sometimes remote, sites across the South West
and visit the office in Stoke Climsland.

Apply by midnight on Monday 19th February 2024 by CV
and Covering Letter to:

hr.breathehr.com/v/farming-water-and-natural-capital-33916

Interviews will be held in person at our offices in Stoke Climsland on the
28th February 2024

For queries about this role or the application process please contact [email protected]