Project Officer

Location: Okehampton / Peninsula House with flexible home working
Hours: Full-time (37 hours per week)

We’re looking for a passionate and driven Project Officer to join the South West Peatland Partnership (SWPP)—a collaborative programme delivering large-scale peatland restoration across Cornwall, Dartmoor and Exmoor.

Hosted by South West Water, lead partner in the SWPP, this role puts you at the heart of environmental recovery, working alongside National Park Authorities, Natural England, the Environment Agency, farmers, contractors, volunteers and leading conservation organisations.

This is an exciting and timely opportunity to play a hands-on role in tackling climate change, improving biodiversity, and restoring some of the UK’s most important habitats.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll take the lead on peatland restoration projects at site level, managing works from planning through to delivery:

• Acting as Project Manager for restoration construction sites
• Leading on design, planning and delivery of restoration works
• Managing contractors and applying Construction Design & Management (CDM) Regulations 2015
• Developing restoration plans using field survey data and GIS tools (QGIS/QField)
• Managing budgets (up to £1m annually) and overseeing contractor payments
• Leading stakeholder engagement, including landowners, farmers, and public bodies
• Ensuring high-quality delivery, compliance, and health & safety standards
• Supporting monitoring, research projects, and training activities
• Collaborating across a wide partnership of environmental organisations

What we are looking for

We’re seeking someone with a strong blend of technical expertise, project management capability and stakeholder engagement skills.

Essential

• Experience delivering nature conservation or land management projects
• Strong contract and contractor management experience
• Proven ability to manage budgets and project delivery
• Competence in GIS for site assessment and survey
• Experience engaging and negotiating with land managers and stakeholders
• Understanding of peatland, wetland or upland ecology
• Knowledge of health & safety and construction compliance

Desirable

• Degree in a Natural Science (or equivalent experience)
• Experience applying CDM regulations
• Field survey and ecological monitoring skills
• SMSTS / SSSTS certification

Closing Date: 24th June 2026

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible.

Please note that the successful candidate will be subject to a mandatory DBS check as part of the onboarding process.

Working at South West Water:

At South West Water we know our people drive our success — so we’re committed to offering an excellent range of benefits, including:

• Generous holiday allowance + bank holidays
• Discretionary bonus
• Competitive contributory pension
• Share-save scheme
• Health benefits & wellbeing support programmes
• Group discounts
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Financial support services
• Development and training opportunities
• … and much more!

Be yourself, we like it that way. Together, we will build a culture of belonging, where inclusion is instinctive. Diversity is our strength and a reflection of our communities. We care, we value everyone, we celebrate uniqueness.

Our core values, which are essential to our success, are:

Be Rock Solid – Build trust and be trusted. Be the one we all look to and can depend on.

Be You – We want you to bring your best everyday. Be yourself and make your mark in your individual way.

Be the Future – Embrace change. Drive Progress. Own the challenge.

We look after the water and wastewater services for 1.8 million customers across Cornwall, Devon, the Isles of Scilly and parts of Dorset and Somerset.

From treatment and maintenance, to innovation and improvements, we’re busy every day finding and fixing leaks, unblocking sewers and going bigger and further in our environmental work to be a company you can be proud of.