Catchment Partnership Manager

Location: Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside (Home-based with travel). Remote working from other parts of the country cannot be considered.
Closes: 17th August 2026 at 5pm
Hours: Full Time, 37.5 hours per week
Contract: Fixed term 18 months (September 2026 – March 2028) Possible extension subject to funding

Overview

The Mersey Rivers Trust (MRT) is an environmental charity focussing on the protection and enhancement of rivers and waterbodies in the Mersey Catchment. It operates in an area covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire. The Trust works with partners, local communities and volunteers to deliver a wide range of projects including river restoration, reduction of flood risk by Natural Flood Management techniques, river monitoring, volunteer events (e.g. river clean-ups/invasive species control and citizen science), community engagement and education events, farm advice/plans and biodiversity net gain.

The Trust hosts three successful CaBA (Catchment Based Approach) partnerships in the Alt Crossens, Lower Mersey and Upper Mersey catchments. The partnerships include local authorities, water companies, regulators, businesses and other environmental NGOs. As the host we are responsible for engaging with these partners to develop and implement integrated management plans for each river catchment. This involves pooling and reviewing evidence, planning, and delivering interventions to improve water quality, reduce flood risk, and enhance biodiversity. The host also plays a crucial role in securing project funds and providing the necessary data and evidence to support the implementation of the CaBA.

Building on a decade of strong relationships, technical expertise, and proven delivery, we are investing in dedicated hosting and coordination capacity to make the most of new government funding and expanded expectations. This is an exciting opportunity to help unlock the next stage of ambition for the partnerships.

This role will provide the drive, organisation and consistency needed to support our partnerships to thrive, while allowing technical staff to focus on strategic leadership and delivery. If you’re highly organised, collaborative, and passionate about partnership-led environmental improvement, we’d love to hear from you.

Purpose of the Role

To act as the formal Host for three independent catchment partnerships, ensuring that each partnership receives high-quality coordination, governance support, reporting, and delivery management. In addition, the role will support the working groups that feed into the main partnerships.

The role increases hosting capacity and consistency across the three catchments, allowing Senior Project Managers to focus on technical leadership, stakeholder-facing expertise, and project delivery activities.

The postholder ensures the expanded CaBA deliverables are met in full, while maintaining clear separation of each catchment’s identity, governance structures, and strategic priorities.

The role holder will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and will be a member of the senior leadership team.

There will be no direct line management responsibilities.

Please see the full role description on our website for key responsibilities and the candidate profile.