Farm Environment Adviser

FWAG SW is seeking a passionate and knowledgeable Farm Environment Adviser to join our Somerset team of 22 people comprising Farm Advisers, a Community Natural Flood Management (NFM) Adviser, Facilitators and Project Managers.

There is growing demand to provide advice to farmers on agroecological practices, and we are looking for applicants who can bring their own specialisms and experience to strengthen our team. We are looking for someone with a broad range of skills – practical experience either on a farm or in a nature conservation setting, the ability to engage and facilitate with our farmers and landowners and someone who is approachable and can build trust with strong interpersonal skills.

We work with a wide range of partners and stakeholders and provide environmental advice to farmers on a variety of themes, utilising a whole-farm approach; considering habitat and species conservation, diffuse pollution mitigation, soil management, nutrient management, compliance to legislation and regulation, protection of archaeological features and landscape value – all as part of a resilient, sustainable farm business. There will be opportunities for you to contribute, develop and manage projects as well as becoming a technical specialist in conservation, land management, soil husbandry, or natural flood management (NFM) techniques.

The post will include the delivery of high-quality environmental advice to farmers through 1:1 farm visits, reports, events and workshops, and articles for our farmer members. As well as providing advice, you will contribute to the delivery and outputs of existing and developing projects, and where appropriate; undertake project management and partnership working. You will be supported by other experienced Advisers and Team Leaders across the county.

Our team delivers several projects supporting water quality and quantity within Somerset’s rivers. Our main project is the Hills to Levels project working across the whole of Somerset, which you would contribute to. This is a holistic catchment management approach, aiming to ‘slow the flow’; reducing flood risk and erosion, improving the water quality and delivering wider environmental benefits and increasing resilience on the floodplain. The Hills to Levels project is part of the delivery of the land management workstream of the Somerset 20-Year Flood Action Plan, funded by the Somerset Rivers Authority. We advise farmers, landowners and communities through the delivery of 1:1 farm visits, community events, management plans, workshops, farm demonstrations or walks and newsletter articles and initiate, design and oversee the implementation of Natural Flood Management (NFM) and land management measures.

You’ll be part of a dynamic and inclusive working environment with full support, training and opportunities for professional development, coupled with a contributory pension, life assurance, generous holiday allowance and the opportunity to work flexibly.

We welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds within the sector, whether that is environment and wildlife, soils, nutrients, farm infrastructure, farm management, cropping, livestock, Integrated Pest Management or NFM. We are an equal opportunities organisation encouraging applications from all communities.