Projects Officer (Test & Itchen)

Full Time – 35 hours per week
Salary: £27,500 to £31,500 depending on skills and experience
Fixed Term Contract until March 2031
Location: Beechcroft House, Vicarage Lane, Curdridge, Hampshire, SO32 2DP

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is shaping a wilder future for our counties – protecting special places, restoring habitats and inspiring people to act for nature. As part of the UK’s fastest-growing movement for nature’s recovery, we lead with passion, integrity and bold thinking. Join a team where your work has purpose, your ideas matter, and you can help create lasting change for wildlife and people.

We are seeking a Test & Itchen Projects Officer to join our cause.

The Project Officer will focus on delivery of the Test & Itchen Recovery Plan; a new strategic pilot hosted by the Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership. Working closely with co-hosts Wessex Rivers Trust, this role will coordinate a variety of projects and support reporting to a new TICP Strategic Leadership Group, including tracking of delivery against the new TICP’s Catchment Plan. This role is a critical link between the Catchment Partnership and Southern Water over the AMP 8 period 2025 to 2030, aiming to support Integrated Catchment Management between Southern Water and the partnership with a focus on project development.

The role has two key functions:

• Collation and coordination of projects between Southern Water and the Catchment Hosts/Catchment Partnership and the creation of a shared priority project pipeline plan.
• To support the coordination of ongoing partnership projects running with Southern Water and the Catchment Hosts/Catchment Partnership.

What you’ll be doing:

You’ll oversee and coordinate projects that improve water quality, water resource resilience and nature recovery in the catchment, making the link between water company activity and environmental improvement; notably the WINEP programme. You’ll combine environmental expertise and knowledge of the water sector with project management skills to ensure the successful planning, execution, and completion of projects that have a positive impact on the environment, Southern Water outcomes, Catchment Partnership outcomes and local communities.

You’ll coordinate project planning and support delivery between Southern Water and the Test & Itchen Catchment Partnership (TICP), to ensure Southern Water projects are co-developed with wider stakeholders (where applicable). The process will ensure better integration between Southern Water projects and wider TICP based projects, including a shared project pipeline. You’ll go on to manage collaborative Southern Water projects as appropriate.

About you:

• You’re an enthusiastic and collaborative environmental professional with a solid understanding of river catchments and their ecology. Confident managing projects and partnerships, you balance technical insight with strong communication and coordination skills. You build productive relationships across diverse stakeholders, from water companies and NGOs to local communities, and are motivated by delivering real outcomes for nature.
• Passionate about wildlife and driven by the Wilder 2030 vision, you’re ready to help restore the Test and Itchen and support a wilder, more resilient Hampshire.

Wild About Inclusion!

As an inclusive employer we recognise that our workforce needs to better reflect the communities in which we live and work. We encourage applications from all sections of the community, particularly those underrepresented within our sector, including people from black, Asian, minority Ethnic backgrounds and people with disabilities. We are committed to creating a Movement that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities.

Disability Confident.

We are proudly a Disability Confident Committed employer. The scheme is helping us recruit and retain great people to meet our workforce needs. As a member of the scheme, we will ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview. You can request adjustments including accessible formats of this vacancy by emailing [email protected].

To be considered for an interview under the Disability Confident Scheme you must:

• Identify as being disabled which under the Equality Act 2010 means a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial*, long term** adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities; or a long-term health condition; and;

(*Substantial is more than minor or trivial **Long-term means 12 months or more)

• Set out how you meet all the minimum qualifying criteria set out in the person specification for the post at the application and testing stages. This is a requirement for all candidates, not just those applying under the scheme.

We offer a wide range of benefits including a competitive salary, generous annual leave allowance, a contributory pension scheme, life assurance, learning and development support, 24-hour access to our employee assistance programme, discounted staff travel with our corporate partners Wightlink (subject to T&Cs), free parking at our sites and more.

Closing date: 01 February 2026
Interviews: To be confirmed

To apply for the role, please click on the ‘Apply Now’ button at the top of the page. In the ‘supporting information’ section, you’ll need to demonstrate, with detailed examples, how you meet the job requirements using the Job Description and Person Specification below. Please note that we may occasionally close vacancies early when we have received enough applications that meet the required criteria.

Please do not use artificial intelligence tools to assist you to complete the application form. We may not accept applications that have been completed utilising AI tools. If you would usually use tools such as these to assist you in filling in a form, please contact [email protected] to discuss this further and understand other options.