River and Fisheries Project Officer

Contract: Permanent Contract
Report To: Head of Fisheries and Ecology
Grade: 3
Hours: Full Time (37.5 hours)
Location: Westcountry Rivers Trust’s office is in Stoke Climsland and whilst we have adopted hybrid working there is an expectation to work from the office on a regular basis and to travel to sites across the delivery area.

Westcountry Rivers Trust is recruiting a River and Fisheries Project Officer. This is a permanent contract after a successful 4 month probation period.

The starting salary for this role is £26,500.00 – £29,700.00 per annum (dependent on experience)

Benefits while working for Westcountry Rivers Trust

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 25 days Annual Leave + Bank Holidays, with a reward for long service – an additional 1 day per year for each year worked over 5 years, up to a maximum of 30 days for employees serving 10 years continuous service
• Additional leave covering the Christmas Closure period
• WRT contributes 9% of salary to a personal pension scheme (following a three-month postponement period), plus Life Assurance cover
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Hybrid & Flexible Working

Apply by midnight on Sunday 28th June 2026.

Interviews will be held in person at our offices in Stoke Climsland on Thursday 9th July 2026.

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

About the 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.

About the Role

The River and Fisheries Project Officer is a key member to the River and Fisheries Team in delivering project work, habitat work and monitoring of our catchments throughout the Southwest. Upcoming and existing projects include: fisheries (including eel) monitoring and conservation, shad research and fish passage improvements.

Reporting to the Head of Fisheries and Ecology, the post holder will be encouraged to develop their knowledge and experience of working in and alongside rivers.

Responsibilities

Project Delivery

• Act as project officer on one or more projects, delivering outputs to a high standard and upholding WRT’s reputation
• Apply for consents, permits and exemptions required to deliver project work, with support from the team
• Work with the Operations Team and subcontractors to safely and professionally deliver work on WRT projects and tenders
• Undertake procurement and some supplier contract management

Field Work & Monitoring

• Support planning and delivery of the Team’s monitoring programme, including electric fishing surveys and habitat walkovers
• Collate site data, records and images for reporting purposes
• Undertake fieldwork and site supervision independently, with appropriate support from the team

Stakeholder & External Engagement

• Engage professionally with the public, landowners and volunteers, representing WRT externally
• Attend, plan and assist with organising events, meetings and workshops, including dissemination of materials and minutes
• Contribute to promotional and educational events and workshop delivery

Reporting & Administration

• Support the production of technical and output reports, collating data and drafting project paperwork
• Lead on a specialism within the role, developing knowledge and skills commensurate with a Project Officer position

Team & Development

• Collaborate with project teams to achieve objectives and milestones
• Support the Team Manager in the development of junior staff
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the level of the role

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

• Fisheries expertise and experience
• Demonstrable experience and knowledge of freshwater fisheries, water quality, water resources, or Water Framework Directive management
• Evidence of keeping abreast of current best practice, legislation
• Knowledge of geomorphology, fisheries conservation and or river restoration (E)
• Experience or working knowledge in conservation or environmental sectors (D)
• Experience in fish passage projects (D)
• Experience in working with contractors, stakeholders and other organisations (D)
• Experience obtaining consents and planning permission for environmental projects (D)
• Experience of ecological survey techniques (D)
• Experience in bid or tender writing (D)

Skills and Competencies

• A proactive approach and ability to use initiative and problem solve
• The ability to carry out survey fieldwork and contractor/site supervision work as part of delivering a busy catchment schedule
• The ability to work to manage your own workload and meet deadlines
• Strong written communication skills
• Effective oral communication with the ability to build positive working relationships
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and work as a team
• Demonstrable experience of working with MS Office suite especially Word and Excel
• Ability to travel across the area of operations as required by the role

Qualifications

• A degree in conservation or ecology or a relevant degree-equivalent vocational qualifications will be considered if highly relevant to the position.

The above are Essential criteria unless indicated as Desirable.