Westcountry Rivers Trust and Institute of Fisheries Management Traineeship

This is a 2 year Fixed Term contract, following a successful 6 month probation
period.

The role is 37.5 hours per week.

The starting salary for this role is £22,500 per annum

Benefits whilst working for Westcountry Rivers Trust include:

• 25 days Annual Leave per annum, 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 with 10 years
  continuous service.
• Additional Leave covering the Christmas Closure period.
• 9% Employer Pension, plus Life Assurance cover.
• Flexible working.

Apply by midnight on Monday 16th September.

Interviews will be held in person at our offices in Stoke Climsland on Tuesday
24th September 2024

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.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, or for queries about
the application process, please contact [email protected].

About 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.

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

This role will support the River and Fisheries Team and other departments at WRT in all manner
of fisheries based outputs across a broad range of projects, including, but not limited to;
surveying, detailed monitoring, habitat creation, management and restoration, reporting and
data analysis.

The successful applicant will also be enrolled onto the IFM Diploma in Fisheries Management, which they will be expected to complete whilst integrating with the WRT River and Fisheries Team
and other WRT departments. Additional courses will be offered, such as the IFM basic ElectrofishingCourse, Moving Water Safety and Emergency First Aid at Work. There is also the option to attend
the IFM annual conference, and additional courses will be provided if appropriate. The aim is
to provide the trainee with up to 20% of their time for training and development opportunities.
You will also be supported by line management and fisheries mentors at WRT who work closely
with the IFM on this traineeship.

Courses and modules are subject to availability and where possible we try to follow a standardised format of training elements which a variety of our staff enroll onto annually to maintain consistency
and quality. Should any courses or modules change this will be to something of a similar nature where possible and always relevant to working in the freshwater environment. All course costs are
covered by either WRT or IFM.

More information about the IFM Diploma in Fisheries Management can be found here.

Key responsibilities include:

Line managed and mentored by our senior fisheries staff you will shadow the River and Fisheries
Team and occasionally wider Trust staff across a range of projects and tasks. Gaining
experience and
developing as a fisheries professional, whilst studying the IFM Diploma in Fisheries Management
and undertaking other professional development and courses. Both the academic and
field/workplace based elements are complimentary to each other. You will develop expert
knowledge from your studies, whilst gaining real world experience from working on multiple
projects with WRT and our partners. Organisations such as the IFM, Environment Agency, Local
and Regional angling groups, Natural England, Water Companies, other NGO’s and local
authorities. As a junior role, you will be expected to assist with various projects across the team
and wider trust where appropriate to allow you to get a holistic experience of what working for
an environmental charity can offer. This will include, but is not limited to, assisting with
project planning and development, surveying, reporting and data analysis.

As part of the role, you will have the opportunity to :

• Enrolment on the IFM Diploma
• Attendance at one IFM Event per year
• Single day organised visits to sites of interest or projects – e.g. Smolt trap, Index River
  project, regional hatchery
• Electric fishing training through the IFM.
• Assigned mentor at IFM
• Peer to peer support.

This is a hybrid working role and as such will be home, office and site-based working at
various locations on our catchments throughout the South West, supporting on the delivery of an
array of project outputs for the Trust.

Main Duties and
Responsibilities:

• Supporting the River and
  Fisheries Team and other departments at WRT in all aspects of their work.
• Drafting reports and other documents.
• Working well as both and individual and a team setting.
• Being reasonably responsible for managing workloads with support from mentors and managers.
• Undertake, complete and pass studies with support from the team.
• Engaging professionally with the public and volunteers as a representative of WRT.
• Assisting with consenting, undertaking walkovers, assessing barriers to migration,
  preparing tender documents, general admin, assisting with procurement

You may be asked to work on other duties or tasks which are believed to be commensurate with
the level of the role. This role is a new role within the Trust and allows for a certain
flexibility as your career interests develop and where the Trust identifies a need for support.