Exe Catchment Fisheries Officer

Westcountry Rivers Trust is recruiting an Exe Catchment Fisheries Officer. This is a permanent contract after a successful 6-month probation period.

The starting salary for this role is £30,800.00 - £34,900.00 per annum (dependent on experience)

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.

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 12th October 2025 using the link below.

Interviews will be held in person at our offices in Stoke Climsland on Thursday 23rd October 2025

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 Exe Catchment Fisheries Officer position will sit within the River & Fisheries team at WRT. The position was instigated by the River Exe and Tributaries Association (RETA) to recognise the importance of a catchment focused approach. The role is a fully funded role through donations from the RETA and South West Water (SWW).

The majority of this role will manage the effective delivery of the Strategic Exe Weirs project, Strategic Exe Weirs is a project designed to deliver bespoke fish passage improvement projects at multiple weirs on the River Exe and supporting river habitat improvements. The SEW project partnership consists of the River Exe and Tributaries Association (RETA), the Environment Agency, and Westcountry Rivers Trust. It is the goal to enable free migration in wider ‘flow windows’ to counter effects of climate change, enhance the ecological health of the River Exe, and contribute towards the national Salmon Five-Point Approach. Alongside the SEW project, this role will work on other catchment deliverables and identifying opportunities including seeking funding.

Responsibilities

• To manage and deliver the Strategic Exe Weirs project to achieve fisheries objectives and to deliver riparian habitat enhancements and fish migration improvements.
• Undertake fieldwork surveys and office-based reporting to assess and convey the status of fisheries in the area.
• Water-based ecological survey work (e.g. assessment to assess obstacles to fish migration, electrofishing, fish habitat walkover survey).
• Management of habitat improvement works.
• Liaise with external stakeholders and project partners, build positive relationships and liaise regularly with colleagues and external partners or organisations.
• Undertake work-based activities independently
• Contract management and procurement, working closely with appointed contractors will be essential. Some experience of habitat improvement works is desirable for implementing river improvements to help improve fisheries.
• Organise administration and work in relation to site specific activities and report on activities to provide relevant management information.
• Public speaking at educational events or project meetings.
• Promotional events, educational events, workshop delivery and organisation of work sites will be required.
• Research and interpretation of ecological works including data searches, report writing and data analysis.
• To work closely with contractors and sub-contractors to deliver river improvement outputs.
• Develop or lead a technical specialism within the River and Fisheries team
• Maintain and develop a contacts database for catchments and sub-catchments.
• To attend formal and informal training and develop relevant knowledge and skills (CPD) as appropriate.
• May be assigned to commercial projects or other catchment projects as required and may be required to carry out other duties from time to time commensurate with the level of the post.
• Training will be provided for specific survey techniques where needed and some lone working may be required.
• Site visits around the catchment will be necessary
• To ensure the project’s aims and objectives are delivered to a high standard, upholding WRT’s reputation.
• Project management and budget management.
• Line management may be required
• To seek and win funding to deliver the projects objectives
• Organising, lead and attend events, meetings, workshops and associated dissemination of material and minutes.
• Prepare essential project related paperwork and drafting of reports and collation of material and data.
• To continuously develop and improve our project administration processes and ensure that they are fit for purpose.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality of information relating to WRT and its employees and maintain compliance with the UK GDPR.

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

• Fisheries expertise and experience
• Demonstrable experience and knowledge of freshwater fisheries, water quality, water resources, or Water Environment Regulations (Water Framework Directive) management
• A proactive approach and ability to use initiative and problem solve
• Demonstrable experience of working with MS Office suite especially Word and Excel
• Evidence of keeping abreast of current best practice, legislation
• Experience or working knowledge in conservation or environmental sectors
• Experience of fish passage design- (D)
• Experience of working with project financial information - (D)
• Knowledge of the Exe catchment or West Country rivers - (D)

Skills and Competencies

• The ability to work to manage your own workload and meet deadlines.
• Strong written communication skills
• The ability to carry out survey fieldwork and contractor/ site supervision work as part of delivering a busy catchment schedule.
• Effective oral communication with the ability to build positive working relationships.
• Ability to communicate effectively with colleagues and work as a team

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 (D).

The role may be asked to work on other duties or tasks which are believed to be commensurate with the level of the role.

Progression within this role would include working with larger projects, developing in specialist or technical role within the team such as fish passage, designing and delivering nature-based solutions or monitoring programming