Project Manager

Overview

The Mersey Rivers Trust (MRT) is an environmental charity focussing on the protection and enhancement of rivers and waterbodies in the Mersey Catchment. It operates in an area covering Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire. The Trust works with partners, local communities and volunteers to deliver a wide range of projects including river restoration, Natural Flood Management, river monitoring, volunteer events (e.g. river clean-ups/invasive species control and citizen science), community engagement and education events, farm advice/plans and biodiversity net gain.

The role holder will report directly to the Senior Project Manager for the Upper Mersey Team.

We are looking for a competent, dynamic and enthusiastic person with experience in delivery of river improvement and engagement projects. The role covers a variety of activities including: identifying and delivering river and floodplain restoration opportunities, engagement activities with stakeholders, landowners and local communities, training and managing our volunteers to support invasive non-native species control and river monitoring (riverfly and water quality sampling).

The successful candidate will have knowledge of topics such as catchment management, river restoration, ecology, physical geography, and be confident in communicating with stakeholders, landowners, farmers, local communities and our volunteers.

The role is fixed term for 12 months. The post holder will be home-based and will need to travel throughout the Mersey Basin catchment.

Key Responsibilities

• Support and lead the organisation of outdoor public volunteer events (e.g. invasive species control, river monitoring, litter picks) and support the co-ordination of volunteers.
• Management of volunteer data including keeping the online volunteer dashboard up to date.
• Support the delivery of educational activities e.g. working with schools on environmental river based initiatives and events.
• Support the delivery of environmental enhancement and nature-based solutions projects (e.g. Natural Flood Management schemes, river restoration schemes, Invasive Species control).
• Support the Senior Project Manager in project management and reporting activities, including financial reporting, as well as management of contractors.
• Promote water environmental messages to the public through presentations, displays, events, social media and general publicity.
• Assist in the development of monitoring and evaluation systems and to document, monitor and evaluate all projects in line with funding requirements.
• Attend regular internal and external meetings as required.
• Work in a flexible manner and to undertake any other duties and responsibilities as may be assigned from time to time, which are commensurate with the grade of the job.
• Maintain and update all project delivery and reporting systems on time and to budget (including timesheets, expenses and monthly reports).
• Prepare and submit applications to obtaining necessary consents and permissions (including Environment Agency Permits, Landowner Agreements and Planning Permissions).
• Build landowner relationships to secure necessary permissions to implement projects.
• Undertake site visits to map opportunities and monitor progress of works, keeping records and reporting onwards.
• Highlight any new risks and issues identified during works, and work with your line manager to resolve them.
• Implement rigorous safeguarding and health & safety procedures and lead by example in prioritising health and safety and wellbeing by taking responsibility for yourself, participant volunteers and colleagues. You shall comply with Mersey Rivers Trust’s Health & Safety and Safeguarding policies and defined standards at all times.

The post holder will be home based with travel throughout the Mersey catchment. The applicant will need to live within or close to the Mersey catchment to facilitate regular travel to meetings, site visits and to regularly meet with staff. Remote working from other parts of the country cannot be considered for this role due to the need for regular face-to-face interactions and outdoor activities.

Candidate Profile

Essential

• Educated to at least GCSE (or equivalent qualification) including maths and English.
• Valid driving licence and own vehicle, insured for business use.
• Competent and confident in the use of Microsoft Office applications including Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• A confident and clear communicator with experience in delivering engagement projects with a variety of stakeholders and local communities.
• Experience of successful environmental project delivery working as part of a team, ideally in the river environment and/or in catchment management.
• Understanding of how different physical improvement projects are meant to perform in relation to baseline catchment characteristics.
• Self-motivated and able to work effectively from home without supervision and to a high level of accuracy and attention to detail.
• Ability to work flexibly, including some early mornings, some evenings and some weekends/bank holidays.
• Ability to prioritise and plan activities to meet strict deadlines.
• Reliability, good attendance and work performance.
• Strong teamworking skills and able to work collaboratively with partners, contractors, volunteers and community groups.
• Good organisational/admin skills and attention to detail.

Desirable

• Educated to A level (or equivalent qualification) in a relevant subject or equivalent relevant vocational qualification.
• Experience with using GIS.
• Familiarity with social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram etc).
• Experience of working with contractors and volunteers.

General Notes

• Extensive travel around the Mersey Catchment will be necessary therefore a current driving licence and access to a vehicle is essential.
• This position will from time to time require work during some evenings, weekends and public holidays to meet the needs of the post. A time-off in lieu system is operated by the Trust.