Senior/Principal Water Scientist

Company Description

Work with Us. Change the World.

At AECOM, we're delivering a better world. Whether improving your commute, keeping the lights on, providing access to clean water, or transforming skylines, our work helps people and communities thrive. We are the world's trusted infrastructure consulting firm, partnering with clients to solve the world’s most complex challenges and build legacies for future generations.

There has never been a better time to be at AECOM. With accelerating infrastructure investment worldwide, our services are in great demand. We invite you to bring your bold ideas and big dreams and become part of a global team of over 50,000 planners, designers, engineers, scientists, digital innovators, program and construction managers and other professionals delivering projects that create a positive and tangible impact around the world.

We're one global team driven by our common purpose to deliver a better world. Join us.

Job Description

Are you ready to help us shape the future of the water industry?

Join our dynamic and multidisciplinary Water Environment team as a Senior/Principal Water Scientist! We are an established and award-winning Water Environment Team, operating across the UK and Ireland. This is a multi-disciplinary team with over 105 specialists in water science, geomorphology, hydrology, aquatic-ecology, and hydrogeology. We work for clients from across the public and private sectors, covering an extensive range of infrastructure projects, including some of the largest developments in the UK and internationally.

 

Our recent projects have included: 

• Water environment constraints mapping and impact assessment of a range of schemes in Ireland including highways, water treatment works, long duration energy storage facilities and data centres.
• Water science services to support developments of carbon capture technology to existing and proposed developments, as well as cross-country pipelines.
• Water science constraints and opportunities analysis to inform the masterplanning of new residential developments and major linear infrastructure projects.
• WFD/WER Assessments of various proposed infrastructure projects. 
• Nutrient neutrality assessments for private developers, technical support to LPAs, and supporting NE casework.

 

Here’s what you’ll do: 

• Support the preparation of high quality and commercially astute bids and tenders for water science services, for in a wide range of sectors including: energy, utilities, transport, defence, water, residential and commercial etc.;
• Co-ordinate multidisciplinary teams including water scientists, hydrogeologists, hydromorphologists, aquatic ecologists and flood risk specialists, ensuring necessary resources, budgets and controls are in place to meet both programme and budget requirements;
• Identify the need for, plan and implement complex monitoring and field work as maybe required (e.g. water quality monitoring, flow gauging, hydromorphological surveys, PWS investigations etc.);
• Support delivery of high-quality water science consultancy and advisory services to both internal and external clients, including through our check and review processes;
• Support development of technically robust and pragmatic solutions to complex water science issues;
• Engage proactively with statutory stakeholders to resolve matters and ensure agreement on scopes of work, mitigation etc.
• Support production of Water Environment Impact Assessments for Environmental Statements,  Environmental Constraints Reports, WFD/WER Compliance Assessments, Nutrient Neutrality Assessments, various management plans and secondary consent applications;
• Author project deliverables to ensure high quality outputs.

 

Being part of the team;

As an experienced water scientist or hydrologist, you’ll provide support to colleagues and liaise closely with internal and external clients. All members of the Water Environment team take an active role in client contact and commercial aspects of our projects. Health, safety, and environmental considerations underpin all of our work.

Our Water Environment team are multi-disciplinary with specialists in geomorphology, hydrology, hydro-ecology, water quality and hydrogeology, comprising 60 surface water specialists and a further 25 hydrogeologists.

Qualifications

Here’s what we will need from you;

• Extensive experience undertaking Water Environment Impact and WFD/WER assessments.
• Have experience across a range of different infrastructure types, planning regimes (notably in Ireland but the UK would be beneficial), and project stages (i.e. feasibility/concept, planning, detail design, construction, post-construction).
• Be a technical specialist in a particular field (e.g. water science, water quality, hydrology, hydromorphology etc.).
• Be able to write proposals and develop the scope for relevant surveys, monitoring and assessments etc.
• Experience of managing multidisciplinary teams consisting of water scientists, hydrogeologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists and aquatic ecologists and liaising closely with designers and other environmental specialists in a collaborative way.

 

We celebrate diversity, including neurodiversity, and believe it enriches our team. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and abilities. If you are an applicant with a disability that requires reasonable accommodation to complete the application process, please contact us at ReasonableAccommodations@aecom.com. At AECOM, we value everyone's unique contributions and perspectives. 

If you meet some of the requirements above or have transferable skills you believe would benefit us, we would be delighted to hear from you! 

Additional Information

Interested in the role or curious about life at AECOM? Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to explore our AECOM voices, employee stories, latest projects, and much more! 

For further information about the role, reach out to the recruiter on LinkedIn (Melissa Moody). 

At AECOM, we are committed to maintaining a secure and trustworthy recruitment process and take any fraudulent hiring activity seriously. To support this commitment, all newly hired employees are required to attend an in-person Day 1 onboarding at an AECOM office location as a condition of employment.

 

About AECOM

AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle – from advisory, planning, design and engineering to program and construction management. On projects spanning transportation, buildings, water, new energy and the environment, our public- and private-sector clients trust us to solve their most complex challenges. Our teams are driven by a common purpose to deliver a better world through our unrivaled technical and digital expertise, a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion, and a commitment to environmental, social and governance priorities. AECOM is a Fortune 500 firm and its Professional Services business had revenue of $16.1 billion in fiscal year 2025. See how we are delivering sustainable legacies for generations to come at aecom.com and @AECOM.

Freedom to Grow in a World of Opportunity 

You will have the flexibility you need to do your best work with hybrid work options. Whether you’re working from an AECOM office, remote location or at a client site, you will be working in a dynamic environment where your integrity, entrepreneurial spirit and pioneering mindset are championed.

You will help us foster a safe and respectful workplace, where we invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work using their unique talents, backgrounds and expertise to create transformational outcomes for our clients.

AECOM provides a wide array of compensation, benefits and well-being programs to meet the diverse needs of our employees and their families. We’re the world’s trusted global infrastructure firm, and we’re in this together – your growth and success are ours too.

Join us, and you’ll get all the benefits of being a part of a global, publicly traded firm – access to industry-leading technology and thinking and transformational work with big impact and work flexibility. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we believe in each person’s potential, and we’ll help you reach yours.

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to applicants who have a disability or long-term condition, who meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role. Please let us know using this email address ReasonableAccommodationsUKI@aecom.com  if you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.