Job Description
JOB TITLE – Dane Valley Catchment Advisor (part-time - 0.6 FTE)
TEAM – Cheshire Wildlife Trust Area East Team
WORKING BASE – The role operates in the River Dane Drinking Water Safeguard Zone. The post is
home based. For expenses purposes travel mileage is calculated from Hug Bridge Water Treatment
Works
RESPONSIBLE TO – The role is managed jointly between United Utilities South Area Water
Catchment Manager and Cheshire Wildlife Trust Area Manager East
RESPONSIBLE FOR – No staff responsibilities
OVERALL PURPOSE OF JOB
The principle purpose of the Catchment Advisor role is to develop catchment specific land use advice
campaigns within the Dane Valley Drinking Water Safeguard Zone which lead to an improvement in
the water quality abstracted for drinking water and benefits to wildlife. The Catchment Advisor is
responsible for developing and implementing campaigns resulting in behavioural change amongst
farmers a, land managers and local people by engaging with local farmers, partners and stakeholders
and securing agreement and ownership at catchment scale on key pollution issues and solutions. A
range of tools are available to the Catchment Advisor, such as specialist advisory support and
financial incentives, including a dedicated capital grant scheme and agri-environment schemes.
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

Create a catchment-specific advice delivery strategy aimed at tackling water quality issues
identified within the catchment. The strategy should offer solutions to farmers and land
managers to mitigate the issues, for example the establishment of local demonstration
projects and specific monitoring/measuring to support on-farm advisory campaigns.

Develop annual work plans based on the objectives and targets identified in the advice
delivery strategy. Secure agreement from farmers and land managers to mitigate the issues by
working with, and drawing down advice and incentives, when necessary, from others such as
NE and EA.

Develop strong working relationships across a network of farmers, producers, technical
advisors, regulators, suppliers, local authorities, NGOs and communities in your catchment
area.

Carry out investigations, field trials, sampling and analysis to support and validate catchment
activities and incidents. Data collection includes water, soil, plant and manure samples

Deliver relevant agricultural on-farm advice, e.g. assisting with preparation of farm
management plans and applications for agri-environment schemes

Identifying and mapping activities that are a risk to water quality using GIS.
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Develop and sustain a communication network utilising email, meetings, twitter, facebook,
written educational material and press articles appropriate to the different sectors engaged
on catchment.

Represent United Utilities and Cheshire Wildlife Trust at community events workshops, table
top discussions, lectures and stalls at markets, community meetings (WI, Gardening groups,
equine groups), farmers meetings, students etc

Manage a small budget covering small scale capital works (fencing, guttering, tree planting)
professional advice, venue hire, food provision, some sample analysis etc.

Maximise resources and where possible bring additional funding towards cost of delivery

Work with existing Cheshire Wildlife Trust staff to maximise opportunities to deliver multiple
benefits for nature through the land use advice campaigns for farmers and land managers

Organising and implementing a programme of consultancy work such as technical professional
advice, pesticide amnesties, sprayer training, and machinery purchase.

Contribute to a co-ordinated, partnership, landscape-scale approach to advisory provision
across the project area, in close liaison with Catchment Sensitive Farming (where relevant),
Environment Agency Officers, Natural England Officers and others as required.

Raise the profile, engagement and approval of United Utilities catchment objective.

Initiate and manage a cross-sector steering group for each Safeguard Zone Project.
JOB SPECIFICATION
(This section details the role requirements in terms of management, accountability, impact,
independence, contacts and creativity, in addition to describing the working environment.)
1. Management and Supervision

No direct line management responsibilities relating to this post.

Home working post, with associated lone working conditions. It has minimum supervision and
will require high levels of self-motivation.

Jointly management between United Utilities and Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Oversight and management of the work of external consultants
2. Accountability and Resources

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Responsible for achieving all targets agreed in the work plan and completing set tasks within
the required timeframe and to the highest standard
Responsible for management of the capital grants scheme, including all project budgets –
reporting and monitoring spend to ensure projects delivered on budget

Responsible for keeping up to date records and work log and compiling monthly finance claim
and progress reports

Responsible for activities outlined in the partners’ contract
3. Job Impact

Responsible for maintaining good relationship between the partners and exploring
opportunities for new collaborations

Ambassador for United Utilities and Cheshire Wildlife Trust, responsible for upholding the
partners’ reputation, image and level of service

Responsible for building and maintaining relationships with partner organisations
4. Independence and Judgement

You will often be working independently

Responsible for organising and managing your own time on a day by day basis

Responsible for prioritising tasks and seeking clarity when required

Responsible for ensuring that health and safety procedures are adhered to.

Overall supervision is provided but you will often be working alone and sometimes in
collaboration with others.
There may be some who are hostile to what you are discussing and calm judgement is
required to decide on how to proceed in the interaction.

5. People and Contacts

Day to day contact with stakeholders including other conservation charities, statutory
agencies and local authorities.

Will work with staff at all levels within United Utilities and Cheshire Wildlife Trust

Regular contact with funding bodies and partner organisations
6. Creativity and Innovation

We are looking for a high level of creativity and innovation around this post

A need to be versatile and flexible, able to adapt to a variety of daily challenges and
sometimes last minutes changes to planned work

Expected to use own initiative and creative thinking to find the best solution to a problem or
completion of a task.
7. Working Conditions

This is a fixed term position until March 30th 2020. All new employees to the Trust undertake a
6 month probationary period, in which time they are expected to establish their suitability for
the post

This is part time position. The normal working day for Cheshire Wildlife Trust is 9am to 5pm
but there will need to be some flexibility around these hours. Overtime is not paid but Time
Off In Lieu may be accrued, if authorised in advance by your line manager (in line with CWT’s
TOIL policy) It is expected that the role holder would work an average of three days a week.

Holiday entitlement will be based on a full time allocation of 20 days per year, plus Bank
Holidays, plus up to 3 specified days over the Christmas period

The post is home based initially although an office may become available close to the
catchment in the future.

Post holder will need to be able to drive and have access to a vehicle at all times, for which a
mileage allowance will be paid. For expenses purposes travel mileage is calculated from Hug
Bridge Water Treatment Works.

CWT operates an employee pension scheme. Employees will be eligible to join the scheme
after successfully completing their probation period

Salary: £25,000-£28,000 pro-rata depending on experience
PERSON SPECIFICATION
JOB TITLE - Dane Valley Catchment Advisor
TEAM – Cheshire Wildlife Trust Area East Team
Experience
Experience of working in agronomy or agricultural/ land management
Proven experience in project management and co-ordination, including
budget management and use of monitoring systems
Experience of partnership working with statutory and voluntary
organisations
Experience of managing contract and contractors
Experience in producing and using Risk Assessments and Lone working
procedures
Knowledge and Skills
A degree or equivalent in Agricultural/Water/Environmental Science
Essential Desirable
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FACTS and BASIS Soil and Water qualifications
A good working knowledge of diffuse water pollution issues
Experience of environmental legislation relating to the farmed environment
A good understanding of Health & Safety working practices
A good understanding of effective methods of stakeholder engagement
A good understanding of communications and social media
Able to write effective reports
IT skills including GIS
Be able to research, analyse and interpret information
An understanding of relevant land management funding streams
Personal Qualities
Ability to communicate effectively, with integrity, tact and diplomacy, both
verbally and in writing, to a wide range of stakeholders
Ability to work well on their own initiative with high levels of self-motivation
and enthusiasm
A willingness to be flexible and respond to changing situations
A willingness to work occasional weekends
A valid UK driving licence
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