Career Opportunities

The South East Rivers Trust (SERT) is a busy, charitable organisation, consisting of approximately 40 employees and 10 Trustees, working across the rivers in the South East of England. Our rivers flow through a mixture of urban and rural locations, benefiting people’s wellbeing and pleasure, which we want to protect and enhance. We work to improve our rivers through education and practical conservation; we are looking to actively grow our team to deliver practical work, to improve water quality and to enhance natural beauty for all.

SERT is made up of five teams, running about 60 projects at any one time. We work with multiple stakeholders, from landowners to councils, delivering a wide range of environmental benefits. By joining us, you will have an exciting opportunity to use your skills, experience and passion to make a real impact on our natural world by running your own projects, while working as part of a team. You will be making a real difference to rivers and the wider environment in this corner of the UK. Most roles offer the chance to not only plan and monitor changes in our rivers, but also to be hands on — getting into the water and physically improving the ecosystem. We operate a hybrid working policy with most staff attending the office in Leatherhead once a fortnight, working from home and outdoors in our catchments.

SERT’s 12 catchments, located across the south east of England

Benefits you will enjoy if you work for us:

  • 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays. After three years’ service, staff receive an extra day of annual leave each year (maximum of 28 days).
  • Hybrid working
  • Pension contribution of 9% salary, subject to 6% employee contribution
  • Life assurance (3 times your  annual salary when signing up to the SERT pension scheme).
  • Time off in Lieu
  • 4 staff awaydays per year
  • Flexible bank holidays
  • Enhanced leave policies including sickness, maternity and paternity
  • Employee Assistance Programme
  • Wellbeing team, with trained Mental Health First Aiders

Commitment to career development and training, including but not limited to:

  • Individual career development plans
  • Attendance at external training and conferences relevant to role
  • Internal training relevant to role
  • One personal development day per year
  • Access to resources and training via affiliated memberships

If you don’t see a vacancy that you feel is suitable for you listed below but would like to explore the opportunities at the South East Rivers Trust, please send us your CV and contact details to jobs@southeastriverstrust.org. A member of our team will be in contact with you. Please note, all CVs and applications are kept on file for six months.

Take a look below at the jobs available at the South East Rivers Trust.

  • Health and Safety Manager

    Salary: £38,189 – £46,721 (per annum) pro rata

    This is a part time role working 22.5 hours (0.6FTE).  To include a full day Monday and ideally four additional mornings 9am – 12.45pm.

    Bring your environmental passion for rivers to life!

    The South East Rivers Trust has an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic individual who is keen to gain more experience in river and catchment enhancement work – making a positive, lasting difference to the aquatic environment in the south east of England.

    Are you experienced Health and Safety Manager looking to take on a challenging and rewarding role, with the opportunity to develop your skills and the autonomy to make the role your own?  Working from home, the office and across multiple sites throughout the South East, you will be at the heart of H&S, driving performance and shaping a positive safety culture.

    This is a new role within the South East Rivers Trust creating an exciting opportunity for the right person to shape and improve our health and safety.  Using your knowledge, you will lead the development and improvement of H&S policies and practice, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation.  You will provide support and expertise, as well as identifying any gaps in our current systems and designing solutions to overcome them.

    You will have proven experience and relevant qualifications, ideally in a similar environment, excellent communication and organisational skills which can be utilised whilst working with all stakeholders.  This varied role will see you working primarily autonomously, carrying out H&S inspection and audits, developing policies, investigating accidents and ensuring risk assessments are completed.   If you are looking for a varied role in this field working for a charity whose aim is to have a positive impact on our environment, manage your own time and develop new skills, this role could be for you.

    About us

    The South East Rivers Trust (SERT), is the river restoration charity for the South East of England. Our vision is that rivers across the South East are clean, healthy and rich in biodiversity. Our mission is to restore and protect rivers and their catchments against multiple threats and a dramatically changing climate. We do this by:

    • delivering evidence-based and nature-based solutions on land and in rivers;
    • inspiring and empowering more people to protect rivers for the future.

    Working at SERT is rewarding, fulfilling and busy. We work collaboratively and with passion, and this is reflected in our core values of: delivering high quality work, using expertise and scientific understanding, building good and effective relationships, and bringing positive energy to all we do. With rivers and catchments needing serious action to survive, our aims are growth and impact – so you’ll be comfortable with challenges and excited by change. If this sounds like an environment that you would thrive in, we would love to hear from you.

     

    Please see the full Health and Safety Manager Job Description  for more information.

    How to apply:

    Please send the following documents to jobs@southeastriverstrust.org :

    The deadline for application is 11:59pm on 17th November 2024.  We reserve the right to close the recruitment early.

    Interviews will take place week commencing 25 November 2024

    If you would like to discuss the position please email jobs@southeastriverstrust.org  with your enquiry and we will arrange to call you back.

    Please note: All applicants must have the right to work in the UK. We do not sponsor applicants from overseas.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

At SERT, we are committed to offering equal opportunities and positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of age, sex, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, religion or belief, marital/civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity. We use a redacted process to reduce unconscious bias during shortlisting and ensure all applicants are judged solely on merit. Our equal opportunities monitoring forms helps us understand the diversity of applications we receive and are analysed on an annual basis.

SERT offers flexible working options to support everyone as individuals. Please get in touch if you require assistance with the application and/or interview process and our team will do the best to accommodate reasonable adjustments, where possible. For more information, please refer to our EDI Policy

Privacy notice

When submitting your application to us, it is important you are aware of what will happen to your personal data after the position is filled. Please read our Applicant GDPR Notice.