Ecology Lead

Job Description

With an ever-growing population and increasing customer expectations across the region, several exciting and career enhancing projects are being undertaken to create a forward-thinking, sustainable and industry-leading Water and Water Recycling Service. One of these projects is the Cambridge Relocation Project.

Anglian Water’s new flag ship Cambridge Waste Water Treatment Plant Relocation Project proposed development involves the design and construction of a new greenfield WWTW including WRC, STC, tunnel, shafts, landscape and building architecture, highways re-alignment, major earthworks, commissioning of the new facility and de-commissioning of the existing treatment works.

This innovative scheme will enable the future economic development of the Greater Cambridge area and also give rise to a number of additional benefits including;

• Significantly reduced carbon emissions being operationally net zero and energy neutral.

• Greater resilience, improved storm management and cleaner final effluent from the new facility will result in reduced storm overflows and significantly improved water quality in the River Cam.

• The proposed WWTP is being designed to reduce concentration in final treated effluent discharges of phosphorus, ammonia, total suspended solids and biological oxygen demand (BOD), compared to the existing Cambridge WWTP. This means that

A high-level summary of the proposed development is provided below:

• A flag ship scheme with an integrated wastewater and sludge treatment plant.

• A shaft to intercept wastewater at the existing WWTP and a tunnel/ pipeline with major crossings to transfer it to the new WWTP. Temporary intermediate shafts to launch and recover the micro-tunnel boring machine.

• A gravity pipeline transferring treated wastewater to a discharge point on the River Cam and a pipeline for storm water overflows.

• Ancillary on-site buildings, including a Gateway Building with incorporated Discovery Centre, substation building and workshop.

• Environmental mitigation and enhancements including substantial biodiversity net gain, improved habitats for wildlife and extensive landscaping

• Approximately 70 ha, a landscaped earth bank enclosing the proposed WWTP, climate resilient drainage system and improved recreational access and connectivity.

• Renewable energy generation via anaerobic digestion which is part of the sludge treatment process that produces biogas designed to be able to feed directly into the local gas network to heat homes, or to be used on site.

• Renewable energy generation via solar photovoltaic systems and associated battery energy storage.

• Other ancillary development such as internal site access, utilities, including gas, electricity and communications and connection to the site drainage system.

• New vehicle access from Horningsea Road for Heavy Goods Vehicles bringing sludge onto the site for treatment and other site traffic.

What will you be doing as our new Ecology Lead?

• Ensure compliance with statutory and voluntary commitments with respect to all ecological aspects including biodiversity.

• Work with wider stakeholder ecology and biodiversity teams and collaborate with others across AW and the supply chain to support the scheme to meet its obligations in line with the Development Consent Order

• The Ecology Lead will engage with Natural England on appropriate assessments, ensure derogation tests are undertaken when required, and improve processes to deliver better outcomes for the environment, communities.

• Provide expert ecological advice and review work done by the supply chain to ensure regulatory and planning compliance.

• Provide support across the scheme on matters relating to ecology, to ensure best practice. This will include reviewing policies, processes, work instructions and guidance, and updating them as necessary.

• Track the scheme’s performance against its voluntary and statutory Biodiversity Net Gain commitments, including undertaking habitat condition assessments in support of delivery, and provide reports and recommendations to the wider environmental team.

Key responsibilities:

• Communication of Ecological information

  • Ensure ecological information and licensing requirements are communicated effectively between the Enabling Team, Environmental Advisers and the Construction Teams.

• Support for Project Delivery

  • Support the Project Delivery Teams by ensuring that supply chain ecologists are developing compliant, pragmatic, and proportional solutions and mitigation to enable the successful delivery of the scheme.

  • Support the Senior management team to enhance standards, capability, and breadth of supply chain. Identify performance issues and support performance reviews with suppliers.

• Biodiversity Net Gain

  • Support the delivery teams in meeting the scheme’s mandatory BNG requirements through the commitments made in the Development Consent Order.

• Compliance and Best Practice

  • Ensure compliance with current environmental legislation and planning commitments and promote best practices.

Other information

This is a Mott MacDonald Bentley role, employed by Mott MacDonald.
Mott MacDonald Bentley is a joint venture business, established in 1999 between civil engineering contractor JN Bentley and global management consultancy, Mott MacDonald.

Mott MacDonald Bentley offers fully integrated design and build services to its clients, combining the contracting expertise of JN Bentley and the design specialisms of Mott MacDonald.

This role is employed by Mott MacDonald but will involve working across the joint venture business, both with Mott MacDonald and JN Bentley colleagues.

About Mott MacDonald
Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management and development consultancy.

Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients’ businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.

A fundamental part of this is respecting each person’s differences and striving to meet their needs.
Our values: progress, respect, integrity, drive, excellence.

We believe that because we care about what we do, we do things better.
We know that our people are our most valuable asset, so we are dedicated to investing in them, through our comprehensive training and development schemes, exposure to the wider design and build business and endless opportunities.

We are committed to creating a workplace where our people are safe, have a voice, can reach their full potential, and everyone shares in the rewards.

You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to projects that benefit our communities – from helping to secure water supplies for future generations to protecting homes and businesses from flood risk – our projects make a real difference.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
A Mott MacDonald Bentley we welcome applications from all sectors of the community. We are dedicated to building a diverse workplace where everyone feels included, has the opportunity to thrive, and is treated with respect.

Even if you don’t meet every requirement for this role but are excited about the opportunity, we encourage you to apply. Find out more about our approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion here: https://www.mottmacbentley.co.uk/people.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment practices are barrier-free and as inclusive as possible. This includes making adjustments during the job application process and throughout your future career with us. Please call 01756 691572 or email recruitment@jnbentley.co.uk to discuss any such adjustments that we can make. You can read more about our Equal Opportunities Policy here: Equality, diversity and inclusion - Mott MacDonald

Agile working
We are committed to providing a flexible and agile working environment that supports both our employees and the needs of the business.

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