Principal Geomorphologist

Location/s: Bristol, Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Brighton, Reading, Cardiff; UK
Recruiter contact: Laura Easdon

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. 

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual. 

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the division 
The Water Consultancy Division is the centre of excellence within Mott MacDonald for responding to water and wastewater challenges, providing support to colleagues across our global business, and offering fantastic opportunities to get involved in diverse and technically challenging work.

Climate change, aging assets, and population growth place increasing pressure on our water and wastewater assets. Our highly successful water consultancy business is servicing ever-increasing demands from water sector clients to help deliver ambitious capital programmes. The work we do is at the forefront of ensuring safe water supplies for future generations and protecting our environment. 

With sustainability, social impacts, digitalisation, and carbon reduction in mind, our diverse and multi-disciplinary teams work together to provide a variety of services throughout the full project life-cycle, from advisory services and feasibility studies, through outline and detailed design, to construction support and site supervision. 

Overview of the role

As a principal geomorphologist, you will be part of a large team of water resources and flood risk specialists, working closely with our teams of engineers and asset planners to deliver a wide range of services for UK and international clients. For those with related interests, there are many opportunities to get involved across our teams on activities such as hydrology, water quality, catchment management, flood, hydraulic and sediment modelling as well as climate resilience. We therefore welcome applications from people with varied backgrounds and skillsets. 

The role will lead technical delivery of geomorphology and water environment assessments throughout the UK and potentially internationally. The candidate will have opportunities to work within an experienced multi-disciplinary team of environmentalists, engineers and scientists, on a wide range of projects including:

• River restoration and channel design
• Technical erosion and deposition risk analysis and problem-solving
• Asset management
• Water Resources
• Infrastructure design
• Environmental Assessments

Your enthusiastic input will help our project teams and clients to deliver complex multi-disciplinary projects, resulting in sounds strategic decisions, engineering solutions that work with nature, and desirable social outcomes that you can be proud of. Whether it is restoring rivers to make them more resilient to climate extremes, understanding risks from erosion to utilities and infrastructure, or finding ways to work with and emulate natural processes, your work will bring lasting benefits to local communities and the environment.

The role will be interesting, varied and offer fantastic opportunities for technical skill set and wider career development. 

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Providing excellent geomorphological advice to assist concept, outline and detailed designs for work in river environments
• Prepare holistic plans for flood risk management, natural flood management and river restoration/habitat creation schemes
• Undertake field surveys to collect baseline information on river environments
• Developing innovations for data collection and interpretation in river and floodplain environments
• Lead environmental assessments relating to the water environment, with a focus on hydro morphology (e.g. Water Framework Regulations)
• Prepare calculations and reports for erosion risk assessments and design of mitigation measures
• Contribute to technical mentoring and professional development of the team, developing and maintaining client relationships, attending conferences, writing articles or thought leadership pieces and networking across the industry

Candidate specification

Essential:

• Relevant degree-level qualifications (e.g. geography, geomorphology, environmental sciences, hydrology, catchment science or other related disciplines)
• Chartered with an appropriate professional body
• Proven track record in successful delivery of applied river geomorphology projects of varying complexity, including field and desk-based approaches
• Understanding of water environment legislation
• Numerate, with skills and interest in environmental data analysis
• Able to support and mentor junior staff, inter-personal skills to work successfully in a dynamic environment across multi-disciplinary teams

Desirable:

• Wider water quality, aquatic ecology or hydrology interest to complement geomorphological skills
• Willingness to innovate

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working  

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Employee Ownership

• Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
• As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
• Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
• For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

 Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.