Development and Flood Risk Placement

Team / Directorate: Development and Flood Risk (South) / Operations

Starting salary:  £25,898 rising to £26,909 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Fixed Term Appointment until 31/03/2026

Work pattern:  Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview Date: 22/09/2025

Post number: 204038

The role

Are you a recent graduate, passionate about protecting the environment and looking for a meaningful role where your work truly matters? Join our dedicated team for a six month placement working across South and Mid Wales to help reduce flood risk, safeguard communities, and preserve local ecosystems.

As part of the Development and Flood Risk placement, you'll play a vital role in making sure activities near main rivers and within floodplains don’t increase the risk of flooding or damage the environment.

In this role, you’ll support the assessment and enforcement of Flood Risk Activity Permits (FRAPs). You’ll be involved in compliance checks, investigating potential breaches, and assisting in enforcement actions where necessary. This is a varied and hands-on role, combining office-based tasks with fieldwork. You’ll gain valuable experience engaging with a wide range of stakeholders—from developers and landowners to internal teams—helping to build your communication and problem-solving skills.
You’ll also work closely with the Enforcement Advisor to progress cases of non-compliance and respond to unpermitted works. 

This role is an excellent opportunity for students or recent graduates looking to build a career in environmental regulation, flood risk management, or sustainability. It offers a chance to learn from experienced professionals, take on real responsibility, and play an important part in protecting Welsh communities and natural habitats.

Join us in making a positive impact—on people, places, and the planet.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Rachel Thomas at rachel.thomas@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams 

About us

The Development and Flood Risk team sits within Flood and Water Risk Management in our Operations Directorate. We cover a wide and diverse area across South and Mid Wales, working as a close-knit and collaborative team despite being based in different locations. Regular online and in-person meetings help us stay connected and aligned.
Our role is vital in helping to manage and reduce flood risk. We work directly with developers, landowners, and other stakeholders to make sure that new developments and activities near main rivers or within floodplains don’t increase the risk of flooding or damage important flood risk assets. By doing this, we help protect communities and the environment, while supporting the work of other flood risk teams across the region

 

What you will do

• Support delivery of appropriate actions to investigate and collect evidence for enforcement purposes, in accordance with defined procedures.
• Assist with site visits to gather evidence and establish appropriate remediation works for unpermitted activities, liaising with other internal teams where required. 
• Participate in team meetings.
• Participate in external meetings with other members of the team.
• Interact with peers in other NRW teams
• Maintain records and information in line with regulations/legislation and agreed standards.
• Coordinate and support compliance checking of FRAPs, contacting Operators to request evidence and assisting with desk top reviews in line with agreed procedures.
• Other work as directed by the line manager.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development  through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1.    Recently qualified (within the last 18 months) at HNC, HND or Degree level, or currently undertaking an undergraduate sandwich degree course requiring a year in industry, in a flood risk management related discipline such as engineering, geography or natural hazard management.
2.    A good understanding of flood risk mechanisms/sources of flooding and fluvial hydrology, in addition to knowledge of the key legislation pertinent to Flood Risk Activities and permit requirements in Wales.
3.    Good communication and inter-personal skills with a customer focus. Ability to build effective working relationship with colleagues and partners.
4.    Good ICT skills
5.    Full UK driving licence

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1 – Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh)
• Desirable: 

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

Apply for this role

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