Senior Flood & Climate Resilience Officer

Details

• Reference: SCC/TP/288466/3383
• Positions: 1
• Category: Project Management
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Working hours: 36 hours per week
• Posted on: 14 July 2025
• Closing date: 31 July 2025
• Directorate: PLACE
• Location: Merrow Complex, Merrow Lane, Guildford, GU4 7BQ

Description

We are committed to the development of our workforce. This position is only available to applicants who already work for Surrey County Council.We thank you for your interest in our roles and would encourage you to review our vacancies which are open to all.

This role has a starting salary of £35,730 per annum, based on a 36-hour working week.

This is a 9-month fixed-term contract or secondment opportunity.

We are excited to be hiring a Senior Flood and Climate Resilience Officer to join our fantastic Flood and Climate Resilience team based in Guildford. You will be part of an enthusiastic team that delivers a programme of projects to reduce flood risk across the county. This is a hybrid role with a mix of home, office or site work best suited to deliver the requirements of the projects you will be working on, expect to be in the office or on site around 2 or 3 days a week.

Rewards and Benefits

• 26 days' holiday (prorated for part time staff), rising to 28 days after 2 years' service and 31 days after 5 years' service
• Option to buy up to 10 days of additional annual leave
• An extensive Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to support health and wellbeing
• Up to 5 days of carer's leave per year
• Paternity, adoption and dependants leave
• A generous local government salary related pension
• Lifestyle discounts including gym, travel, shopping and many more
• 2 paid volunteering days per year
• Learning and development hub where you can access a wealth of resources

About the Role

The Flood and Climate Resilience team hold the County Council's duties as Lead Local Flood Authority.

Flood and Climate Resilience is split into three teams covering the main areas of flood risk work. The team has recently grown to approximately 25 members. These include:

• Strategy and Partnerships Team - Responsible for maintaining the Local Flood Risk Management Strategy, carrying out investigations into flood incidents and coordinating SCC's flood work with communities.
• Planning and Consenting Team - Responsible for providing the statutory consultation responses for major planning applications, assessing and determining applications for consent to change ordinary watercourses, and providing pre-application advice to developers and the public.
• Infrastructure and Programming Team - Responsible for shaping and delivering a programme of flood risk interventions and infrastructure to reduce flood risk and protect our communities.

This position is key to delivering Property Flood Resilience (PFR) projects to reduce flood risk for residents in Surrey. You will be part of the delivery team and will liaise with stakeholders including residents, contractors, the Environment Agency, Districts and Borough Councils.

PFR involves fitting flood measures on individual properties so experience in customer service, property or project management would all be very valuable.Other key skills we will be looking for are information management, problem solving and an eye for detail as you will be ensuring that reports and surveys carried out by our contractors meet the standards we expect.

Shortlisting Criteria

To be considered for shortlisting for this position your CV and answers to the questions below will clearly evidence:

• A track record in delivery with experience of project management principles
• Knowledge and understanding of managing flood risk or drainage
• Experience of working with the public or residents and a range of stakeholders/contractors
• Ability to work on own initiative with solution focused problem solving skills
• Excellent IT skills, including MS Office. Knowledge of GIS mapping tools would be preferred but training can be provided

Surrey has both urban and rural areas and to fulfil the requirements of this role you will be required to have a valid driving licence to drive in the UK, access to a vehicle and be willing to travel across a wide geographical area. Reasonable adjustments where needed will be made for successful applicants who have a disability or long term health condition to enable them to fulfil the requirements of the job.

Application Questions

• Please describe a time when you successfully supported the delivery of a project involving multiple stakeholders. What was your role, how did you ensure effective coordination, and what was the outcome?
• Please provide an example of how you have used your communication skills to build strong working relationships with colleagues or external partners. How did this contribute to the success of a project or initiative?
• Please tell us about a time when you have reviewed reports or documents. How did you approach this task and ensure a smooth and efficient process was established?

Please contact us for any questions relating to the role. This could be to discuss flexible working requests, transferable skills or any barriers to employment. For an informal discussion please contact George Rice or Mark Howarth by e-mail to arrange a call atgeorge.rice@surreycc.gov.uk or mark.howarth@surreycc.gov.uk

The job advert closes at 23:59 on 31/07/2025 with interviews planned for early August.

We look forward to receiving your application, please click on the apply online button below to submit.

Local Government Reorganisation (LGR)

Surrey County Council is preparing for Local Government Reorganisation which will allow us to implement the Government led policy of devolution, which is all about giving more powers to local areas.

Currently, Surrey has a two-tier council system, with 11 district and borough councils and a county council, all responsible for different services. All these councils will be reorganised into a smaller number of new unitary councils which will come into effect in April 2027. At this point, this role will be transferred, with all existing terms and conditions intact into one of the new unitary councils.

Our values are as important as our abilities and shape who we are as an organisation. Discover more aboutour values.

Before submitting your application, we recommend you read the job description. OurLife at Surrey handbook also provides insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council.

Our Commitment

Surrey County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. A guaranteed interview will be offered to all disabled applicants where:

• The candidate has evidenced the minimum criteria for the role through their application
• The candidate has chosen to share that they have a disability on the application form

Our application form and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.

We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.