Senior Climate Scientist

Senior Climate Scientist

As a Senior Climate Scientist, you will be a key figure in the UK Water Resources and Flooding team, supporting climate resilience activities in the water sector and working closely with a network of climate practitioners across the Group.
Your remit will cover a range of technical, management and commercial/client-facing activities. You will have particular responsibility for:

Delivering climate impact assessment projects, with a particular focus on water resources, flooding and water quality impacts.
Supporting climate risk assessments in the water sector and identifying suitable adaptation options.
Managing projects and maintaining client relationships
Assisting with winning work and the development of new business within the water resources and flooding team and across the wider practice
Providing technical guidance, support and training to junior colleagues and assisting, where practicable, in the mentoring and development of others

We are looking for someone with a proven track record in the field and with a passion for learning and innovating in this fast-moving discipline.

In addition, you will need to have:

• Degree level qualification in meteorology, physics, hydrology, geography, mathematics, civil engineering, or other related discipline
• Chartered (or near Chartership) with an appropriate professional body
• Experience in applying UKCP18 and CMIP5/6 projections to climate change impact assessments
• Proven track record in hydrology, including rainfall-runoff modelling
• Experience in coding and data science
• Awareness of regulatory requirements as regards the UK water resources management planning process
• Able to guide and mentor junior staff
• Excellent communication and written skills

We have an exceptionally strong record in providing climate science services and expertise to the UK and international water sectors. Our clients are increasingly demanding better predictions of the impact of climate change on the availability of water and the frequency and magnitude of floods, and we are continually innovating to support them. We have developed advanced rainfall-runoff models and weather generators as well as our own digital tool to interrogate and process the latest climate projections. Our portfolio includes the major UK water companies as well as the EA and SEPA. We are regularly involved in hydropower projects around the world supporting developers and lenders, and we undertake climate change risk assessments and impact assessments at a local, regional or national scale.

Mott MacDonald is a unique company to work for, combining heritage, vision and values into an ethos that encourages innovative thinking and career progression in technical, management or commercial/client-facing directions, or a combination thereof. You will have control of your own career path, which we will support through mentoring and training, but above all by giving you the opportunities to face new challenges and take more responsibilities.

Examples of your contributions are:

• Climate change risk assessments of assets or portfolios of assets
• Interrogation and bias correction of climate projections and derivation of climate metrics
• Low flow assessments and water systems modelling to define the availability of water for supply during droughts and for climate change scenarios
• Flood hydrology studies incorporating the impact of climate change
• Hydropower feasibilities studies, including the definition of design floods and the verification of energy generation

As a senior specialist, you will act as technical leader in these and other projects, being responsible for their technical direction and quality, whether applying innovative thinking to new or established services or developing your own concepts from scratch. Alongside your technical role, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills in project management and business development through engaging with our water sector and regulatory framework clients.
We are especially looking for someone with great team spirit to become an integral part of our wider Water Resources and Flooding sub-sector, which brings together a wealth of knowledge and experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, water quality, catchment management, climate resilience, hydraulic modelling, flood risk, computational fluid dynamics and associated disciplines.

To apply for this role, please complete our 15-minute application via our website. Our talent acquisition coordinators aim to provide feedback within 5 working days with the outcome of your application. More information about our application process can be found here. If you have any questions regarding your application or the role, please reach out to the dedicated recruiter listed who will be more than happy to help.

Mott MacDonald is Work180 accredited - which means we actively support and encourage women to join our work force!

Benefits we offer:

Pension matched up to 7%
Life insurance
An annual professional institution subscription
Continuous development opportunities - because we want you to thrive
Agile/flexible working - because life isn't 9-5
Enhanced parental leave; shared parental leave policies - for parents and care givers
Annual company performance bonus scheme - Subject to company performance
Flexible benefits that suit you, including cycle to work & interest free season ticket loans .
The opportunity to make a difference; learn more about our social outcomes