Senior Environmental Permitting Specialist

Join Thames Water as a Senior Environmental Permitting Specialist and help shape the future of environmental performance for the UK’s largest water company. You’ll lead complex permitting projects, provide expert guidance, and drive continuous improvement as we tackle today’s challenges and build a sustainable tomorrow. If you’re passionate about protecting the environment, confident navigating regulatory frameworks, and ready to mentor others while managing high-impact projects — this is your opportunity to make a meaningful difference.

What you’ll be doing as a Senior Environmental Permitting Specialist

• Managing ongoing permit applications, including coordinating the progression of existing environmental permit applications.
• Prepare, draft and submit new permit applications where required.
• Ensure all submissions are compliant with relevant regulations and reflect current operational requirements.
• Maintain up-to-date permit trackers, document control and document management.
• Support the Wastewater Permitting Team as a technical lead on permitting and water discharge matters and the technical development of the team members through coaching and mentoring.
• Negotiate with the Environment Agency regarding new permits and changes to existing permits, submitting applications where necessary, related to Capital Schemes.
• Representing TWUL in technical meetings with other Water Companies and the Environment Agency.

This position will be working Hybrid from Clearwater Court in Reading, although other Thames Water locations will be considered. The salary for this position is up to £59,000 depending on experience. 

To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need are:

• Subject matter expert in Water Discharge Activity Environmental Permitting.
• Evidence of strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Full understanding of the regulatory framework applicable to the Water Industry, including the requirements of the Environmental Permitting Regulations and the associated Environment Agency’s guidance.
• Experience or academic background in an environmental, regulatory or water industry-related discipline.
• Excellent planning, organisation, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to negotiate and liaise with stakeholders.
• Strong technical writing skills and ability to write clear, structured technical documents and coordinate complex permit applications.

Additional skills and experiences would be great to have/bring: 

• An operational background in water, wastewater, air emissions, waste, or similar regulated industries and/or the regulator.
• Evidence of working flexibly across organisations, building and/or improving ways of working and embedding them into organisations.
• Advocate for the environment with a demonstrable track record of compliance and environmental excellence.
• Experience in coaching and mentoring others in a technical discipline.
• Degree in Environmental Sciences, Environmental Management, Data Management or a related field.
• Excellent IT literacy (including Excel & Power BI) to enable learning of internal data systems.
• Strong analytical background.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary up to £59,000 per annum.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service. (plus bank holidays) 
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to both company and individual performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team
Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.