Market
Environmental
Freshwater Ecologist
Jacobs
London, UK
Posted on Mar 14, 2026
At Jacobs, we're challenging today to reinvent tomorrow by solving the world's most critical problems for thriving cities, resilient environments, mission-critical outcomes, operational advancement, scientific discovery and cutting-edge manufacturing, turning abstract ideas into realities that transform the world for good.
Your impact
At Jacobs, we inspire and empower you to deliver your best work so you can evolve, grow, and succeed – today and into tomorrow. With a team of 2,400 professionals in our Water and Environment group, we deliver innovative solutions for clients across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
The Aquatics team operate across UK and Ireland, and work alongside the Jacobs UK Ecology team (180 staff). Our projects include national infrastructure developments, flood defence and restoration schemes, and major power, water, and transport initiatives. We value inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing, and we actively support professional development through mentoring, training, and global networks.
We are looking for a Senior/Principal Freshwater Ecologist to join our aquatics team. The role is an exciting opportunity to use your accumulated technical assessment and consenting expertise on some the largest and most interesting projects in the UK and Ireland.
- 5+ years of relevant experience in freshwater/aquatic science
- Demonstrable experience working on large scale infrastructure projects and the production of DCO, EIA, WFD/CAR/EASR, HRA,
- Chartered membership of a professional body
- Ability to develop networks and work collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams
- Experience of identifying, bidding and supporting sales activities.
- Flexible approach to working, with occasional travel required across the UK
- Inquisitiveness and willingness to learn
- A ‘hands on’ work ethic and good self-awareness
Here's what you'll need
- Extensive relevant industry experience, ideally specialising in hydroecology.
- Experience in Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) investigations or equivalent.
- Demonstrable experience working on low flow investigations.
- Ability to design ecological monitoring programmes.
- Experience in analysing large environmental datasets, using statistics.
- Application of Water Framework Directive standards and thresholds including classification of ecological monitoring data. - Experience in stakeholder engagement.
- Chartered membership of a professional body (or sufficient experience to obtain chartership).
- We are looking for curious individuals that bring diverse thought and a willingness to challenge the accepted. In return we will empower you to work on complex and innovative projects, consider new ways of doing things differently and add value to creative client solutions. We actively support the professional development of staff, through our Global Career Framework, Chartership Academy Programme, Employee Networks and our Communities of Practice networks, which connect us to over 600 Jacobs ecologists globally.
In addition to the benefits you’d expect, UK employees also receive:
- Up to 10% company contribution into their pension
- Reimbursement towards relevant professional development and memberships
- Opportunity to buy/sell annual leave.
- Free employee medical cover and digital GP service
- Enhanced parental leave pay
- Fertility healthcare and family-forming benefit provided by Carrot.
- Hybrid working
- Part-time roles
- Flexible working hours
#LI-MF3
Joining Jacobs not only connects you locally but globally. Our values stand on a foundation of safety, integrity, inclusion and belonging. We put people at the heart of our business, and we truly believe that by supporting one another through our culture of caring, we all succeed. We value positive mental health and a sense of belonging for all employees.
With safety and flexibility always top of mind, we’ve gone beyond traditional ways of working so you have the support, means and space to maximize your potential. You’ll uncover flexible working arrangements, benefits, and opportunities, from well-being benefits to our global giving and volunteering program, to exploring new and inventive ways to help our clients make the world a better place. No matter what drives you, you’ll discover how you can cultivate, nurture, and achieve your goals – all at a single global company. Find out more about life at Jacobs.
We aim to embed inclusion and belonging in everything we do. We know that if we are inclusive, we’re more connected and creative. We accept people for who they are, and we champion the richness of different perspectives, lived experiences and backgrounds in the workplace, as a source of learning and innovation. We are committed to building vibrant communities within Jacobs, including through our Jacobs Employee Networks, Communities of Practice and our Find Your Community initiatives, allowing every employee to find connection, purpose, and belonging. Find out more about our Jacobs Employee Networks here.
Jacobs partners with VERCIDA to help us attract and retain talent from a wide range of backgrounds. For greater online accessibility please visit https://www.vercida.com/uk/employers/jacobs to view and access our roles.
As a disability confident employer, we will interview disabled candidates who best meet the criteria. We welcome applications from candidates who are seeking flexible working and from those who may not meet all the listed requirements for a role.
We value collaboration and believe that in-person interactions are crucial for both our culture and client delivery. We empower employees with our hybrid working policy, allowing them to split their work week between Jacobs offices/projects and remote locations enabling them to deliver their best work.
Your application experience is important to us, and we’re keen to adapt to make every interaction even better. If you require further support or reasonable adjustments with regards to the recruitment process (for example, you require the application form in a different format), please contact the team via Careers Support.
Locations
| City | State | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | West Midlands | United Kingdom |
| Glasgow | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom |
| Leeds | West Yorkshire | United Kingdom |
| Manchester | Greater Manchester | United Kingdom |
| Wokingham | Berkshire | United Kingdom |
| Cardiff | South Glamorgan | United Kingdom |
| Norwich | Norfolk | United Kingdom |
| London | Greater London | United Kingdom |
| London | Greater London | United Kingdom |
