Water Science Graduate/Environment - Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol - Immediate or flexible start through to October 2026

About Our Team:

Our multidisciplinary water environment team are looking to recruit a Water Science Graduate to join our teams in either  Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol with an immediate or flexible start through to October 2026.

Our team includes specialists in hydrogeology, hydrology, hydro-morphological water quality and water resource management.

We work for clients from across the public and private sectors, including the Environment Agency, Local Authorities, Highways England, Natural England, Water Utilities, Rivers and Wildlife Trusts as well as commercial developers and overseas clients.  We are also involved in major ongoing projects such as HS2 and the Thames Tideway Tunnel and as a team are responsible for coordinating/ leading water environment chapters in ES’s as well as coordinating WFD assessments.

All members of the Water Environment team take an active role in client contact and commercial aspects of our projects. Health, safety and environmental considerations underpin everything that we do.

We have an impressive portfolio of water science projects including technical investigation, restoration projects, and impact and WFD assessment for major national and international infrastructure projects.   

 A selection of our current and recent projects have included:

• Developing catchment wide river restoration plans for water companies and improvement strategies for the Environment Agency (to deliver benefits such as for the Water Framework Directive or as part of wider Nature Recovery efforts);
• Delivering hydrological reviews/ water balance studies for a range of purposes, such as determining supply sources and ensuring a canal remains sufficiently full despite its top up water supply failing.
• Design, modelling and installation of Nature Based Solutions such as the Restoration of the River Breamish, enabling fish passage through the River Dee (North Wales/ Cheshire), developing NFM measures for Middle Brook;
• Completing hydrological reviews across Ireland, to understand the environmental effects of Irish Water’s abstractions on downstream watercourses.
• Producing the Fish and Eel Pass Guide to enable safe passage at in channel structures such as pumping stations and weirs;
• Water science services to support developments of carbon capture technology to existing and proposed developments, as well as cross-country pipelines;
• Complex water quality monitoring to investigate stratification in a Highlands associated with a proposed Pumped Storage Hydro Scheme; and  
• Nutrient neutrality assessments for private developers, technical support to LPAs, and supporting NE casework.

We are seeking to recruit a Water Scientist to assist with a range of projects. Most of our work is in the fluvial environment, although a significant proportion is also focused on estuaries, lakes and the marine environment, and so experience of these environments is beneficial.  

This is a fantastic opportunity to further your career by gaining valuable work experience within a specialist surface water environment team in an established consultancy. Your work will cover a broad range of hydrological, water quality, hydro-morphological and hydro-ecological activities including on the following types of projects.

Here’s what you’ll do:

• Water quality studies (e.g. baseline studies, environmental impact assessment, nutrient loading studies and pollution studies including monitoring and modelling).
• Hydrological investigations (e.g. flood, drought and water resource allocation).
• Geomorphological studies, including supporting channel enhancement/ restoration projects, Natural Flood Management studies and Fluvial Audits.
• hydro-morphological l studies (e.g. assessing the effects of schemes on aquatic organisms such as salmonids, freshwater pearl mussels, invertebrates and macrophytes).
• WFD / Environmental Compliance studies.
• EIA (e.g. highway, rail, aviation, utilities, power generation including renewables, mixed use/commercial/residential and other development types).
• Pollution prevention advice including preparing Water Management Plans, acting as Environmental Clerk of Works, and developing sustainable treatment trains; and
• Applications for various permissions (e.g. Environmental Permits for flood risk activities and discharges, Water Abstraction / Impoundment Licences, and Land Drainage Consents).

Enjoy the Perks 

At AECOM, you'll enjoy a range of core and personalised benefits designed to support your future and well-being, customised to fit your lifestyle. Take advantage of career development opportunities, our flexible hybrid working model to ensure a work-life balance that suits your lifestyle, technical practice networks, AECOM University, and volunteering days. 

Here is what you will get from us! 

On the job support and learning 

When a graduate starts at AECOM, we pair them with a senior member of the team who will guide and mentor them through their initial period working on live projects and business development tasks, to support with any technical queries 

Graduate Development Programme 

Our 2-year graduate ADVANCE programme is designed to help you build your career in AECOM. You will attend several instructor-led training sessions where you will meet and hear from people across the business and take part in a series of interactive activities to equip you with the knowledge and skills you need to succeed in your role.   Alongside the instructor-led elements of the ADVANCE programme, you will also engage with an online curriculum via AECOM University and can join the ADV ANCE webinar series.  We will provide you with all the support and tools you need to achieve your professional development ambitions, which may include Chartership with the relevant international professional institution ie, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).

We have more than 750 graduates on our programmes across the UK and Ireland from more than 40 different disciplines, each making a tangible difference to the environment in which we live and work. 

See our digital early careers e-brochure here