Water Resources and Flooding Graduate Programme 2025

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Water Resources and Flooding Graduate Programme 2025

Job Description

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. Our employee-owned structure enables us to shape our own future and pursue social outcomes in everything we do. It also puts our people, their development, and their wellbeing at the heart of our business. With us, 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.

We have a strong record in tackling the challenges affecting the water environment, including river catchments, from the source to the sea and water on the surface and underground. Within the current climate emergency, we are experts in understanding the impact of climate change on water availability and work with major UK water companies and international clients to ensure future demand for water is met and renewable energy schemes are feasible while preserving the environment. We contribute to improving the ecology of our rivers, aquifers and coastal areas by establishing the impact of abstractions and discharges and by defining sustainable ways of reducing pollution using nature-based solutions. We are also supporting the Environment Agency, local authorities and major infrastructure developers to quantify the risk of flooding and to design the most effective flood protection measures including natural flood management.

As part of our team, you will have the chance to gain experience in different areas, such as:

• Combining climate projections with mathematical models representing surface and groundwater to establish the related impacts on floods and droughts.
• Delivering nature-based solutions to reduce flooding, increase ecological resilience and reduce pollution in rivers and aquifers. Land use changes, agricultural practices improvements, river restoration, wetlands and natural flood management measures are examples of this.
• Analysing big datasets and working with geographical information systems to identify trends in natural processes and to guide the identification of options.
• Undertaking flood modelling to define flood extents and the effectivity of flood protection measures, as well as computational fluid dynamics modelling to solve complex design problems.
• Understanding the role geomorphology of rivers and the coast can play in ensuring the long-term effectivity of infrastructure.
• Identifying the sources of water pollution, estimating its impacts on the aquatic ecology and establishing the best way to remediate them.
• Conducting water resources planning, selecting and appraising the best value options to safeguard the future supply of water.

Depending on your skills and interests you will be able to specialise in one of these areas or get involved in several. We have initially set up the following graduate roles to guide your choice but there will be flexibility to move across services so that you can progress your career according to your needs.

Graduate Environmental Hydrologist:

We have a long history in catchment management planning, tackling the many challenges facing our water environment including nutrients, pesticides, and other pollutants. We do this through data analysis, review, and assessment for a wide range of clients which involves water quality impact assessments of abstractions and discharges, appraising traditional and nature-based solutions (NbS) for improving water quality, river restoration options to help recover heavily modified water bodies. Your contribution will support the management, modelling and regulation of the water environment which may involve data collection, review, and analysis; using GIS tools for data manipulation and visualisation; hydrological assessment; catchment management, water quality modelling and impact assessment; geomorphological studies; NbS screening and options appraisal; and, stakeholder engagement.

Graduate Flood Risk Specialist:

You will work on a range of flood risk management projects, to both increase understanding of flood risk and help develop solutions to reduce the impact of this. This will include river, surface water and coastal sources of flood risk with a particular consideration of the impact of climate change. You will be given full training in industry standard hydraulic modelling and hydrology approaches. Our work is often for the environmental regulator to assist with flood risk planning, for authorities developing flood alleviation schemes or for companies that operate or are developing infrastructure. Increasingly, we are asked to consider nature-based solutions to manage flood risk and we have pioneered the implementation of Natural Flood Management (NFM) options by authoring the CIRIA manual.

Typical duties may include:

• Detailed 1D-2D hydraulic modelling using a variety of modelling packages.
• Model building and verification.
• Using GIS tools for data manipulation and analysis of flood risk and hydrological data.
• Flood Risk/Consequence Assessments.
• Fluvial and coastal risk management projects.
• Hydrological studies.
• Development of solutions to manage flood risk.
• NFM studies.

Graduate Hydrologist:

You will be involved in national and international studies addressing climate change risks, ensuring water supply in the future and advising on the feasibility of hydropower schemes. We are continually improving our services. We have developed advanced rainfall-runoff models and weather generators as well as our own digital tools to interrogate and process the latest climate projections and forecast river flows for a range of potential futures. You will have the chance to contribute to these innovations.

Typical duties and responsibilities may include:

• Data collection, review, and analysis.
• Hydrological modelling.
• Climate change impact assessments.
• Flood risk assessments.
• Catchment management and water quality modelling.
• Undertaking appropriate training and working towards professional qualification.

Graduate Hydrogeologist:

You will work alongside our hydrogeology experts to assist our clients to understand the reliability and vulnerability of their groundwater sources, to define catchment management measures to tackle aquifer pollution and to mitigate the impact of infrastructure on groundwater. We deliver services in these areas to a variety of clients such as water companies, environmental regulators, and government bodies.

Typical duties and responsibilities may include:

• Ground and surface water quantity and quality analysis.
• Hydrogeological analysis.
• GIS analysis of hydrogeographic and water quality data.
• Prepare maps of groundwater elevations, geologic structure, cross-sections.
• Groundwater modelling.
• Undertaking appropriate training and working towards professional qualification.

Locations:

• Brighton
• Bristol
• Cambridge
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Inverness
• London
• Sheffield

Candidate Specification

We are looking for committed and motivated graduates with a genuine passion and a desire to make a difference in the world. If this describes you, apply today to launch your career at Mott MacDonald.

To be eligible for this opportunity, you will have less than 12 months relevant experience (excluding placements) and have a degree (obtained no earlier than 2023) are expected to achieve one of the following degree disciplines:

• Hydrology
• Hydrogeology
• Water resources
• Water management
• Environmental science or related
• Geography
• Civil engineering
• Maths, statistics or related
• Chemistry

In your application you should be able to demonstrate your interest in the role and working at Mott MacDonald through relevant experience, such as studying relevant modules, or previous work experience.

We are looking for graduates with the following characteristics:

• Methodical approach to problem solving.
• Ability to use your initiative to undertake tasks efficiently and independently.
• Excellent verbal communication skills, which allow you to confidently liaise with clients and team members.
• Excellent written communication and attention to detail.

As we want the best people for the role, we support flexible working. Please ask us at interview stage about any flexibility you may need.

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024.

Our ethos is to develop, train and retain our graduates and therefore we are looking for a long-term relationship with our graduates. For this reason, we are not able to accept applications from candidates who would be working under the Graduate visa route or other time-limited visas, (irrespective of visa duration), due to their temporary nature and the requirement for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route in future.

We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in the future.

About your development

A graduate position should be more than just a job. We know this and so do you. That’s why with our graduate roles, we aim to give you the experience and technical knowledge you need to progress your career.

From the moment you join us, you’ll receive the training you need. You will beAbout Mott MacDonald

We’re a global engineering, management and development consultancy focused on guiding our clients through many of the planet’s most intricate challenges. Being employee-owned allows us to choose the work taken on and focus on the issues that are important.

Independent in thought and action, we advise what is genuinely right for our clients, our staff, and communities – not what is easy. We want to do a great job for everyone involved, while offering excellent opportunities for placement students.

Our engineers, project and programme managers take leading roles on some of the world’s highest profile projects, turning obstacles into elegant, sustainable solutions. By challenging norms and unlocking creativity, we deliver long-lasting economic, environmental and social outcomes for societies around the globe. Yet design and management are just the tip of a deep iceberg. Our global team is comprised of internationally recognised environmentalists, planners, economists, project finance advisors, cost consultants, business strategists and more.

Whatever your career goals are, you can be confident that Mott MacDonald we will help you meet your ambitions and beyond.

Across our many offices in the UK and Ireland, we offer two types of placement programme: summer placement (8-12 weeks) and industrial placement (6-12 months). Our opportunities span a range of different sectors and are based within a variety of different teams, so as you can imagine, each role varies. If you’re invited to an interview, this is when we will discuss in more detail the specifics of the job role you applied for and what it involves.

You’ll be working with graduates, experienced professionals, and other students so a placement with us is the perfect opportunity to learn from a variety of people while understanding our values and culture. It’s also a great chance to get involved with real projects while gaining relevant experience.

Our 2024 opportunities open for applications in September. Check our early careers webpage for updates and to apply: UK and Ireland early careers - Mott MacDonald

How to apply

To apply for this role and to find out more, please click on the apply button.

Please note that applications may close before the application deadline, so apply early to avoid disappointment.