Environmental Permitting Specialist

Anglian Water; Huntingdon; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water service provider is seeking an Environmental Permitting Specialist in Huntingdon. The role involves negotiating wastewater authorisations and providing expert environmental advice to ensure compliance. Key responsibilities include working with regulatory bodies and optimizing permit standards. Candidates should hold a relevant degree and possess strong negotiation and stakeholder skills. This position offers a competitive salary and generous benefits including healthcare and a pension scheme.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Private healthcare

Annual bonus scheme

26 days holiday

Life cover

Family-friendly policies

Qualifications

• Advocacy and influencing on behalf of Anglian Water.
• Good knowledge of legislation interpretation and communication.
• Experience in compliance data review/assessment.

Responsibilities

• Negotiate discharge and waste permits to optimize standards and costs.
• Advise on regulatory requirements for capital schemes.
• Represent the company in industry forums.

Skills

Skilled negotiator

Strong stakeholder skills

Excellent written/oral communication

Problem solving

Education

Degree in environmental science/water regulation or related discipline

Job description

Environmental Permitting Specialist

Salary - Circa £41,000 - Dependent on skills and experience
Permanent, full time (37 hours) with flexibility for part time

Huntingdon - 2x positions

Make every drop of your potential count, join our team!

You will lead negotiation of wastewater authorisations with the Environment Agency and Natural England to enable capital delivery (AMP) and reduce compliance risk and cost, securing favourable permits that meet business and regulatory needs.

Working with programme and delivery partners, you'll provide expert environmental advice, track permit applications, represent Anglian Water in industry forums.

Key responsibilities

• Negotiate discharge and waste permits to enable AMP/local schemes on time and at optimal standards/cost.
• Reduce compliance risk through effective permit strategies in partnership with Water, Water Recycling and Bioresources.
• Advise Alliance Programme Managers/IOS/ADP on regulatory requirements for capital schemes and communicate AW standards.
• Provide a professional helpdesk service; maintain permit application and AMP scheme tracking systems.
• Liaise with EA teams and other bodies; represent AW on studies to influence environmental policy and legislation.
• Input into policies, standards and guidance; support new team members; drive knowledge development and continuous improvement

Benefits

• A competitive pension scheme where we double-match your contributions up to 6%
• Private healthcare for your peace of mind
• An annual bonus scheme
• The opportunity to volunteer in your local community
• 26 days holiday (plus Bank Holidays), increasing with service, with the option to swap Christmas and Easter for religious holidays
• Life cover (8x your salary) and personal accident cover (up to 5x your salary)
• Flexible benefits to support your well-being and lifestyle
• Paid time off for illness, both physical and mental
• Free parking at all office locations, sites, and leisure parks
• Excellent family-friendly policies, including 26 weeks of full pay for maternity/adoption leave and 4 weeks of paternity/partner pay, with the opportunity for shared parental leave

What does it take to be successful?

• Advocacy and influencing on behalf of Anglian Water; strong stakeholder skills with regulators.
• Skilled negotiator able to secure favourable permit standards and identify programme savings.
• Legislation interpretation and communication of changes to the business; policy translation into practice.
• Problem solving using technical expertise and interpretation of environmental modelling.
• Work on own initiative across multiple schemes, balancing delivery pressures with regulatory requirements.
• Clear customer service ethos with excellent written/oral communication and IT competence.
• Degree (or equivalent) in environmental science/water regulation or related discipline (Essential).
• Relevant permitting/compliance experience (Essential).
• Familiarity with environmental permits and compliance frameworks (Essential).
• Strong communication and IT skills (Essential).
• Experience in compliance data review/assessment (Essential).
• A clean full UK driving licence as the role requires business travel to sites across the region

Inclusion at Anglian Water

Inclusion is for everyone and we are an equal opportunity employer, which means we'll consider all suitably qualified applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, nationality, religion or beliefs, age, sexual orientation, disability status or any other protected characteristic. We recruit and develop our people based on merit and their passion for creating better outcomes, and we're committed to creating an environment where all our colleagues feel they belong.

Closing date: 5th January 2026