Fisheries Ecology & River Restoration Lead

Institute of Fisheries Management; Leatherhead; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

South East Rivers Trust is seeking a proactive Fisheries Specialist to help deliver a programme to improve fish passage and river connectivity across the Great Stour catchment. The role blends field surveys with technical leadership and collaboration across partners and stakeholders.

You will lead monitoring, contribute to business cases, and provide ecology expertise to colleagues across the SERT area, including travel within the South East region and attending the Leatherhead office as needed.

Qualifications

• Experience in freshwater ecology, fisheries, river restoration or related discipline.
• Understanding of fish ecology, fish passage and river habitats.
• Experience applying fish survey and monitoring techniques such as electrofishing and eDNA.
• Strong analytical skills to interpret ecological data for project development.

Responsibilities

• Lead fish surveys, monitoring programmes and evidence collection.
• Progress the Stour fish passage roadmap with partners.
• Collaborate with landholders, regulators and catchment partners on actions.
• Contribute to business cases, funding proposals and project pipelines.
• Act as the Trust’s fisheries ecology and management specialist for SERT colleagues.

Skills

Freshwater ecology

Fish passage

River restoration

Data analysis

Stakeholder engagement

Report writing

Education

Degree in ecology

Tools

Electrofishing

eDNA analysis

Habitat surveys

Job description

South East Rivers Trust is seeking a proactive Fisheries Specialist to help deliver a programme to improve fish passage and river connectivity across the Great Stour catchment. The role blends field surveys with technical leadership and collaboration across partners and stakeholders.

You will lead monitoring, contribute to business cases, and provide ecology expertise to colleagues across the SERT area, including travel within the South East region and attending the Leatherhead office as needed.