Senior Air Quality Consultant

ardent-ce; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Paid professional memberships

Flexible working

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Ardent is seeking a Senior Air Quality Consultant to join its national air quality team. You will lead technical delivery across varied UK projects, manage workloads, and provide advisory support to clients.

The role demands strong modelling, data interpretation, and report-writing capabilities, with opportunities for professional progression. You’ll work in a hybrid setup with probation-based office presence and travel to project sites as needed, supported by a structured development pathway

Qualifications

• Relevant experience in air quality consultancy or related environmental discipline.
• Experience preparing air quality assessments for planning and EIA projects.
• Strong modelling capability with documented reporting proficiency.
• Knowledge of UK air quality policy, legislation and guidance.
• Ability to interpret data and prepare technical reports.
• Willingness to travel across the UK for site surveys.

Responsibilities

• Lead delivery of air quality projects and manage multi-disciplinary inputs.
• Prepare air quality inputs to planning applications and EIA documents.
• Design and manage ambient and indoor air quality monitoring surveys.
• Deliver clear technical reports and present findings to clients.
• Support business development and mentor junior staff.

Skills

Air quality consultancy

Dispersion modelling

GIS

Technical reporting

Client liaison

Project management

Education

Degree in environmental science or related field

Tools

ADMS-Roads

ADMS 6

AERMOD

QGIS

Python / R

Job description

Department: Air Quality Location: London Time: Full time

Job Summary

Working arrangement: Office-based during probation; hybrid working available following successful completion of six-month probation, subject to role and project requirements.

About Ardent

Ardent is a multi-disciplinary engineering and environmental consultancy working on projects across the UK. Our air quality team is growing nationally and works closely with our noise, transport and energy teams to give clients integrated, commercially focused and technically robust advice.

About the role

Due to our continued growth, Ardent is looking for a Senior Air Quality Consultant to join our national air quality team. This is an opportunity for an experienced consultant to play a key role in delivering high-quality air quality, odour, dust and emissions assessments across a varied portfolio of planning, development, infrastructure, transport, energy, regeneration, residential and commercial projects across the UK.

This role would suit an independent and commercially minded consultant with strong technical judgement, good dispersion modelling capability, and experience supporting planning and EIA-led projects.

You will be expected to manage your own workload, lead the technical delivery of projects, support clients from a technical advisory perspective, and help maximise opportunities for the continued growth of the air quality team.

Professional development and progression

You’ll be supported by experienced technical and project leads to build your technical, commercial and project management skills, with a clear route to Principal Consultant for the right candidate. Support includes chartership, internal technical training, conference attendance and mentoring from senior technical leads.

Benefits and working arrangements

Ardent offers a supportive and high-trust working environment, with benefits including:

• pension;
• paid professional memberships;
• flexible working;
• employee assistance programme.

Hybrid working is available following successful completion of the six-month probation period, subject to role and project requirements.

Following probation, the role will typically require a minimum of three days per week in the office. Exceptions may be agreed with your line manager, depending on role, project and business requirements.

Principal Accountabilities

You will undertake and manage a range of air quality consultancy tasks, including:

• preparing air quality, odour, dust and emissions assessments;
• preparing air quality inputs to planning applications and EIA projects;
• undertaking desk-based baseline data collection, review and interpretation;
• designing, implementing and managing ambient air quality, indoor air quality, dust and odour monitoring surveys;
• undertaking site visits, including monitoring equipment deployment, inspection and maintenance;
• preparing and reviewing dispersion modelling assessments for road traffic, point, area and volume sources;
• analysing air quality, emissions, meteorological, traffic and energy-system data;
• using GIS to support model development, data interpretation and presentation of results;
• preparing technical figures, appendices and assessment outputs;
• interpreting relevant guidance, policy, legislation and assessment criteria;
• identifying project risks, data gaps and assessment constraints; and
• contributing to quality assurance and technical review processes.

You will help lead the delivery of air quality projects by:

• managing the technical delivery of small to medium-sized projects;
• coordinating inputs from multi-disciplinary project teams;
• attending and contributing to client, design team and project meetings;
• liaising with local authorities, clients and project team members to agree approaches and obtain the information required for assessments;
• managing your own workload and supporting others to meet deadlines and budgets;
• preparing clear, accurate and proportionate technical reports;
• providing technical advice to clients and project teams; and
• supporting the delivery of high-quality work in accordance with agreed scopes, budgets and programmes.

Business development and team support

You will contribute to the continued growth and improvement of the team by:

• supporting or leading the preparation of fee proposals and tender submissions;
• contributing to client development and repeat business through high-quality service delivery;
• helping identify and maximise project and client opportunities;
• preparing or contributing to sales, capability and marketing material;
• capturing lessons learned from project delivery;
• identifying opportunities for technical and process improvement;
• providing technical mentoring to junior members of the team; and
• supporting the future development of line management responsibilities as the team grows.

Essential skills and experience

You should be able to demonstrate:

• relevant experience in air quality consultancy or a closely related environmental discipline;
• experience preparing air quality assessments for planning, EIA, infrastructure or development projects;
• strong air quality modelling capability and experience applying modelling outputs in technical assessments;
• knowledge of relevant UK air quality policy, legislation, guidance and assessment practice;
• experience in air quality data analysis, interpretation and reporting;
• strong quantitative, analytical and problem-solving skills;
• the ability to prepare clear, concise and technically robust written reports;
• good communication skills, including the ability to explain technical information to clients, project teams and non-specialist audiences;
• commercial awareness, including an understanding of project scopes, budgets, programmes and client requirements;
• strong organisational skills and the ability to manage competing deadlines;
• confidence working independently and as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
• good attention to detail and a commitment to quality;
• willingness to travel to project sites across the UK when required; and
• a full driving licence valid for use in the UK, as the role will involve travel for site surveys, often with monitoring equipment.

Desirable skills and experience

The following would be advantageous, but are not essential:

• experience using ADMS-Roads, ADMS 6, AERMOD or other recognised dispersion modelling tools;
• experience using QGIS or other GIS software;
• intermediate or advanced Excel skills;
• experience using Python, R or other programming tools for data processing and analysis;
• experience preparing EIA air quality chapters;
• experience of odour, dust, construction-phase or energy-related assessments;
• experience designing and managing air quality monitoring surveys;
• experience preparing fee proposals and tender submissions;
• experience mentoring junior staff;
• experience working in a consultancy environment; and
• membership of the Institute of Air Quality Management or another relevant professional body.

Qualifications

You should have a relevant degree or equivalent professional experience in environmental science, atmospheric science, engineering, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry or a related discipline.

A postgraduate qualification in air quality, environmental science or a related discipline would be advantageous but is not essential.