Technical Director – Environmental Assessment

Technical Director – Environmental Assessment
Salary: £65k-£75k
Location: Various UK Offices
Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time or Part-Time

The Role

You’ll be joining a leading independent environmental and engineering consultancy with a strong focus on sustainability, climate resilience, and innovation. Employee-owned and values-led, we are committed to delivering exceptional service and investing in our people. Our work spans a broad mix of public and private sector clients, and our reach extends across the UK and internationally.

Your Role

As discipline lead for Environmental Assessment, you’ll bring senior-level expertise to help shape the direction of the service, grow client relationships, and mentor a team of talented specialists. You’ll oversee complex, high-profile projects, often involving collaboration across planning, ecology, landscape, heritage, water, and infrastructure sectors.

You will play a central role in developing and delivering work relating to environmental impact assessment (EIA), strategic environmental assessment (SEA), and sustainability appraisal (SA), across a wide portfolio. While many of our projects are underpinned by long-term frameworks with government bodies, we also work with local authorities, NGOs, developers, and commercial clients – and are actively expanding into new sectors.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the strategic growth and direction of the Environmental Assessment service area
• Deliver and assure technical excellence in EIA, SEA and SA
• Guide project teams and review key deliverables across environmental disciplines
• Coordinate statutory and non-statutory environmental assessment and consenting processes
• Input to and lead business development initiatives and sector diversification
• Develop and nurture strong client relationships across both existing and new markets
• Oversee project management with a focus on quality, risk, programme, and budget
• Act as a technical mentor, supporting development of junior and mid-level staff
• Contribute to internal knowledge-sharing, innovation and cross-team collaboration
• Maintain accreditation standards, such as the IEMA EIA Quality Mark

What We’re Looking For

We’re looking for someone passionate about the environment and delivering meaningful outcomes through policy and infrastructure. You should be highly organised, client-focused, and capable of leading both teams and technical direction. Experience in a consultancy setting and confidence in engaging with stakeholders and regulators is essential.

You’ll be someone who thrives in a collaborative, agile environment, and is ready to take a leading role in shaping the future of environmental assessment services.

Preferred Locations

This role can be based out of several of our UK offices, including:

• Saltaire
• Newcastle
• Newport
• Haywards Heath
• Birmingham
• Peterborough
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow

Hybrid working is supported, but regular office collaboration is encouraged.

Qualifications & Experience

Required:

• Degree (or equivalent experience) in Environmental Management, Planning or a related field
• Chartered membership of a relevant body (e.g. IEMA, RTPI) or working towards chartered status
• Experience leading EIA, SEA, or SA projects in consultancy or similar environment
• Demonstrated business development experience and client engagement skills
• Strong knowledge of UK environmental legislation, planning systems, and policy

Desirable:

• Experience with infrastructure planning (e.g. DCOs or NSIPs)
• Understanding of a broad range of environmental disciplines
• Knowledge of permitting and consents including ecological, flood risk, waste etc.
• Experience in construction-phase assessment and environmental monitoring
• Familiarity with coastal or river projects and/or the energy sector
• Proven track record of introducing innovation in environmental assessment

Why Join Us?

We offer meaningful work, excellent career progression, and a supportive, flexible working culture. With a commitment to professional development and employee ownership, we ensure our team is empowered, valued, and able to make a real difference.

If you’re looking to lead with purpose and help shape a more sustainable and resilient future, we’d love to hear from you.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity in our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.