UKCEH is looking for a Water Resources Hydrologist to join our team of talented individuals, contributing to scientific discovery and generating the data, insights and solutions that researchers, businesses and governments need to solve complex environmental challenges.
Working at UKCEH is rewarding. Our science makes a real difference, enabling people and the environment to prosper, and enriching society. We are the custodians of a wealth of environmental data, collected by UKCEH and its predecessors over the course of more than 60 years.
As a valued member of our team, you’ll get
- 27 days annual leave, rising to 29 days after five years, plus 3 days for our Christmas closure
- 10% employer pension contribution
- Enhanced maternity and paternity leave (subject to qualifying requirements)
- 24 hour, 365-day access to support with physical, mental, social, health or financial issues plus access to our trained Welfare Officers
- Flexible working opportunities
Looking for a role where your research makes a difference? Join us and contribute to innovative hydrological modelling that informs sustainable water management worldwide.
The role
We are looking for a Water Resources Hydrologist to join our acclaimed Water Resources Systems Group at UKCEH’s Wallingford site. You’ll be joining a small collaborative and progressive team of friendly scientists, focusing on advancing water resources management from catchment to global scales.
Within this role, you’ll apply a range of hydrological models to understand catchment hydrology in the UK and internationally, supporting operational hydrology and water demand analysis. Working within a specialist team, you’ll contribute to cutting-edge research that informs sustainable water management worldwide. You will be involved in various projects that involve the assessment of current and future water resources, specifically helping to develop and apply some of UKCEH's hydrological and water quality models.
You will tackle issues such as integrating climate and hydrological data to better understand water availability and seek improvements to the estimation of water demands and abstractions from both surface water and groundwater sources. You’ll play a key role in delivering scientific evidence to support integrated water management and contribute to the development of decision-support tools for governments and agencies worldwide.
Your main responsibilities will include
- Applying a range of hydrological models and quantifying their uncertainty in data-scarce situations
- Integrating water demands with other research areas such as ecology and water quality
- Applying water quality models under a range of climate change scenarios
- Developing tools to manipulate/analyse large datasets
- Contributing to the production of reports and scientific papers detailing major research findings
As part of a leading independent, not-for-profit research institute, this role offers an excellent opportunity to expand your hydrological expertise while developing a specialisation in water resources modelling. You’ll be part of a supportive team that encourages learning, collaboration, and career progression, helping you build the skills and experience needed to grow as a specialist in this field.
About you
For the role of Water Resources Hydrologist, we’re looking for somebody who has:
- A good degree in a related subject (i.e., physical/environmental sciences, maths or engineering)
- Knowledge and understanding of hydrology and water resources management and/or experience in environmental modelling
- Experience of working on hydrology projects in the consultancy or research sector would be an advantage
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the confidence to engage effectively with both internal and external stakeholders
- A proactive, collaborative approach, can work independently, and manage their time effectively
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to interpret data and apply it to real-world water resource challenges.
- Good IT skills with experience in one or more of GIS, Microsoft SQL server, Access databases and Excel, with a proven ability to programme in FORTRAN, Python, R or VB
- Ability to travel to study sites in the UK and internationally (desirable only)
- Experience in applied hydrology projects within consultancy or research, strong scientific writing skills, and the ability to communicate complex ideas to non-specialists is also beneficial – together with machine learning
If we’ve just described you, we’d love to meet. Apply now.
Please send us your CV, accompanied by a covering letter which highlights any relevant skills and experience, together with what excites you most about the role and working for UKCEH.
At UKCEH, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace where everyone—regardless of background, identity, ability, or circumstance—has the opportunity to thrive. As a Disability Confident employer, we actively encourage applications from neurodivergent candidates and those with disabilities. We are happy to provide any adjustments or support you may need throughout the application process—please don’t hesitate to reach out. So, if you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we’d love to hear from you anyway. You may be just the right fit for this role or another within our wider team.
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position at this time.
About us
Here you can explore the kind of roles we recruit for, search our latest vacancies, learn more about what it's like to work at UKCEH, and find out about the many benefits of joining our team.
Every one of our 600+ staff and 50+ postgraduate students plays a vital role in delivering our ambition to understand the environment and the human impact on it, so that together people and nature can prosper.
How we work is just as important as what we achieve. We want UKCEH to be a welcoming, inclusive, engaging and collaborative place to work. We embed our values - excellence, integrity and teamwork - into everything we do.
