GIS Technician

at  Wessex Water

Do you have a few years of experience in GIS and an interest in the water environment? Do you have an interest in finding creative ways to use GIS tools and analysis to understand and solve complex environmental water quality problems? If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our Smart Rivers team as a GIS Technician.
Interviews for this role will be conducted at the end of September.

WHO WE ARE

We are one of the top-performing water and sewerage companies in England and Wales, serving 2.9 million people across the South West.
The work we do goes beyond providing an essential public service. We also aim to have a positive impact on the communities we serve and the natural environment.
Our people tell us Wessex Water is a great place to work, which is why so many of them stay with us! You will have the opportunity to develop and progress your career, while also receiving health and wellbeing support.
We also continue to promote diversity and inclusion – with that in mind, all applicants are welcome. We are delighted to have signed the Armed Forces Covenant and are a Disability Confident Employer.
This is an exciting opportunity to join us and if you would like to be part of our journey, we would love to hear from you. Please do not hesitate to let us know about any additional support you may need.

Reporting to the Technical Manager, you will provide support to develop, embed and maintain geospatial methodologies, analysis, tools and reports for the Smart Rivers programme. Geospatial data integration, automated analysis and reporting are key enablers for the effective development and delivery of this exciting new programme that requires the installation of circa 2,000 continuous water quality monitors across our region.
Your creativity and geospatial support will help unlock efficiencies with desktop assessments, field surveys, installation, and progress management of this geospatially distributed programme. We will also have to figure out together how to make the best use of the water quality data alongside other datasets to understand the causes and effects of our assets and that of others on the water environment.
This is key to helping create an evidence base to help us make informed decisions to reduce harm from our assets and to help others to do the same. We must also develop and implement a public-facing dashboard by 2027 to communicate a clear message to the public and stakeholders about the water quality of the water environment and what happens when storm overflows operate.
You will help identify and develop creative ways to automate or improve efficiency to visualise progress and report results geospatially and graphically to convey the appropriate and succinct messages to enable effective decisions that lead to positive environmental and stakeholder outcomes.

Initially, this will entail:

• land registry queries to identify landowners
• desktop screening to inform site selection
• developing GIS schematics of outfalls and their catchments to help visualise the situational context and factors that can influence the data providing a source-pathway-receptor catchment perspective
• support the development and implementation of a geospatial project management dashboard to track the status of every installation
• geospatial processing and management of field survey data from our water quality remote-controlled ‘surfboard’ and drone surveys
• managing field data collected using our monitor siting and ecology survey Field maps and Survey123 apps
• creating standardised maps that might be needed for various purposes
• support and work with the GIS/IT team for the R&D of appropriate geospatial dashboards and graphical data reporting using ESRI and other suitable tools
• general GIS support to develop and manage data structures, standards and compliance
• review and find effective geospatial ways to report and visualise near real-time water quality data for Wessex Water, the regulator, and the public.

The role will require engagement with other departments to ensure we identify and maximise potential synergies with existing projects and the available data sources and integration with existing IT platforms.
This will mostly be an office/home-based role, but occasional fieldwork can be included, if desired and where appropriate.