Technical Specialist - Waste Management (12 Month Secondment/Fixed Term)

at  Scottish Water

Together we are Trusted to Serve Scotland.
Scottish Water manages the nation’s waste water, and carefully treats it so that it can be safely recycled. This treatment process produces sewage sludge (biosolids) as a natural by-product. The sludge is then further treated to produce useable biosolid products.
Biosolids are magic. They’re a natural and sustainable product that can help improve soil quality (both structure and texture), reduce fertiliser costs, increase crop yields and help reduce a farm’s carbon footprint. They can renew soils that have been degraded by intensive forestry, farming or mining activity.
We are looking for a Technical Specialist to join our Waste Management team for 12 months, who can help us coordinate the recycling of biosolids from our operational sites in the north of Scotland, and bring the benefit to farmers, councils and private landowners.
What you’ll do
You’ll be part of a team of Waste Management specialists who work with farmers and landowners to identify suitable fields and locations that would benefit from using biosolids. Your specific focus will be on the north of Scotland (from Perth upwards).
The goal is to maintain and expand a portfolio of landbank that is suitable for recycling biosolids, ensuring that all activities comply with the Safe Sludge Matrix requirements.
Use of biosolids is heavily tailored. So you’ll be analysing both the biosolids and soils to determine the optimal application rates and the most effective use of the biosolids’ nutrients. Risk assessments need to be completed to take account of the distance from watercourses, gradient of land and possible weather impacts, distances to domestic water supplies, etc.
Additionally, you will plan biosolids applications to ensure that Scottish Water’s Sludge Treatment Centres maintain sufficient storage capacity, all while providing outstanding customer service to key agricultural stakeholders.
Regulatory compliance, including those associated with the Overall Performance Assessment (OPA) and the Water UK Biosolids Assurance Scheme (BAS) standards is also a crucial part of this role.
You can also expect to be monitoring financial budgets and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs).
Last – but definitely not least – you’ll manage the performance of suppliers, with a particular focus on health and safety (H&S) standards.
This would be an ideal role for someone in an operational Waste Water environment with sludge treatment experience and HACCP awareness who is looking for a development opportunity.
What you’ll need
You’ll be an excellent communicator and customer-focused with strong organizational skills to deliver results through effective planning and prioritizing.
Additionally, you will need excellent analytical skills, along with the ability to listen, understand, and acquire further technical knowledge in the role.
A good working knowledge of MS Office, particularly MS Excel, is also essential.
You’ll be a team player who values input from others and actively seeks out opportunities for self-development.
Accessing the land in order to perform soil sampling can be physically demanding – so you’ll need to be comfortable hiking long distances through agricultural or forested land.
It would be particularly helpful if you have Sludge Treatment Centre experience or HACCP awareness.
Looking out for you
While the work we do is important, we know it’s not the only thing that matters. That’s why we make sure you have everything you need to find a good work-life balance.
You’ll get plenty of time to recharge with 38 days of holiday every year (including public holidays). And you can even buy up to five more if you need a little extra time. You can also take time off to volunteer in your community.
When it comes to major life events we have family-friendly policies around adoption, maternity, and parental leave. And for the everyday? We embrace flexible working.
For your future, there’s our pension (the ‘know-what-you’ll-get-when-you-retire’ kind), and life assurance.
The not-so-small print
This role will be a Grade 6. If you’re new to Scottish Water, you’ll join us on a starting salary of £33,560. Performance-driven pay progression would then allow you to move through the range to a maximum of £44,140.
If you’re interested in this role – or know someone else who might be - we’ll be accepting applications until midnight on the 4th of September 2024.
Job offers at Scottish Water are conditional, and will be confirmed on completion of our pre-employment screening, e.g. referencing, criminal record checks, license checks, etc. Screening is conducted on our behalf by a third party and must be completed before your start date. Don’t worry - we’ll only start these checks once you’ve accepted an offer.
A few final things worth knowing…
Research shows that some people avoid applying for jobs unless they can meet every single criteria. If you’re interested in this job, but don’t tick all the boxes, apply anyway! We hardly ever hire people who can do every part of a job from Day One. Everyone has a learning curve. So don’t rule yourself out!
Let us know if there are any changes we can make to our recruitment process to help you perform at your best. Lots of our people have disabilities or neurodiverse conditions (including some of our recruiters!). We’re also aware that some people might be experiencing temporary challenges because of life events, like menopause. We’re very used to making adjustments, so please don’t be afraid to ask.
As part of our commitment to developing a flourishing Scotland, it’s important that all our employees are Scottish taxpayers. If you join us, your home address will need to be in Scotland. If you don’t already live here, you’ll need to commit to moving here within your first three months.
Finally (finally!), candidates who haven’t submitted an application in the last 12 months will have their records removed from our recruitment database. You won’t need to do anything. Your data will be automatically deleted.
We’re here to help. Ask us anything at
SWRecruitment@ScottishWater.co.u

Please refer the Job description for details