Highways England is the new government owned company responsible for driving forward our motorways and major A roads. This includes; modernising and maintaining the highways, running the network and keeping traffic moving. Over recent years, investment in our highways has increased. This has led to advances in technology, such as smart motorways; enabling traffic to flow better. However, even more is yet to be done.

Certainty of funding and greater flexibility will enable us to become a better business. In our first 5 years alone, we’ll invest £11 billion in motorways and A roads – boosting capacity, tackling congestion and improving safety. At the same time, we’ll improve how we work. That means we will be able to; plan roadworks better to minimise disruption; clear incidents more quickly; and save more than £1 billion by working more efficiently.

For further information on Highways England, please visit our website: www.highwaysengland.co.uk

The Role

Highways England are looking for a candidate with air quality assessment and modelling experience to join us on a permanent basis as an Air Quality Advisor in our Environment Group within Safety, Engineering and Standards (SES), based in our Manchester, or Leeds offices.

This is a great opportunity for the successful candidate to further their professional profile by gaining unique and varied experience. The role will require a candidate who can support delivery of the air quality programme, which encompasses air quality research, providing technical advice and support to scheme delivery, and the modernisation of our design and assessment requirements. The role will directly support organisation objectives, as set out in our Air Quality Strategy, to improve air quality in the UK.

You’ll play a key role in ensuring Highways England’s Air Quality policies support good environmental design, legislative and policy compliance, , as well as value for money.

Day to day

As an Environmental Advisor with a focus on air quality you will:

• Provide specialist technical advice and operational support (including technical reviews and governance) on environmental impact assessment and air quality to allocated regional teams in Major Projects and Operations Directorates.
• Support colleagues and wider business with training on air quality to ensure developments in advice, best practice and associated standards are effectively communicated and understood by colleagues within the business.
• Respond to internal and external stakeholder enquiries with appropriate advice and guidance, escalating complex issues appropriately, to support their decision making.
• Develop new, and revise existing, policy and guidance, through the management and delivery of research projects.
• Act as a focal point between Highways England and local authorities to support local air quality management activities.
• Contribute to the preparation, review and quality assurance of environmental technical documentation, presentations and papers to ensure that they are fit for purpose.

About you

To be successful in this role you will be able to demonstrate that you have:

• Proven experience of providing information and technical advice on air quality, ideally for the environmental impact assessment of infrastructure or other major development projects.
• Experience and technical understanding of air quality monitoring and modelling.
• An ability to communicate complex air quality messages to a diverse audience and decision makers.
• A relevant environmental degree (or equivalent) with an emphasis on air quality and evidence of continued professional development that would support the requirements/standards necessary for membership of relevant professional bodies OR
• Full membership of a relevant professional institution (IES/IAQM, IEMA, or other equivalent professional body with an emphasis on air quality).

Applying

All applications must be accompanied with a current CV which will be used to assess your suitability for the role. Please ensure all the skills, experience and qualifications requested are clearly demonstrated in your CV as explained in the body of the advert.

All applicants must provide their right to work documentation at interview stage, such as a valid passport.

Please note that Highways England reserve the right to close the advert before the advertised closing date should a sufficient response have been received. Therefore, please complete your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.