Lock and Weir Keeper – River Thames Navigations
The Environment Agency has a responsibility to manage some of the busiest recreational waterways in the country. Our River Thames operations include 45 lock and weir complexes.
We have exciting opportunities for you to contribute to the management of recreational activities on the River Thames. We provide a front facing service to customers at our locks and regulate river levels through weir operation. You and your team will also support wider objectives such as safety of operations and asset management.
Our Locks on the Thames are busy and energetic. The communities on the river are diverse, from our commercial passenger boat customers to paddle boarding, our role is to ensure we make the river a place people want to visit and a valuable asset to the people that live nearby.
We are in a period of change to make our operations financially sustainable, so a key part of this role is being part of that journey, seeking efficiency and better ways of delivering work. The ideal person will have a diverse range of experience particularly within in front facing customer service and managing risk in an operational environment.
We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve.
As adverse weather increases, our river operations become more critical, ensuring river levels are managed for Drinking Water Abstraction, Recreational Boating, Flood Management and Ecology. We play a vital role to keep this balance in place.
Our River Thames operations include 6 Waterways Teams (Lock Keepers and Technical Officers) reporting their Team Leader. Other Teams that support are Asset Performance and Field Operations. All these teams report to the Operations Manager and our department includes Senior Specialists that cover all aspects of our department such as finances, Incident Management and Enforcement.
Role available – Lock and Weir Keeper
You will be working outdoors in all weather, meeting a range of people who have a passion for the river Thames and its history. Gardening is a part of our activities, making sure the locks are maintained through grass cutting and planting. The role is active and can be a big contributor to maintaining fitness and wellbeing.
Key responsibilities:
- Assisting with the management of Health Safety and Wellbeing at our sites.
- Operating weirs to maintain water levels in the river for Navigation, Water Resources and Flood Risk.
- Maintaining an incident role being able to respond to out of hours
- Provide support to our Asset Management teams utilising technology to help.
- Working with customers to provide assisted passage through the locks.
- Being part of a solution-based approach change and effective delivery.