IF THE JOB title conjures up images of a tree-hugging beardy in sandals and a bobble hat, think again. Environmental management is now a high-tech industry whose consultants are likely to be sharp-suited scientists working for some of the world’s biggest multinationals. Their job is to protect the environment, the public and, increasingly, the companies themselves from a barrage of legal liabilities designed to ensure that the “polluter pays”. To join this elite breed you will need to be educated beyond degree level, able to recite the Kyoto treaty backwards and know your biosparging from your biopiles.

You will be joining an industry that employs more than 170,000 people in the UK and whose market is predicted to reach £21.2 billion by 2010. Peter Rowland, technical director for Arcadis, the engineering and environmental consultancy, entered the sector after the collapse in world oil prices in 1986. “I’d done a degree in geology and then gone to Texas to work in oil exploration. Then the industry collapsed and I was out of a job. I came back to the UK anddecided to go into environmental consultancy, so I did a masters in hydrogeology.” In 1992 he joined Arcadis as a project manager. The company carries out risk assessments on potential contamination and works out cost-effective solutions to clean up land that is already contaminated.

Rowland suggests that recruits gain a solid grounding in science and then specialise in a relevant subject at masters level. “A lot of degrees are too broad-based,” he says. “My advice is to go for the hard science, then take something such as hydrogeology as a masters.” Industry experience would also be useful, although Rowland admits that this is hard to find.

Typical salaries within the environmental sector are £18,000 to £20,000 for a masters graduate; and about £25,000 for a consultant with four to five years experience, rising to about £35,000 for a project manager.

www.matchtech.com/construction
www.arcadisgmi.com

MARK HUNTER

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO