Senior Agricultural Liaison Officer

Job Description - Senior Agricultural Liaison Officer

We are looking for talented land professionals to join the senior agricultural liaison team. In this role you will be responsible for delivering land referencing, land acquisition, land access and stakeholder engagement across major strategic infrastructure projects across the UK and Ireland.

Responsibilities

• Provide expertise and support on agricultural and land management to facilitate access, way leaving and possession of land
• Advise on agricultural tenancies
• Secure land rights for high profile, strategic infrastructure projects across the UK and Ireland
• Utilise statutory powers and other available mechanisms to acquire land (Vesting Order, CPO) on behalf of WSP clients within the electricity sector, but also highway, rail, water, telecoms, gas and renewable energy sectors
• Negotiate commercial terms, option agreements and other land related agreements
• Work closely with the Land team and collaborate with engineering, environmental and planning teams
• Organise and attend site visit meetings with landowners, their agents, legal teams and other stakeholders and provide meeting records for upload to a landowner and stakeholder communications database
• Maintain regular communication with landowners and their agents to build positive working relationships for the successful delivery of projects
• Liaise with landowners, land agents, legal representatives, planning authorities, key stakeholders, contractors and clients
• Resolve landowner disputes
• Attend weekly/monthly project meetings and provide updates to project stakeholders
• Report progress to clients regularly ensuring client satisfaction and expectations are met
• Prepare and check consenting documentation
• Experience working on infrastructure, utilities or energy projects (preferred)
• Skilled in stakeholder engagement, building trust and maintaining positive relationships
• Ensure that WSP H&S procedures are adhered to for all site work
• Knowledge of land access permissions, s172 licences and site safety experience (preferred)
• Preparation and quality assurance of technical documents relating to the identification of land interests and rights, negotiation of access to land for surveys, consents and acquisition of land rights
• Negotiate Heads of Terms to secure land for projects
• Advise clients on compliance with statutory and industry best practice
• Support the sharing of knowledge and lessons across regions and projects
• Lead on quality assurance of deliverables and promote innovation within the team to improve working practices
• Contribute to business development and client relationship management

Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent experience in Geography, Land/Estate Management, Agriculture or a relevant discipline
• Experience delivering land referencing, land access, landowner engagement services and statutory processes on major infrastructure projects
• Experience negotiating with landowners and knowledge of the legal process for the acquisition of wayleaves/easements/servitudes (desirable)
• Experience working with multi-disciplinary teams across a range of sectors and locations across the UK and/or Ireland
• Demonstrable experience of reducing land risk for clients and advising them on land related matters throughout all stages of a project lifecycle
• Ability to communicate effectively with strong influencing and negotiating skills
• Strong landowner and public engagement skills
• Knowledge of the urban and/or rural environment and farming practices would be highly desirable
• Chartership or membership of a professional body would be advantageous
• The ability to travel effectively to various sites and remote locations is a necessary function of this role

Location

As part of WSP Land you will be based in one of our many offices across the UK and Ireland, including Dublin, Naas, Belfast and other locations. The role offers flexibility with hybrid working between one of these offices and from home.

We offer flexible working patterns, competitive salaries and other benefits.