Recruitment of the Junior President Elect 

Applications are now open for the next Junior President Elect role!

CIWEM is the leading royal chartered professional body and registered charity dedicated to the sustainable management of the environment, globally. We have an integrated approach to environmental, social and cultural issues and work for the public benefit of a sustainable world.

The Presidential team plays a key role in supporting the needs of our membership across the world; embodying the values of CIWEM in everything they do and contributing their expertise across our events and branch meetings in addition to awarding excellence.

This article contains information aimed at potential applicants for the Junior President Elect role at CIWEM and contains the following:

1. Welcome from our current Junior President
2. “Why work with CIWEM” testimonials
3. CIWEM as an organisation
4. The Role of the Junior President
5. Recruitment of the Junior President Elect
6. Timeline and activities
7. The application and selection process
8. Appointment terms
9. Equal opportunities

Welcome from our current Junior President

“CIWEM is a place of trusted advice and guidance, and a safe space to share and challenge views. I am inspired by its work, people and causes, and it has encouraged and enabled me to grow as a professional. When the opportunity to become CIWEM’s third Junior President came up, I jumped at the chance.

Being Junior President has been so rewarding and has helped me develop both personally and professionally. From broadening my network, meeting and talking to our inspirational and budding early careers members, to enhancing my public speaking skills on stage in front of hundreds of people(!) I have absolutely loved my time in the role.

If you are passionate about your role in our sector, the work CIWEM does and want to champion and amplify the voices of our early careers and career changers, this could be the perfect role for you. We are looking for our next Junior President Elect, who will be supported by the previous Junior Presidents and incoming Junior President Peter Rook. You will be in this role for one year having the opportunity to shadow and support Peter, before stepping into the Junior President role, alongside John Curtin who will become President. Over the next year, you will work together to refine your shared presidential theme and have the opportunity to work with our members, committees and branches to plan events, raise awareness of CIWEM’s initiatives, and bring life to the incredible work happening across our sector.

This is a unique opportunity and the role of a lifetime. I’m delighted to be handing over the baton and excited to see what the future holds in the capable hands of Peter and our future successive Junior Presidents.”

2. Why work with CIWEM

Matthew Jack, 1st Junior President and former CIWEM Trustee: “I began my career in water and environment as an apprentice in 2012, CIWEM has been with me to provide help, guidance and support throughout my whole career journey. CIWEM is diverse, accepting and a wonderful organisation at the forefront of the battle against the biggest challenges facing our planet. I have been lucky enough to represent this institution as both a Trustee and the inaugural Junior President. The role of Junior president itself stands as tribute to CIWEM’s forward thinking and commitment to the profession at all levels of experience. The Junior presidential role allowed me to grow as a professional, expand my network and learn many new things. It is an incredible opportunity, and I am tremendously proud to have represented CIWEM in this way.”

Pete Brooks, CIWEM Trustee: “I have been a member of CIWEM since 2003 and have learnt and grown so much through my CIWEM and professional journey. I have been fortunate enough to be equipped at every stage of my career with the latest knowledge and skills through my involvement with CIWEM. This has allowed me to deliver excellent result for the organisation I have been employed by and worked with in the UK and New Zealand. I have delivered solutions to complex environmental challenges through effective proactive environmental stewardship and engineering capability.

I am proud to be part of the CIWEM Board of Trustees and see this as part of my social responsibility to provide good governance, development of others to ensure the best solutions and outcomes are achieved in the exceptionally challenging times we live.”

Hannah Burgess, Trustee and Incoming President: “I have volunteered with CIWEM since I was a graduate in the flood and coastal sector 17 years ago. I’m now a Regional Director in the same sector and a CIWEM Board Trustee. CIWEM has been a big part of the journey through my career to get here. Becoming Chartered in 2009 and a Fellow in 2019 have given my career structure and the external recognition to excel and winning the CIWEM Young Member of the Year award in 2008 gave me a huge confidence boost. Volunteering on various committees and panels has helped me develop an extensive network across the private, public and charity sectors, helped raise my profile and has given me the opportunity to develop skills such as policy development, event management and public speaking and chairing alongside my day job. I hope to continue to volunteer for CIWEM as long as possible as part of giving back to an organisation and the sector it supports as a thank you for the opportunities it has given me. I’m really looking forward to commencing my term as CIWEM President in October. ”

Peter Rook, Incoming Junior President: "I began my career in the water and environmental sector in 2016, and since then, CIWEM has been an integral part of my professional development. The support, resources, and opportunities provided by CIWEM have significantly contributed to my growth. The role of Junior President is a testament to CIWEM's commitment to nurturing professionals at all stages of their careers, and it is a great honour to represent CIWEM in this role for the 2024/25 presidential year. I look forward to working closely with our Early Careers Network and showcasing the importance of our new presidential theme on adaptation and resilience to professionals at all stages of their careers."

A word from John Curtin, who will be President of CIWEM alongside your Junior Presidency in 2025:

"I’m really looking forward to starting my Presidential year in 2025 - it’s a huge honour to be able to champion a wonderful organisation like CIWEM which has played such an important role in my career. One of the most exciting elements in preparation for the presidential year is creating a team with the new junior president - so please check out the application process and I hope you find the role of interest!"

3. CIWEM as an organisation

CIWEM represents and supports a community of thousands of members and organisations in over 90 countries who are dedicated to improving water and environmental management for the benefit of the public.

Our vision is a world in which professionalism and excellence build connections to inspire widespread, impactful water and environmental solutions.

We face urgent and intertwined climate and nature emergencies over the next decade and beyond. To address these effectively and at the same time unlock wider opportunities and benefits, we need to understand their complexities and ensure solutions will be effective, compelling and mainstreamed.

We will need to act rapidly, but with assurance and support.

In 2019, CIWEM declared a climate and biodiversity emergency, pledging to help its 10,000 members to tackle climate change and to make our world more sustainable. We produce a diverse programme of events, professional training, publications, awards, and environmental policy work to support that mission.

The CIWEM strategy

As our global leaders set targets on emissions reduction, climate resilience and nature recovery and begin to develop implementation policies and plans, demand for solutions grows considerably.

This needs a bigger, more diverse water and environment profession with knowledge at its fingertips. CIWEM supports and inspires delivery of the best solutions and outcomes anywhere in the world. Informed to present decision-makers with the evidence for bold action in the right places. Collaborative and connected to share and mainstream best practice, for people and the planet.

The CIWEM priorities

Our high-level priorities over the next few years include the following:

• Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – leading to our executive, committees, groups and branches and our membership overall becoming an exemplar in our sector
• Corporate Strategy – promote our values to the point where they are truly intrinsic across our institution
• Membership expansion – significant growth in numbers and international presence, our members are at the heart of what we do
• Digital transformation – we are investing in the complete update of our digital systems to create a first-class experience for our members and stakeholders and improve our operational efficiency
• Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions – our aim is to bring consolidation within the institutional sector in which we operate. We also see mergers and acquisitions as a significant part of how we will grow, joining with other institutions or businesses to expand our capability and services
• A content rich organisation – our content strategy directs us to build an increasing volume, diversity and quality of content that can be utilised via an expanding range of channels and outlets, for example, through events, publications and digital media

CIWEM values

We are clear that to be effective in delivering our vision we must live and work by our values. As an organisation and community, we will:

• Be united by passion, caring for our planet and recognising it is the only home we have

• Take action with accountability, backing up what we say and do with evidence and transparency and acting honourably and professionally whatever we do

• Be inspired and inspire, taking inspiration from the good practice delivered by our members and committed to sharing it widely to inspire others

• Collaborate with conviction, always committed to working together with our teams, our members and wider organisations to achieve our vision and goals

• Celebrate success, championing the best solutions, showing the world what good looks like and making the case for pockets of excellence to be mainstreamed for the future. At the same time ensuring that valuable lessons are learned and shared.

4. The Role of the Junior President

The purpose

The Junior President (JP) shall act as a CIWEM Ambassador, effectively champion and promote the early and mid-career professionals and further the Institution’s aims, objectives and priorities.

The Responsibilities

The Junior President shall:

• Work closely with the presidential team, executive and board to identify and deliver strategic opportunities

• Champion CIWEM to younger generations as a professional institution in which they can be active in delivering CIWEM’s corporate strategy

• Act as an ambassador for CIWEM on communication platforms and at public events, helping to raise its profile and relevance to key audiences

• Act as an Ambassador for the early and mid-career professionals

• Work collaboratively with other organisations on STEM initiatives to increase the visibility of and promote CIWEM

• Will work alongside the Executive to promote:

• Student numbers

• The transition from Student to Graduate members

• The benefit of Chartership

• TechCIWEM (Technician member) opportunities

• Attend and contribute as an observer to the Trustee Board

• Select and award the Junior President award

• Have the opportunity to be a judge on selected CIWEM awards

• Represent the views of the early career professional demographic at Board level

Key attributes

• The Junior President must be a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (MCIWEM C.WEM)

• Proactive mindset, able to drive forward their own ideas

• Eagerness to engage membership, particularly early careers

• Good communication

• Desire to network with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, acting as an ambassador for CIWEM

5. Recruitment of Junior President Elect

We currently have one role available: Junior President Elect

The next Junior President, Peter Rook, will be appointed on the 10 October alongside Hannah Burgess as President. The 2024/25 Presidential Theme will be around resilience and adaptation.

The Junior President Elect will have one year within the Presidential Team ahead of being Junior President from October 2025. Our 2025/26 President will be John Curtin, the theme for that year will be a joint decision between the successful candidate and the President.

6. Timeline and activities

7. The application and selection process

This section sets out the process and timetable that CIWEM will adopt for the recruitment, assessment and selection of its new Junior President Elect.

Recruitment will be fair and open. To apply for this role, you will need to answer role-related questions. Please provide evidence and examples from your career history or other aspects of your life to answer the questions and demonstrate how you meet the criteria required, as listed in the candidate pack.

Our goal is to remove bias from the recruitment process and so for the first stage of the selection process, rather than asking you for a CV and cover letter, we have set up role-related questions which will allow us to assess your approach to a problem and understand what knowledge and skills you have. Your answers will be anonymised and reviewed by the selection panel. We will use these scores to shortlist for interviews.

Shortlisted candidates will then be asked to send in a CV. Please click here to apply.

If you would like an informal discussion about the role, please contact our Executive Assistant, Jo Bullard, joanne.bullard@ciwem.org – having a call of this kind will not influence the success or otherwise of the application.

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. Please contact us if you require any assistance or adjustment so that we can help with making the application process work for you.

The closing date for applications is midnight (GMT) Sunday 15 September 2024. The shortlisting dates for applications will be 16, 17, and 18 September 2024.

The interview date will be Friday 27 September 2024.

Note: Please use this date as indicative and do notify us if you have any clashes with them.

8. Appointment terms

Term and commencement dates

The role of Junior President Elect will be appointed on a two-year period, with the expectancy of being part of the Presidential Team for an additional year as Immediate Past Junior President.

Remuneration

This role is unremunerated, but travel and subsistence expenses will be reimbursed.

9. Equal Opportunities

Equal opportunities and fair treatment of applicants

CIWEM is committed to eliminating discrimination and encouraging diversity amongst our workforce, including members of the Trustee Board. Our aim is to ensure that the people we appoint will be truly representative of all sections of society and each person will feel respected and able to give their best. The purpose of this policy is to provide equality and fairness for all in our employment and not to discriminate on any grounds. We oppose all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination.

All employees and officers of the Institution will be treated fairly and with respect. Selection for employment, promotion, training or any other position or benefit will be based on aptitude and ability. All employees and officers will be encouraged to develop their full potential.

Our approach to recruitment reflects this and our recruitment and selection process is conducted in accordance with good equal opportunities practice. Selection is based on how well applicants meet the requirements set out in the person specification for any given role.

Applicants with disabilities and special needs

If you have a disability, of which you would like CIWEM to take into account when considering your application, please inform us when you apply. Let us know we can help in any way, and we will do the best we can to support you.

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