Recruitment of the Junior President Elect 

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

Are you a passionate Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (C.WEM)?

Are you keen on developing both personally and professionally?

Are you looking for an exciting voluntary role to learn new skills, expand your network and dive into opportunities that will push your comfort zones?

If your answers are yes, then this could be the perfect role for you!

CIWEM (The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) are looking for our next Junior President Elect to join our Presidential Team. You will have up to a year to shadow and support the incoming Junior President Peter Rook and work with John Curtin to shape the theme of your shared Presidential year. 

The Junior President of CIWEM is a key part of the Presidential team and an ambassador for early-mid career professionals.

This pack contains information aimed at potential applicants for the Chair role at CIWEM and contains the following:

  1. Welcome
  2. CIWEM as an organisation
  3. The Role of the Junior President
  4. Recruitment of the Junior President Elect
  5. Appointment terms
  6. Timeline and activities
  7. Renumeration
  8. The application and selection process
  9. Equal opportunities
  10. Privacy policy

1. 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. “

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Welcome from the Incoming Junior President Peter Rook:

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‘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:

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"In the early ‘90s one of my first field visits in my early career was with CIWEM’s River & Coastal group – it was a tad rough and windy visit to the Severn Estuary - but it was a visit that was to fire my twin passions of flood risk management and professional development. Since then CIWEM has been a significant part of my growth and development – inspiring me to be constantly curious and have continuous learning at the heart of my work. Little did I imagine I’d eventually be a trustee of CIWEM!

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 and help fire the debate on environmental improvement and climate resilience. 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!"


2. 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.

CIWEM values

As junior president you will champion our values to members and other professionals. 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.



3. The Role of the Junior President

The purpose

The Junior President must be a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager and will likely have 5 – 15 years’ experience in the water and/or environmental industry, Acting as a CIWEM Ambassador. their primarily role will be to advocate for and champion early to mid-career professionals. They will play a supporting role for the 2025/26 President John Curtain and together they further the institutions, aims objectives and priorities.

The Responsibilities

The Junior President will work closely with the President to share the Presidential responsibilities, and:

  • Play a supporting role for the President, working together to develop a shared 2025/26 Presidential theme
  • Advocate for and champion early – mid career professionals
  • Support the Early Careers Network with their aims and objectives
  • Promote CIWEM brand and membership

The Junior President will take a leading role on all aspects of earlier career elements such as attending the Early Career Network as the Presidential Team representative, and supporting the ECN activities at key events e, g. the Flood and Coast conference

Key attributes

  1. The Junior President must be a Chartered Water and Environmental Manager (MCIWEM C.WEM)
  2. Proactive mindset, able to drive forward their own ideas
  3. Eagerness to engage membership, particularly early careers
  4. Good communication
  5. Desire to network with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, acting as an ambassador for CIWEM

4. Recruitment of Junior President Elect

We are recruiting for the 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.


5. Appointment terms

Term and commencement dates

The successful candidate will be appointed as:

  • Junior President Elect until October 2025
  • Junior President October 2025 – October 2026
  • Immediate past Junior President October 2026 – October 2027

6. Timeline and activities