DescriptionWe are Uisce Éireann. Every day, we are responsible for the delivery of secure, safe, and sustainable water services for the people of Ireland. As Ireland’s national regulated water utility, our vision is a sustainable Ireland where water is respected and protected, for the planet and all the lives it supports.
Our purpose at Uisce Éireann is to rise to the challenge of delivering transformative water services that enable communities to thrive. That means we are proud to take on the responsibility of protecting our water supply and passing on a safe and secure water system to a rapidly growing population and empowering Ireland’s social and economic growth.
We are passionate about empowering our people, enabling them to make a positive impact on communities across Ireland. We are guided by a shared vision and purpose, grounded in values that define who we are and shape how we work, where we deliver for customers and communities, we work better together, we do the right thing, we aim high, and we keep each other safe. Our behaviours define how we interact, communicate, and succeed together. These values and behaviours apply to each one of us, across every role, location, and level.
Our goal is to attract and develop skilled and talented people from diverse backgrounds, who bring a dynamic range of expertise and insights to our work. With a strong, values-driven workforce, we ensure Uisce Éireann can continue advancing Ireland’s water services and meeting the needs of the communities we serve for generations to come.
The Role:
Uisce Éireann has a significant multi-billion euro capital investment plan to deliver across Ireland. A key project is the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP) and the Community Liaison Technical Lead will be dedicated to this nationally significant, infrastructure project for a specific term. They will play a key role in leading community engagement with regional and local stakeholders.
The Community Liaison Technical Lead will be responsible for building strong working relationships with community groups and ensuring meaningful engagement with stakeholders that is proactive, inclusive and accessible.
Reporting into a WSP Senior Programme Manager the Community Liaison Technical Lead will work closely with the project, landowner and communications teams, and any third-party consultants engaged on the project to ensure alignment of all internal and external communications. Travel is required within between WSP impacted counties across the midlands (Tipperary, Offaly, Kildare and South Dublin including Westmeath and Laois with occasional requirements to travel to Limerick and Clare sites as required).
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Proactively lead community engagement with a diverse range of stakeholders on behalf of the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP), such as local elected representatives and community leaders;
Build strong working relationships with communities along the proposed pipeline route and ensure the project benefits are articulated to communities;
Work closely with the project team (including land and wayleaves personnel), and the Uisce Eireann communications teams, to ensure communications/issues are effectively managed and resolved;
Provide support and regular updates to the WSP/Landowner and Communications teams, as required.
Plan, organise and facilitate engagement with interested groups and individual stakeholders across the project area to promote accessible engagement with the project team.
Proactively lead the identification of engagement opportunities with relevant community stakeholders to ensure the project benefits to the communities is articulated across the project area.
Specific responsibilities:
Maintain and develop relationships with Community representative organisations regarding project status (Note: Wayleaves team hold responsibility for relationships and communications with landowners).
Attend Community meetings organised by local Community Development Groups/Associations
Responsible for listening out for community concerns and proactively managing WSP issues
Watching brief for/at community engagements organised by key stakeholders such as ESB, BnM, ICMSA & IFA with whom other WSP teams interact (e.g.Comms/Wayleaves)
Proactively scan for other stakeholder meetings of interest in Eastern and Midlands region and propose upcoming engagements on a weekly basis;
Focus on entities that have commented on Community Gain proposals during previous consultations e.g. IFI Inland Fisheries Ireland, Health Service Executive (HSE), Failte Ireland, Local Authorities (LA)
Responsible for liaison with three broad stakeholder categories as articulated in the WSP Community Gain approach approved by PAB /UE Board (Socio-Economic, Educational and Environmental).
Stakeholder engagement examples (non-exhaustive):
Economic: Chamber of Commerce, Bank/Credit Unions, Gardai, Civil Defense, Local Authority events;
Educational/ Social: Schools (Primary, secondary & further education colleges) and Sports club events;
Environmental: Biodiversity Action Plan Initiatives such as pollinator friendly zones; Local Authority (LA) Waters Programme (LAWPRO) or Climate action team initiatives such as nature based solutions e.g. RainGardens/ Peatland/Riverbank restoration etc
General Duties and Responsibilities
Provide a weekly summary of Community issues discussed (and resolution status) as well as Community/stakeholder meetings attended and proposed meetings for the following week;
Ensure the WSP project message is consistent with broader Uisce Eireann messaging and identify possible linkages and opportunities e.g. Sustainability strategy to educate 1M people on value of water;
Liaise with a variety of communications teams within Uisce Eireann including the regional, web, call centre, and marketing teams as required to ensure delivery of high quality and consistent, project specific communications.
Liaise with multi-disciplinary teams within Uisce Eireann including Asset Management, Customer Operations, Capital Delivery, and various project teams as required.
Responsible for delivering community engagement strategy and feeding into strategy development.
Responsible for reporting and recording on the outputs from engagements.
Provide support and assistance to other Uisce Eireann project teams as required.
Any other duties as required.
Knowledge, Skills and Experience:
Significant demonstrable experience in a role that involves stakeholder engagement or external communications across a range of issues and stakeholder groups.
A minimum of five years’ experience in establishing and maintaining complex stakeholder relationships
Stakeholder engagement experience on complex technical or environmental projects, ideally within a regulated or semi-public organisation.
Knowledge and experience of engaging with key stakeholders, relevant to the project, both nationally and regionally
Experience in either a utility or other large organisation, preferably experience of engaging with the top levels within and external to that organisation.
Previous experience in the execution of large-scale communications strategies.
Proven ability of managing complex situations involving a diverse range of stakeholders including elected representatives and the media.
Excellent interpersonal skills and a demonstrable track record of building strong working relationships with high profile stakeholders.
High level of communication skills including effective networking and presentation skills, and the ability to make complex information understandable to a diverse range of stakeholders.
Adaptability and the ability to influence outcomes in line with strategic objectives.
Excellent analytical and solution-driven problem-solving skills.
Experience and knowledge of infrastructure development or the water industry.
An understanding of planning / regulatory processes is an advantage.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Strong organisational skills with excellent attention to detail.
Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment.
*Please be advised that if successful you will be placed on the salary range based on your skills and experience. Please note the Market reference point (midpoint) of the range is generally the upper end of the offer where someone is deemed to be fully competent to take on the duties of the role, and leaves room for the employee to progress through the pay range as their experience develops further.
Uisce Éireann is an equal opportunities employer.
We are committed to providing a diverse and inclusive place of work and have a robust strategy and framework called ibelong to enable this. We are an equal opportunity employer and through our recruitment process we welcome and encourage applications from interested and suitably qualified individuals regardless of gender, age, racial or ethnic origin, membership of the traveller community, religion or beliefs, family or civil status, sexual orientation/gender identity or disability.