Mathematical Modeller

Recruiter contact:Tim Penlington
We're a global engineering, management, and development consultancy. Our purpose is to improve society by considering social outcomes in everything we do, relentlessly focusing on excellence and digital innovation, transforming our clients' businesses, our communities and employee opportunities.
A fundamental part of this is respecting each person's differences and striving to meet their needs.
Our values: Progress, Respect, Integrity, Drive, Excellence.
About the division
The Water Consultancy Division is the centre of excellence within Mott MacDonald for responding to water and wastewater challenges, providing support to colleagues across our global business, and offering fantastic opportunities to get involved in diverse and technically challenging work.
Climate change, aging assets, and population growth place increasing pressure on our water and wastewater assets. Our highly successful water consultancy business is servicing ever-increasing demands from water sector clients to help deliver ambitious capital programmes. The work we do is at the forefront of ensuring safe water supplies for future generations and protecting our environment.
With sustainability, social impacts, digitalisation, and carbon reduction in mind, our diverse and multi-disciplinary teams work together to provide a variety of services throughout the full project life-cycle, from advisory services and feasibility studies, through outline and detailed design, to construction support and site supervision.
As a mathematical modeller, you will be part of a large team of flood risk and water resources specialists, supporting and learning from our teams of asset planners and river, dam, pipeline and treatment engineers as they deliver a wide range of services for UK and international clients. A wide range of prospects would give you opportunities to work with industry-standard hydrodynamic modelling packages (such as MODFLOW, TUFLOW, Flood Modeller, HEC-RAS, ICM, Delft3D) and state-of-the-art Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) software (ANSYS Fluent and Flow-3D). You would work with industry-leading experts to develop numerical models of hydraulic systems at all scales, from catchment-wide to individual flow controls. You would investigate natural processes influencing the fate of contaminants, build ad-hoc assessment tools tailored to project specific needs and undertake statistical analyses. For those with related interests, there are also opportunities to get involved across our teams on
activities such as nature-based solutions and systems modelling.
Your input will help our project teams and clients to deliver complex multidisciplinary projects, resulting in strategic decisions and engineering solutions that you can be proud of. Whether it is minimising the carbon footprint of a flood defence, or preventing sewage from spilling to rivers, your work will bring lasting benefits to local communities and the environment around the world.
You will be responsible for:

• Supporting complex modelling projects - working with experts across a range of disciplines to apply your attention to detail and numerical skills to environmental engineering projects.


• Contributing to novel computational solutions by coding in languages (e.g. R and Python), ultimately aiming to use advances in computing (such as GPU processing, machine learning, visualisation, digital twin) to develop scripts and graphical interfaces that revolutionise the way we work.


• Devising script/code solutions to water and environmental problems, including: analysis, data checking, statistical analysis, pattern recognition, data transformation; numerical modelling (including machine learning); bespoke modelling routines, including CFD water quality, groundwater analysis and climate change scenario aggregation; and efficiency tools to provide numerical model set up, running, post-processing and reporting automation.


• Supporting the wider numerical modelling community, with involvement in groundwater (e.g. water resource management, geothermal energy, pollutant tracking); national and international flood risk (e.g. hydrological assessments, flood risk mapping, flood risk assessments, flood forecasting, river restoration); and integrated water management (e.g. drought forecasting, climate change impact assessments, AQUATOR, Pywr, WSIMOD).


• Providing the technical support needed during bidding to win and influence some of the world's largest infrastructure projects.


Mott MacDonald combines heritage, vision and values into an ethos that encourages innovative thinking and career progression, whether technical, management or commercial/client-facing. With us, you will have control of your own career path and technical direction, which we will support by giving you the opportunities to work on diverse projects and to challenge the technical direction of our work.
Mott MacDonald is a unique company to work for, combining heritage, vision and values into an ethos that encourages innovative thinking and career progression in technical, management or commercial/client-facing directions, or a combination thereof. You will have control of your own career path, which we will support through mentoring and training, but above all by giving you the opportunities to face new challenges and take more responsibilities. Examples of your contributions are:

• Developing hydraulic models (using packages such as Flood Modeller, TUFLOW, HEC-RAS and ICM) to assist the design of Flood Alleviation Schemes, deliver Flood Risk Assessments and conduct reservoir flood studies.


• Developing groundwater models (using packages such as MODFLOW) to support in groundwater investigations.


• Analysing data using tools such as ArcGIS, QGIS, Python, Microsoft Excel


• Producing high quality reports for clients


Alongside your technical role, you will have the opportunity to develop your skills in project management and business development through engaging with our clients.
We are looking for someone with great team spirit to become an integral part of our wider Water Resources and Flooding sub-sector, which brings together a wealth of knowledge and experience in hydrology, hydrogeology, water quality, catchment management, climate resilience, hydraulic modelling, flood risk, computational fluid dynamics and associated disciplines., We put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they have the opportunity to contribute.
If you have a disability and would prefer to apply in a different format or would like us to make reasonable adjustments to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can assist.
Agile working
At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team and personal commitments. We embrace agility, flexibility and trust.


• Experience in delivering numerical, computational or modelling solutions


• Strong coding skills, preferably with statistical foundations


• Degree level qualification in hydrology, geography, mathematics, civil engineering, or other related discipline


• Good communication and written skills


• Well organised and able to prioritise your own workload with minimal supervision


• Logical and pragmatic approach to problem solving, attention to detail and an ambition to innovate


• Understand the importance of prioritising health, safety and environmental issues


Desirable criteria:

• Professional consultancy experience in water resources and flood modelling.


• Working towards chartership with an appropriate professional body (e.g. ICE, CIWEM, IMA, BCS).


• Knowledge of flood modelling software e.g. Flood Modeller, TUFLOW, HECRAS or ICM


• Knowledge of using ArcGIS, QGIS and Python