Experienced Fisheries Consultant

Location: London, UK

Working hours: Full-time

Salary and terms: Salary will be competitive, reflect our London base, and commensurate with the level of experience of the candidate appointed. Benefits include a contributory pension scheme, life assurance and Paycare medical benefits.

Closing date: The position will remain open until filled

MRAG Limited is a leading international consultancy dedicated to the sustainable management of natural resources. We specialise in aquatic resources, in particular fisheries and aquaculture.

Your Role at MRAG

We are currently seeking one of two positions – Senior or Principal Consultant – to take responsibility for significant areas of the business, and for the full project cycle.

As a Senior Consultant, you should have more than five years’ experience and will contribute to our exciting portfolio of international fisheries projects. You will be expected to generate your own projects and take ownership of their planning and implementation. Experience of project management is essential, as you will be responsible for overseeing certain projects or programmes. Your role will vary across projects, and on some you will be the project manager, responsible for meeting technical, budgetary and timeline requirements. This includes allocating work to staff, partners and external consultants, providing your own technical and field inputs, and managing that of others. You will liaise directly with clients and partners without supervision and be trusted to exercise sound judgement, ensuring that any project-related issues are escalated to senior management, when needed. In addition to managing projects, you will also contribute to those led by other team members. This may include delivering field work, conducting analysis, interpreting, and presenting data, and participate in or organising meetings. You will also be responsible for writing sections of high-quality technical reports, review and editing other’s work, managing your time effectively, coordinating with others and meeting multiple deadlines.

As a Principal Consultant you should have more than eight years’ experience in consultancy, with a wide geographical experience in fisheries and an established network of contacts. The role requires the ability to work autonomously where needed but with an awareness of and to be integrated into the business. You will have a proven track record in managing complex, multi-country projects and delivering high-quality technical outputs. Experience working with international donors, governments, or NGOs is highly desirable. You should bring deep technical expertise in areas such as stock assessment, marine resource management, or fisheries policy. Further to this, strong analytical and problem-solving skills are essential, along with the ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, oversee project delivery, and ensure technical, financial, and timeline compliance. Experience in mentoring junior staff, running training workshops, producing high-quality technical reports, and presenting findings to clients or stakeholders is expected. Excellent communication, leadership, and client engagement skills are vital. You should have experience in business development, including preparing successful funding proposals and identifying new project opportunities. A proactive and strategic mindset, along with the willingness to travel internationally, is essential for the role.

Qualifications and Experience

Post-graduate degree in marine biology, fisheries science or another relevant subject.
Minimum of 5 years’ professional experience in fisheries sector respective of each position.
Experience managing the full project cycle, including contractual and budgeting aspects.
Proven experience in new business development and a network of relevant contacts.
Experience leading and managing project teams.
Excellent written, presentation and quantitative analytic skills, with a track record of producing high quality outputs.
Use of R statistics, QGIS or similar, and analysis of large datasets (e.g. SQL, MS Access).
Training workshops, including development of course materials.
Broad geographically experience in projects related to fisheries and aquaculture.
Strong communication skills, both within teams and with client and project partners. Additional languages are desirable but not essential.
Ability to multitask across several projects, often to tight deadlines.
Knowledge of fisheries and climate change, ecosystem approach to fisheries management, the blue economy or marine spatial planning would be desirable, but not essential.

Apply Now

This is a full-time position in London, UK. Please ensure you have the right to work in UK and hold a valid work visa, where required, before making your application. If you are interested, please submit the following to jobs@mrag.co.uk, marked for the attention of Dr Robert Wakeford.

A cover letter outlining how your skills, experience and knowledge directly address the responsibilities and requirements. Please include your current salary and notice period.
Your CV, including full contact details.
Referees whom we may contact at a later stage.
Examples of your writing skills (e.g. published papers, publicly available project outputs).

At a later stage we may also seek from you:

Copies of certificates for academic and other qualifications

Please submit all documents as Word or PDF files with titles like: “Your Name Cover Letter”, “Your Name CV”, “Your Name Writing Skills Example 1,” etc. The subject of the email should read: Application for Principal Consultant.

Application closing date: The position will remain open until filled.