Land Access Manager

ERM is the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, with over 50 years of experience helping organizations navigate complex environmental, social, and governance challenges. We bring together a global community of experts to deliver meaningful impact for our clients and the planet.

Our Consulting Delivery Hub (CDH) in India is a critical part of ERM’s global consulting model enabling scalable, high-quality delivery across regions and service lines. CDH teams work in close partnership with regional consultants to support global client projects, providing specialist expertise, driving consistency, and enhancing delivery efficiency across our most important programmes.

As part of the Consulting Delivery Hub, you will collaborate with colleagues worldwide, contribute to complex sustainability projects, and play a key role in shaping the future of global consulting delivery.

Why this role matters?

As a Land Access Manager, you will support ERM's global consulting delivery by leading the coordination, negotiation, and management of land access, wayleaves, licenses, and voluntary agreements required to progress UK capital projects through survey, consenting, construction, and post-consent phases. You will work within the Capital Project Delivery (CPD) - Projects Feasibility, Planning & Consents pillar, partnering with UK regional planning teams, project managers, ecology and heritage specialists, and developer/utility clients to deliver secure, timely, and cost-effective access to third-party land. This role is critical to unlocking programme certainty, de-risking consenting and construction, and building CPD's UK Land Services capability as an integrated part of ERM's wider Land & Right of Way offer.

What your impact is?

• Land access is secured on schedule across a portfolio of UK infrastructure and energy projects (transmission, renewables, water, transport, and consented developments), removing critical path risk from survey and construction programmes.

• Landowners, tenants, occupiers, and agents are engaged professionally and consistently, protecting ERM's and our clients' reputation and maintaining social licence to operate.

• Access agreements, wayleaves, option agreements, licences, and heads of terms are drafted, negotiated, and executed to a high commercial and legal standard, in line with client mandates.

• Land referencing, Book of Reference, and Land Interest data are accurate, auditable, and DCO/CPO-ready, integrated with GIS and project data systems.

• Land Access Coordinators and Survey Coordinators within the sub-team are mentored, developed, and deployed effectively, contributing to CPD's UK Land Services growth ambitions.

• The service line grows profitably through repeat business, cross-sell into ERM's ESIA, consenting, and TDD offers, and disciplined utilisation and margin management.

What will you bring?

• Demonstrable experience (typically 7+ years) in land access, land referencing, wayleaves, or right-of-way acquisition on UK linear infrastructure, energy, utilities, or major development projects.

• Proven ability to lead landowner negotiations end-to-end - from initial engagement through to signed agreement, damage settlement, and post-works reinstatement.

• Working knowledge of the UK legal and regulatory framework for land access, including the Electricity Act 1989, New Roads and Street Works Act, Planning Act 2008 (DCO), Compulsory Purchase, and voluntary wayleave regimes.

• Experience delivering land referencing outputs to support DCO, TWAO, s.36, or planning applications, including Book of Reference and Land Plans.

• Strong stakeholder management skills across landowners, agents, solicitors, statutory undertakers, and client project teams.

• Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects, budgets, and workstreams to time, cost, and quality - with commercial awareness of utilisation, margin, and negative variance management.

• Confident user of GIS, land data platforms, and Microsoft 365; comfortable interpreting title, deeds, and plans.

Preferred skills & competencies

• Experience on Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs), offshore transmission onshore works, or large renewables portfolios.

• Prior line management or team leadership experience within a consultancy, developer, or utility land team.

• Familiarity with post-consent land activities including construction access, crossings, and reinstatement.

• Exposure to global delivery or shared service environments, with experience working alongside offshore/CDH delivery teams.

• Experience using automation, GIS-linked land databases, or AI-enabled tools for land referencing and stakeholder tracking.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the land access workstream on assigned UK CPD projects, owning strategy, programme, budget, and risk for landowner engagement, access agreements, and wayleaves.

• Negotiate and secure voluntary access agreements, options, licences, and wayleaves with landowners, tenants, and their agents, in line with client mandates and ethical standards.

• Manage and quality-assure land referencing outputs (Book of Reference, Land Interest schedules, Land Plans) to support DCO, TWAO, and planning submissions, coordinating with GIS and consenting leads.

• Act as the primary interface between ERM project teams, client project managers, external legal advisers, and landowners/agents, ensuring clear, timely, and professional communication.

• Provide input into feasibility, routing, and consenting decisions by flagging land access risks, constraints, and mitigation options early in the project lifecycle.

• Ensure compliance with ERM's health, safety, quality, and ethics standards on all fieldwork and landowner engagement, including lone-working and land access risk assessments.

• Maintain accurate records, audit trails, and evidence of engagement to support future consent examinations, compulsory purchase inquiries, or dispute resolution.