Types of role

Consider a career with us, where you will work with friendly colleagues, in our beautiful and unique environments, and have a lasting impact on our communities and nature.

At the Trust we have a variety of roles and professional teams that not only care for our canals and rivers but also provide places for people, keep history alive, help nature thrive and deliver partnerships. If you're looking for hands on/outdoor roles, engineering, fundraising, environment & heritage, surveying, HR, marketing and more, consider joining our team and developing your skills and career.

Meet Danny

Dany is a team leader in the Docklands.

On the waterways

Opportunities to work along the canals and rivers in your local area are continually updated on our careers pages. These include lock keepers, workshop operatives, leisure assistants and enforcement officers. These roles are usually based outdoors, acting as a focal point and face of your local waterway.

Meet Brian

Brian is a Workshop Craft Operative on a Level 3 Apprenticeship at Bradley Workshop

Specialist skills

Maintaining our locks, our bridges and the canals themselves are key to our continued success and development, and specialist skills are often needed on a national and regional basis. We are always keen to hear from engineers, planners, surveyors and project managers who can bring experience from any sector to work on an impressive variety of projects.

Desk-based

Our desk-based departments include marketing, procurement, HR, administration and finance, and we offer a variety of opportunities at varying levels. We are now a home-working/hybrid charity with a number of Hub spaces across England and Wales kitted out with practical working areas, including solo desks and meeting rooms. We live and work by the same values as our colleagues who are based out on the waterways, making this a great place to be.

Read Matt's story

I joined the Trust after several years working in commercial software companies where I never really felt satisfied with being part of the ‘corporate machine.' Now that I work for a charity, and specifically as part of the Fundraising Directorate my ambition is to become a fundraising person who works in technology rather than a technology person who works in fundraising, and I’ve never been happier.

The best thing about working for the Trust is the people. The cliches of the corporate world – “we’re all one big team”, “we’re all pulling in the same direction” etc. are all true here. We’re all here because we want to be, and because we believe in supporting and maintaining our network now and for the future. Nobody is climbing a corporate ladder; nobody is making decisions based on profit or shareholder pressure, and the Trust works really hard to make you feel close to the canal and river network regardless of the job that you do.

I'm home-based but there are some amazing spaces to work when I want or need to be in an office with other people. I feel like I work with friends and it’s always a great experience when we do get together. Coming to work for the Trust has been life-changing, and I’ll be here for as long as they’ll let me.