Higher Officer - Treescapes (formally TAP D) Tree Action Plan Delivery - ( Ref : 6619 )

Job summary

This position is based at Tyneside House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Job description

Small cohort of 3 people including the applicant, working with a level equivalent advisor and a senior advisor. But will form part of a much larger Northumbria team.

Job description

This is a permanent role within Natural England's Northumbria Area Team.

We are looking for someone who wants to provide advice on one of the Government's key environmental ambitions: increasing woodland and tree cover across England.

Trees and woodlands can provide many benefits, including supporting wildlife, helping communities adapt to climate change, improving water quality, reducing flood risk and creating attractive places for people to enjoy. This role will help ensure that new woodland is created in the right places and in ways that maximise these benefits.

You will form part of a small but experienced team working with a wide range of partners, including landowners, forestry organisations, conservation bodies and public sector organisations, providing advice and guidance on woodland creation proposals.

You will need to be comfortable managing a varied workload, building relationships with different stakeholders and providing clear advice to support decision-making.

The role will involve travel across the Northumbria area to visit sites and attend meetings, so a full driving licence is required.

Key Responsibilities

• Review and provide advice on proposals for new woodland and tree planting projects.
• Work with organisations such as the Forestry Commission, Community Forests, conservation charities, National Parks, landowners and land agents.
• Help identify opportunities for woodland creation that support both people and nature.
• Provide advice on environmental considerations that may affect where and how new woodland can be established.
• Build and maintain positive working relationships with key partners involved in woodland creation.
• Develop an understanding of funding opportunities and grant schemes that support tree planting and woodland establishment.
• Work closely with colleagues across Natural England to ensure woodland creation contributes to wider nature recovery projects and delivers benefits for wildlife, landscapes and local communities.
• Support the development of innovative approaches such as agroforestry, where trees are integrated into farming systems.

What We're Looking For

We welcome applications from people with a range of backgrounds and experiences.

Essential:

• An interest in nature recovery, land management, forestry, conservation or environmental improvement.
• The ability to assess information and provide clear, practical advice.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Good organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• The ability to work collaboratively with a range of partners and stakeholders.
• Willingness to learn.

Desirable:

• Understanding of habitats, wildlife conservation or landscape management
• Knowledge of woodland creation, forestry or tree planting projects.
• Experience working with landowners, farmers, environmental organisations or public bodies.
• Awareness of environmental regulations, planning processes or land management funding schemes.

Training and Development

We recognise that not everyone will meet every requirement from day one. Training and support will be provided to help you develop the knowledge and skills needed for the role.

If you are passionate about helping create a greener, more resilient future and enjoy working with people to deliver positive change, we would encourage you to apply.

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail

Work Delivery

Description

Understand and apply relevant policy, legislation, governance frameworks and strategies to your work (Practitioner)
• Manage and deliver your workload to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Expert)
• See the big picture so you can set your team’s work within the context of the organisation’s vision, mission and aims, and help them understand how their work relates to and supports this (Expert)

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Putting people at the heart of the environment

Description

Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims. (Expert)
• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England. (Expert)
• Understand and explain the outcomes that we seek in your local patch and how these fit in with local and national issues (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail

Personal effectiveness

Description

Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Expert)
• Act with integrity, addressing challenging issues and managing conflict through being open and objective (Practitioner)
• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Expert)

Competence 4

Professional competency

Detail

Technical/specialist knowledge

Description

To note: STAR format is not required for this competency but please give evidence of your skills and knowledge.)
• Technical understanding of landscape-scale nature recovery, specifically the benefits and risks of new woodland establishment in relation to nature recovery: key priority habitats, priority species, ecosystem services and climate change. (Essential)
• The ability to resolve problems and manage risks that requires significant levels of judgement and interpretation with innovative solutions. (Essential)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Licences

Full UK Driving Licence

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,240, Natural England contributes £9,339 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please refer to Job Description

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Sean Yeganeh
• Email : Sean.Yeganeh@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07713133132

Recruitment team

• Email : defra-recruitment-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

https://networkrecruitment.tal.net/vx/appcentre-7/brand-4/spa-1/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/8/opp/6619-Higher-Officer-Treescapes-formally-TAP-D-Tree-Action-Plan-Delivery-6619/en-GB

Attachments

DEF-001h - Candidate Pack Natural England v2.9 Opens in new window (docx, 548kB)