Senior Officer to Chief Scientist - Private Office - ( Ref : 6461 )

Job summary

This position is based Nationally

Job description

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.

• Recovering Nature– Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
• Building Better Places– Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
• Improving Health and Wellbeing– Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
• Delivering Security through Nature– Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at:

Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK

The Team

This is a high‑profile role sitting with Natural England's Private Office team, providing proactive strategic support to the Chief Scientist, enabling her to focus on organisational priorities and lead effectively across Natural England. The role involves regular engagement with Chief Officers, Directors, Deputy Directors, the Chair and the Chief Executive.

You will play a pivotal role in ensuring that senior leaders can discharge their responsibilities within the Natural England Governance Framework, supporting high standards of risk management, governance and control. In addition, as the Chief Scientist also holds responsibility as Chief Officer for Digital and Data, the role includes supporting coordination and communication across digital, data and analytical workstreams, ensuring alignment between scientific priorities, digital transformation and organisational strategy.

You will also help maintain and strengthen the Chief Scientist’s relationships with senior scientific leaders across UK Government, academia, research institutions and wider partners, ensuring Natural England is plugged into major cross‑government scientific discussions, evidence needs and opportunities.

The role offers a significant opportunity to gain insight into organisational leadership within a dynamic environment, with dedicated time and mentoring from the Chief Scientist to support your personal development.

Job description

Key Accountabilities

Ensure the Chief Scientist is fully prepared for commitments, briefed on key developments, and able to use her time effectively in line with organisational priorities.

• Support her in discharging duties under the Natural England Governance Framework, safeguarding high standards of risk management, governance and control.
• Understand, communicate and help drive forward the Chief Scientist’s strategic priorities, supporting the wider business and contributing actively to the Chief Scientist Directorate (CSD) Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and the Senior Leadership Group (SLG)
• Prepare, quality‑assure and review briefings and submissions, ensuring clarity, timeliness and alignment with organisational aims; provide constructive feedback to teams to build capability.
• Lead specific project areas, providing high‑quality advice and recommendations on sensitive or complex issues.
• Build strong strategic working relationships across Natural England to support delivery of priorities.
• Identify, track and escalate senior leader business priorities; work closely with the Higher Personal Assistant to manage correspondence and ensure timely completion of actions.
• Work with Private Office colleagues to build resilience and ensure consistent, high‑quality support to senior leadership and governance functions.
• In partnership with External Affairs, develop an Engagement Plan for the Chief Scientist that supports her internal and external ambassadorial roles and increases visibility across the organisation.
• Provide direct support at internal/external meetings, events and visits.
• Line manage the Higher Personal Assistant.
• Support the Chief Scientist’s wider portfolio, including digital and data leadership responsibilities, ensuring effective coordination across digital, data, analytical and scientific activity.
• Build and maintain relationships with senior science leaders across government departments, academia and research institutions to support Natural England’s evidence needs, influence and visibility.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Highly organised, proactive and able to work at pace; self‑motivated and reliable.
• Clear, honest and engaging communication skills, tailored to the audience.
• Confidence and judgement to handle issues on behalf of the Chief Scientist, including challenging upwards and shifting focus when priorities change.
• Ability to identify and drive improvements, encouraging others to adopt better ways of working.
• Excellent prioritisation, time‑management and attention to detail.
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft 365 and familiarity with a range of communication tools, including PowerPoint and social media platforms.
• Ability to understand and apply relevant policy, legislation, governance requirements and strategies.
• Understanding of the work of CSD and/or an appreciation of environmental sciences is highly beneficial.
• Ability to navigate scientific, digital and data‑related issues to support the Chief Scientist’s combined portfolio.

Key Relationships

• Close, supportive relationship with the Chief Scientist.
• Regular interaction with senior leaders across CSD and the wider organisation.
• Collaboration with External Affairs and Communications teams to develop forward‑look engagement plans, identify risks and maximise opportunities.
• Engagement with external stakeholders and service providers.
• Close working relationship with the Chief Scientist’s Higher Personal Assistant and Senior Officers across the Private Office.
• Regular engagement with scientific leaders across UK Government, academia and research institutions.

Benefits

At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements.

We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering.

You’ll receive a generous leave allowance of 33 days per year (pro rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events.

We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Locations

Natural England has adopted hybrid working – which means our staff work from a flexible range of locations, encompassing home, offices (ours and our partners) and relevant sites. All new staff will be formally linked to one of our 25 offices across England, and the expectation is that all new staff will be able to access their local office to be part of the community of staff in their geographical area. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.

Staff members are required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Travel expenses will be paid if work-related travel is required but does not apply to travel between home and your associated office.

National team roles can be linked with any Natural England office while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.

View a map of our office locations here: online map of Natural England office locations

Pay

It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.

You will become an active member of the relevant local leadership community, the group of senior Natural England staff in each of the localities across England who we ask to provide support and co-ordination for the local group of staff.

How to Apply

We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at interview, or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you should notify us of this at application stage where possible, or well in advance of your interview. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:

• Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
• Personal Effectiveness
• Work Delivery

When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. Give us an example of how you have demonstrated the competency (which can be work related or from another area of your life) and tell us about the Situation, the specific Task you had to undertake, the specific Actions you took, and the Result (both immediate and in a wider context) of your Action.

Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency.

Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all competencies as set out in the Job Description.

As with all roles in NE, these roles require office attendance of a minimum of 20% of the working time – one day per week for those who work full time, subject to any reasonable adjustments and/or existing contractual homeworking.

Competencies

Competence 1

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. (Practitioner)

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Personal effectiveness

Description

Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)
Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail

Work Delivery

Description

Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Expert)
Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures (Practitioner)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,660, Natural England contributes £11,489 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Sophie Kimber
• Email : sophie.kimber@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 0779 5607 764

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/6461-6461-Senior-Officer-to-Chief-Scientist-Private-Office/en-GB

Attachments

DEF-001h - Candidate Pack Natural England v2.5 Opens in new window (docx, 424kB)