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Job summary

This position can be based at NE Eastleigh, SO50 9YN, Nobel House London, Reading, Wallingford

Job description

Natural England’s Thames Solent Area Team covers Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Hampshire, London and the Isle of Wight. Our main offices are in Reading, Eastleigh, and London.

We are the largest local delivery team in Natural England and are responsible for protecting the natural environment across a patch of land and coast from the New Forest in the west, to London and Surrey in the east and including the Isle of Wight. This area contains a range of rare habitats which are critical for biodiversity for both the United Kingdom and Europe, With the proximity to centres of population, we have the opportunity to promote greater connection with nature for all the benefits it brings.

Job description

Description of the Freshwater Senior Officer role:

The role involves using your ecological and regulatory knowledge and a problem-solving approach to provide leadership and coordinating the delivery across the breath of work related to the freshwater environment within the team. The post holder will work closely with other senior and principal officers, locally and nationally including the Strategic solutions staff, to contribute to the wider strategic water programme in Natural England and the Area Team Nature Recovery ambitions.

You will support colleagues across the Area Team, providing technical advice and support, leadership and effective networks to support this. This role will also collaborate with staff in neighbouring Area Teams to encourage wider nature recovery and bring resilience by improving integration of water work at regional scale. You will work closely with partners and stakeholders providing strategic engagement and relationship management - such as with the Environment Agency, Water Companies, Local Authorities and wider water stakeholders.

The role currently covers the responsibilities listed below however these can be adapted to an extent to suit the strengths and skills of the applicant.

Key Tasks:

As a Freshwater Senior Officer working in the Thames Solent Area Team your role would be varied and include:

• Provide oversight and direction of the team’s engagement and input into Strategic Water Planning. Taking an ecosystem and hydro-ecological process approach to identify and secure opportunities to address the challenges affecting our water environment e.g. climate change, drought, flooding, abstraction, pollution.
• Provide technical advice and leadership for the team on hydrological issues to build resilient ecosystems.
• Seek effective solutions to long standing freshwater issues working with others to implement them, using innovative and novel approaches where appropriate.
• Commission and / or deliver work to build our evidence base to support nature recovery.
• Work with colleagues from across the organisation, both local and national, and lead on technical input into major water projects and / or casework including Discretionary Advice Services.
• Strategic engagement and relationship management of key partners (such as the Environment Agency, Water Companies, Local Planning Authorities, stakeholder groups and organisations) to maximize joined up and effective delivery of opportunities.
• Build and lead effective networks to facilitate and influence thinking in this area, building resilience and sharing information across the freshwater team, Thames Solent Area Team and neighbouring Area Teams.
• Provide risk oversight and act as the escalation point for freshwater related high-risk casework in the area team in accordance with NE’s schemes of delegation.
• Work with all our work areas (e.g. protected sites, integrated farm advice, sustainable development and marine) and support our Officers to deliver water outcomes across all our work to ultimately deliver nature recovery at scale.
• Provide technical input where possible / relevant into Protected Sites Strategies in the area.
• Provide mentoring and training to grow the capability and capacity of our teams to provide technical water advice and create resilience in this work area

Skills and Knowledge:

• Familiarity and experience of Strategic Water Planning, or similar strategic approaches, e.g. Water Company Plans and Price Review, RAPID, River Basin Management Plans, Diffuse Water Pollution Plans, Water Level Management Plans, Local Plans, Water cycle studies. (Essential)
• Understanding of the challenges affecting our water environment e.g. climate change, drought, flooding, abstraction, pollution, management. (Essential)
• Understand how freshwater dependent ecosystems function, recognising and advising on impacts which could affect the resilience of an ecosystem (including ecological networks) (Essential). This could include:

• Understand the use of Habitats Regulations and give appropriate consent, assent and advice (Essential)
• Identify and apply relevant environmental, water and/or planning legislation, policies and processes to deliver effective and proportionate evidence-based solutions and advice (Essential)
• Understand the environmental value of designated sites, utilising evidence on site condition and explain that to partners, stakeholders and customers. (Essential)
• Knowledge of water quality, hydrology and hydrogeology (Desirable)
• Ability to use available evidence and make decisions (Essential)
• Ability to oversee complex technical cases/issues in the team (Essential)

It is essential that the post holder has a current, valid, full UK driving licence. Some national travel may be required, which might involve overnight stays.

Locations

This post is suitable for applicants within reasonable travelling distance of the Thames Solent area (Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey & London).

How to apply

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

• Personal Effectiveness
• Putting People and the Heart of the Environment
• Work Delivery
• Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas

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 doing so.

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

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail

Personal Effectiveness (Expert)

Description

• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Expert)
  • Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment (Practitioner)

Description

• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England (Practitioner)
  • Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail

Work Delivery (Expert)

Description

• Manage and deliver your work 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 (Practitioner)

Competence 4

Professional competency

Detail

Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas (Practitioner)

Description

• Understand how an ecosystem functions, recognising and advising on impacts which could affect the resilience of an ecosystem (including ecological networks) (Practitioner)
  • Identify and apply relevant planning and environmental legislation, policies and processes to deliver effective and proportionate evidence-based solutions and advice (Practitioner)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,550, Natural England contributes £12,037 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

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 : Rachael Jameson
• Email : rachael.jameson@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07342 056 446

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/6680-6680-Freshwater-Senior-Officer/en-GB

Attachments

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