We are the Government’s advisor for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, an ambitious vision which brings new opportunities to protect and enhance and to achieve real outcomes for the environment.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to an expanding work area within Natural England. This post is hosted by the Water, Coast and Pollution team, which sits in the national Strategy & Government Advice directorate. The directorate’s wider purpose is achieving Natural England’s aims by providing advice, support, and delivering work for the programmes, including:

• Advising Government on its environmental policy development relevant to our remit.
• Developing and delivering new programmes and pilots for Government to support major strategies such as the 25 Year Environment Plan and Environment Act.
• Developing internal standards and guidance on novel issues.

The Water, Coast and Pollution team lead on policy and strategy input regarding air quality, chemicals and pesticides, resource protection, freshwater nature recovery, and flood and coastal erosion risk management.

Job description

We are looking for an ambitious and experienced candidate to provide project management and technical advice on securing nature recovery and Natural England’s Flood and Coastal agenda, with a focus on Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) plans and associated delivery. You will play a vital part in supporting the implementation of Natural England’s (NE) revised advice delivery to Environment Agency (EA) across their ambitious Capital Delivery Programme, working closely with both organisations’ delivery teams. The post sits alongside a related role that focuses on embedding Natural Flood Management across NE’s delivery and policy agenda, helping secure Natural England's objectives.

You will feed into cross-government policy making and programme-level stakeholder engagement planning, leading engagement with several key stakeholders relevant to your work area. Internal networks are just as important; you will work closely with others in NE’s Strategy & Government Advice, National Operations and Area Teams, as well as specialists in the Chief Scientist Directorate to help support our outcomes across the water and FCERM agenda.

You will receive support and functional guidance from Principal Advisers and Specialists and work with a range of colleagues across Natural England, which will help you to lead the way for other advisers within the area teams, providing guidance and formulating strategy as appropriate.

We are seeking a person who is enthusiastic and organised, able to see the bigger picture and work with and through others to create change. You should possess excellent project management, interpersonal, organisational and communication skills to ensure we work closely with others to achieve the best outcomes for all. You will be expected to show flexibility in taking on and managing other work should team priorities or resources change.

Key Tasks/Responsibilities

• Project manage the coordination of NE’s national engagement and implementation of NE lead actions for EA’s FCERM Strategy. Providing support, technical advice, and guidance to internal teams, escalating issues as needed.
• Provide national links and programme support and development in the delivery of NE’s advice to EA FCERM Capital programme, working with others across NE and contracted through the Discretionary Advice Service (DAS+) to maximise opportunities for nature recovery, developing expertise and capability along the way.
• Embedding natural flood management into wider government policy, scheme reform and operational delivery - including the new Environmental Land Management Schemes, Nature Recovery Networks and Environment Act implementation - to secure a range of outcomes including habitat restoration.
• Maintain and develop relationships both internally and with key stakeholders such as Defra, Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA), catchment and coastal partnerships and the EA. Engaging with a variety of internal networks and developing others as needed.
• Develop and support the delivery of evidence projects when required, to ensure NE’s advice is evidence-led, while working closely with colleagues in Chief Scientist Directorate and elsewhere to deliver projects on time and within budget.

Locations

Natural England is adopting hybrid working – which means that our staff will 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 geographic area. 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: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-office-locations

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.

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

• Technical Skills, Knowledge & Qualifications
• Personal Effectiveness
• Work Delivery
• Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

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

Technical Skills, Knowledge & Qualifications (STAR format not needed for this competency)

Description

Possess a relevant degree or have an equivalent level of applied experience. Applicants that do not hold a relevant degree should specify experience and delivery examples that demonstrate an equivalent level of knowledge. (Essential)
Good knowledge and experience of working on FCERM delivery including natural flood management techniques and solutions. (Essential)
Good understanding of ecohydrology, coastal processes and of the pressures acting on freshwater and coastal ecosystems. (Essential)
Good understanding of existing environmental regulation, policy, and delivery mechanisms particularly those relevant to agriculture, freshwater, and protected sites in England. (Essential)
Experience or a good understanding of working within UK policy development sector. (Desirable)

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Personal Effectiveness

Description

Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together. (Practitioner)
Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and throughout your organisation and inspire others to act. (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)

Competence 4

Professional competency

Detail

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

Description

Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and the organisation you represent. (Practitioner)
Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature. (Practitioner)

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Job contact :

Name :
Tom O'Keeffe
Email :
tom.okeeffe@natural.england.org.uk
Telephone :
07503346736

Recruitment team

Email :
defra-recruitment-enquiries@gov.sscl.com