Sustainable Development Principal Adviser – Thames Solent Area Team – Ref : 5660

Do you want to make a difference for people and nature? Do you have a passion for securing significant environmental gains in the present and the future? Do you enjoy working in a team? Can you see yourself advising communities and customers to maximise gains for the Natural Environment?

If this appeals to you, a career at Natural England offers rewarding opportunities to secure environmental improvements and play your part in creating a better future for people and nature.

The priority work Natural England is delivering includes:

• Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive
• Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods

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.

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

Natural England staff are inclusive, motivated, and ambitious to achieve results for our environment, and for everyone. We welcome and encourage applications from all communities and we operate a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role.

Wherever possible we will accommodate requests for both full-time and part-time hours and other flexible working patterns to help employees achieve a good work/life balance and maintain their health and wellbeing.

From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Where appropriate there will be offers of training under our apprenticeship schemes.

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. By default, 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.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Thames Solent Staff are based out of Reading, Eastleigh, Wallingford and London.

View a map of our office locations here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-office-locations

This is an exciting opportunity to work in the Thames Solent Area Team at Natural England.

You will work with our planning Advisers and Specialists to contribute to wider networks, building effective working relationships with national teams and other Area Teams.

 As a Principal Adviser you will fulfil a key leadership role and will be expected to be a role model for Natural England’s ways of working.

Job description   

This role will involve senior level, strategic oversight, and support of our Sustainable Development work in the Thames Solent area team.  You will help to drive delivery of the Nature Recovery Network within our Priority Places and the wider team through our planning advice.  It will require a strategic approach to integrating these work areas in a place and in partnership with others, both internal and external.

As a Principal Adviser, you will have responsibility for functional support of our Sustainable Development delivery:

• Provide leadership to reimagine our strategic development work for Thames Solent, looking to support and enable the delivery of a Nature Recovery Network, with benefits for people and nature.
• Identify and influence key Sustainable Development opportunity plans and projects to maximise multiple benefits for people and nature.
• Work closely with Managers to plan and deliver reforms.
• Actively undertaking external horizon scanning to provide leadership on changes in legislation, best practice etc
• Build internal and external partnerships and relationships, looking for opportunities of collaboration, network sharing of best practice that will benefit NE.
• Provide support to the advisers in the team as a subject matter expert, along with building capability and sharing knowledge within the team. 
• Work with partners and national staff to identify and disseminate lessons learnt that can improve future casework delivery.
• Take ownership and responsibility for significant or complex risks, issues, projects or cases that require greater experience or knowledge.
• Provide expert technical advice to the team on casework and spatial plans including environmental impact and habitats regulations assessments, and strategic approaches as required.
• Quality assurance and support major infrastructure and other planning casework,
• Work with team members to support the effective case handling and delivery of timely and evidence-based advice, attending meetings and public inquiries/hearings as appropriate.
• Manage risks and resolve issues as they arise, escalating and briefing upwards as required.

Key accountabilities: 

• Shaping alignment of Nature Recovery Network and Sustainable Development work in Thames Solent area
• Delivery, monitoring and reporting of agreed KPIs, delivery plan and commissions linked to our sustainable development work.
• Deliver consistency in approach amongst the team members, ensuring that messaging, policies, procedures, and training resources are delivered in accordance with legislation, best practice and is fit for NE purposes. 
• Wider contributions to the Thames Solent leadership team. 

Knowledge, Skills & Experience:  

Specific knowledge, skills and experience required: 

• The ability to make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence, seeing the big picture and the organisational context (vision, mission and aims). 
• The ability to see the big picture, so you can steer sustainable development work within the context of the organisation’s vision, mission and aims, and help colleagues understand how their work relates to and supports this.
• The ability to build collaborative relationships with colleagues (both internally and externally) to help make things happen and deliver outcomes, including with Senior leaders. 
• Experience of leading significant change, and maximising resource efficiency and effectiveness through a culture of continuous improvement 
• Ability to direct, coach and support staff to deliver on sustainable development objectives
• The ability to resolve problems and manage risks that requires significant levels of judgement and interpretation with innovative solutions  
• Excellent planning, prioritisation, and organisational ability to manage complex delivery areas with competing demands. Project Management skills. 
• Excellent written and oral communications skills 
• Robust and current knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance and how to apply and interpret it to NE’s activities and duties
• Strong understanding of environmental protection in England and the legislation that underpins them
• Demonstrable experience of UK ecology with a broad understanding of priority habitats and species – essential

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 and Knowledge – Expert
• Personal Effectiveness – Expert
• Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas – Expert
• Putting People at the Heart – Expert
• Leading and Managing People – Practitioner

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.

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.

Competencies

Competence 1   

Professional competency

Detail   

Technical Skills and Knowledge – Expert
(STAR format not needed for this competency)

Description  

• Strong knowledge of natural environment including ecology, biodiversity y and landscape
  • Substantial technical expertise applied experience or other relevant degree/qualification focused on the Town and Country Planning system, legislation, national policy, and guidance. Applicants that do not hold a relevant degree should specify experience and outputs that they have produced that demonstrate that they have an equivalent level of knowledge.
  • Strong experience and skills in assessing environmental impacts and opportunities of large complex developments and spatial plans to provide outcome-focussed solutions and advice.
  • Understanding and experience of applying Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Framework with particular reference to tacking inequality of access to high quality greenspace

Competence 2   

Professional competency

Detail   

Personal Effectiveness – Expert

Description  

• Share your knowledge and expertise with people in your networks (both internal and external) to help develop their capability and to improve outcomes.
  • Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence.
  • Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience.
  • Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act.

Competence 3   

Professional competency

Detail   

Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas – Expert

Description   

• Assess environmental impacts and identify appropriate avoidance, mitigation and/ or compensation measures.
  • Identify and apply relevant planning and environmental legislation, policies, and processes to deliver effective and proportionate evidence-based solutions and advice.
  • Understand and advise how biodiversity net gain can support strategic approaches to the natural environment, in the delivery of Local Nature Recovery Strategies and the Nature Recovery Network.

Competence 4   

Professional competency

Detail  

Putting People at the Heart – Expert

Description  

• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England.
  • Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims.
  • Understand and explain the outcomes that we seek in your local patch and how these fit in with local and national issues.
  • Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature.

Competence 5  

Professional competency

Detail   

Leading and Managing People – Practitioner

Description   

• Create a supportive environment that enables team members to innovate, take risks, and show creativity in the way they deliver the business objectives, and to reflect, review and learn lessons from their work.
  • Facilitate and support the development of your colleagues in line with personal, team and organisational objectives enabling them to share expertise and continuously learn.
  • Set clear plans and expectations for colleagues, explain reasons behind decisions, be clear on the outcomes to be achieved, and make things happen by sharing and delegating work to the right people.

• 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 : Louise Crothall
• Email : louise.crothall@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07785 459 128

Recruitment team

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