V397 Science and Contract Manager Senior Adviser – Ref : 5661

East Midlands (England), East of England, London (region), North East England, North West England, South East England, South West England, West Midlands (England), Yorkshire and the Humber

This position is based Nationally

Do you have a passion for nature and the environment? Do you want to make a real difference and secure 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
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature
• Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing

 

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

 

The Team

 

This is an exciting opportunity to be a part of an expanding work area within Natural England. This post is a part of the National Water, Coast and Pollution team which sits in the Strategy & Government Advice directorate. The directorate’s wider purpose is achieving Natural England’s aims by providing advice and support to key stakeholders and delivering work for the programs, including:

 

1. Advising Government on the development of its environmental policy relevant to our remit
2. Developing and delivering new programs and pilots for Government to support major strategies such as the 25 Year Environment Plan
3. Lead stakeholder relationships with key national-level partners
4. Developing internal standards and guidance on novel issues

 

The H4 Indicator Project   

The 25-Year Environment Plan (25-YEP) was published in 2018. One of the goals within the 25-YEP is managing exposure to chemicals. This goal covers the safe use and management of chemicals and intends to ensure that levels of harmful chemicals entering the environment is significantly reduced.

Natural England is responsible for developing the indicator reporting tool and baseline for measuring the impacts of chemicals in the terrestrial environment (known as H4). The H4 indicator project is a collaborative piece of work across Government and partners.

Job description   

Key Tasks/Responsibilities 

 

You will support embedding the wider Natural England’s Chemicals Strategy and agenda across Natural England’s delivery.

 

You will lead on coordinating and managing projects on measuring the exposure of wildlife on land to harmful chemicals of concern.

 

Partnership working is essential for success in this role working with both external and internal partners. 

 

You will need a good knowledge of harmful chemicals and their impacts on wildlife on land, and good understanding of data analysis of trends over time and thresholds.

 

You will be required to develop and manage projects delivered through partners ensuring contracts remain on schedule and within budget.

 

To be successful in this role you will need to be enthusiastic and ambitious. Able to see the bigger picture and work with and through others to create change. Possesses excellent inter-personal, organizational and communication skills, ensuring we work closely with others to achieve the best outcomes for all.

 

You will need to show flexibility in taking on and managing other work should team priorities or resources change.

 

This is an evolving work area and specific responsibilities will develop and change over time. You will need to maintain a flexible and adaptable attitude and approach. Initial broad work areas are described below:

• Contribute to the development of robust data management including data release, data analysis, interpretation, and technical reporting.
• Provide synthesis of evidence and case studies to support the delivery of technical H4 reports.
• Work with the principal specialist and senior specialists in environmental impacts to develop technical project specifications, contracts, and agreements with key stakeholders. Provide technical input to agree measures of success and defining key milestones.
• Develop and manage monitoring projects through contracts, to ensure delivery in time and within budget and in accordance with the relevant financial guidelines. This will involve working with the Defra Procurement Team and NE Finance colleagues as appropriate.
• To work closely with colleagues and stakeholders, including Defra, Environment Agency, JNCC and the Health and Safety Executive who are leading on other interconnected research projects. Develop collaboration internally and externally on projects for the future of chemicals monitoring in the terrestrial environment.
• Work with the ‘H4 team’ and where relevant representing Natural England for your aspects of work when providing updates on progress and delivery of H4 monitoring.

 

Benefits

 

Wherever possible Natural England accommodates 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.

 

Natural England provides excellent opportunities for career progression, training and development tailored to your role. From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Everyone has 10 days to devote to personal learning and development, as well as an additional 3 days to volunteer.

 

You will have access to Civil Service Pension and benefits arrangements and generous leave allowances (33 day per year pro rata), as well as flexible working, to help you achieve a work-life balance that works for you and us.

 

You will have access to a range of benefits including discounts on shopping vouchers, cycle to work scheme, and childcare vouchers. You can also join the Civil Service Sport club which offer discounts on a range of sports and leisure opportunities as well as social events.

 

Natural England is a fantastic place to work, where difference is celebrated.

We’re committed to fairness and equality for all, so you feel valued for who you are and what you do. Our shared values help us work together to benefit the communities we serve. Our thriving employee-led diversity networks support our inclusive culture and contribute to our Diversity Action Plan.

 

Locations

Natural England is adopting 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. Full time staff are expected to attend their associated office for a minimum of one day a week. 
 
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.

 

Pay

 

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

 

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.
• Work Delivery.
• Personal Effectiveness.
• 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.

 

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   

Competence 1: Technical skills, knowledge, and qualifications

 

Description   

Qualified to at least BSc level in a relevant environmental science discipline. Or possess an equivalent level of applied experience, with a focus on harmful chemicals and terrestrial monitoring. Applicants that do not hold the required degree should specify experience and outputs that they have produced that demonstrate that they have an equivalent level of knowledge. (Essential).

Knowledge of harmful chemicals and pesticides and potential impacts on terrestrial habitats and wildlife species, and risk assessment approaches. (Essential).

Experience of managing scientific projects with partners, developing contracts, following financial protocols, and overseeing the successful completion of projects to time and within budget (Essential).

Experience of Excel to store and review data (Practitioner level) and experience of selecting and interpreting statistics and data analysis for monitoring design and reporting (Desirable).

 

Competence 2   

Professional competency

 

Detail   

Competence 2: Work delivery

 

Description   

Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Expert).

Understand and apply relevant policy legislation, governance frameworks and strategies to your work (Practitioner).

 

Competence 3   

Professional competency

 

Detail   

Competence 3: 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 the organisation you represent and inspire others to act (Practitioner).

 

Competence 4  

Professional competency

 

Detail  

Competence 4: 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 your organisation (Practitioner).

Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature (Practitioner).

Please refer to Job Description

Alongside your salary of £36,098, Natural England contributes
£9,782 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 average employer contribution of 27%

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).

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Job contact :

• Name : Fran Puttock
• Email : fran.puttock@naturalengland.org.uk

Recruitment team

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