Specialist in Social Science – (Ref: 5184)

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

We are seeking a Specialist in social science to sit within Natural England’s Social Science Team, within Specialist Science and Evidence. We have an interdisciplinary team and welcome applications from candidates with different disciplinary backgrounds and specialisms within the social sciences. The team includes a number of social science specialists, senior specialists and a principal specialist.  Our mission, to build partnerships for nature’s recovery, reflects the need for us to work with and through a wide range of people. In order to do this effectively, we need to understand people: to work with diverse ways of knowing, experiencing and thinking about the natural environment; understand behaviour and what drives it; understand how we engage with nature (or why we don’t); as well as how best to work together towards achieving our vision. Understanding people – and the social, political, cultural, institutional, economic and technological contexts in which we live and operate – is therefore critical to delivering thriving nature for people and planet. Natural England’s (NE’s) Action plan for 22/23 can be viewed here: Natural England action plan 2022 to 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). It contains information about the organisation’s priorities for the year and includes a description of NE’s four strategic programmes and its two supporting programmes.

The work we do relating to this is broad and largely takes three forms: 1) We respond to a wide range of commissions and support the delivery of evidence projects that respond to Natural England’s priorities and work programmes; 2) We build partnerships and work together with external organisations to drive forward our aims; 3) We scope and develop social science projects addressing key organisational needs.

Job description  

The post holder will lead on a number of social science commissions and evidence projects in response to Natural England priorities and work programmes.

The nature of the work may change over time, responding to organisational priorities. We are therefore seeking a permanent social science specialist who can be flexible and adaptable, with the ability to provide social science leadership and insights across any of Natural England’s programmes as the need arises.

Work areas will vary but may include some of the following:

• Contributing to the development and delivery of NE’s six programmes: Greener Farming and Fisheries; Sustainable Development; Connecting People to Nature; and, Resilient Landscapes and Seas, Science and Evidence, Managing the Organisation including helping to scope opportunities where social science can support programme delivery.
• Contributing to the implementation of the Science, Evidence and Evaluation Strategy http://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/5505442740699136#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20Natural%20England%E2%80%99s%20Science%2C%20Evidence%20and,legality%20of%20our%20decisions%2C%20fundamentally%20depend%20upon%20our
• Involvement in external networks to promote the use and impact of social science within the natural environment sector

The exact work areas to be supported will depend on the successful candidate’s knowledge and expertise.

The role of the specialist includes:

• Supporting social science team colleagues in data collection / analysis / reporting for specific projects; as required, to increase our capacity to deliver social research in-house. Leading on discreet projects when required.
• Contributing to evidence syntheses (including rapid evidence reviews) and policy/summary briefings.
• Supporting social science team colleagues in providing advice and guidance on social science approaches, methods and techniques; supporting others to use and understand these to maximise the robustness of research and applying social science to improve delivery.
• Lead on survey design and analysis in response to in-year requests from across NE programmes and teams, working with colleagues to ensure best practice is shared and adopted throughout the organisation.
• Support for social science outreach, resources and capability building across NE , including assisting and leading with organising, advertising, managing a social science training programme.
• Supporting delivery of workshops, webinars and presentations to raise awareness of social science research findings, theory and practice.
• Secretariat functions for Natural England’s Social Science Expert Panel.
• Managing the internal requests process, including; triaging requests; supporting non-social-science colleagues to develop their ideas; and, processing via liaising with team.
• Managing team communications, including: developing and maintaining a team comms plan; coordinating project-specific comms; leading on drafting regular intranet articles; updating internal webpages.
• Administrative and organisational support to team, including; managing the team reference library; ensuring data and project information archiving; project management assistance as required.
• Supporting the Social Science Team to continue to deliver and improve on our evidence standards and develop the vision for social science both within NE and the wider sector.
• Maintaining and improving their specialism, including contributing to relevant networks (for example, the cross-government Natural Environment Social Research Network) and building links with statisticians and social researchers in the Government Social Research (GSR) community.
• Working in and helping to build interdisciplinary teams, including with our Economist, Natural Capital and Evaluation Team.

One of the roles will include supporting the survey function of the social science team in:

• Delivery of day-to-day NE survey control function: collating information about all surveys planned / delivered across NE; supporting non-social science colleagues to deliver best practice surveys, as part of Natural England’s best practice engagement culture (advising on question formulation, sampling, analysis plans).
• Act as lead to ensure the social science team is delivering training to our colleagues on undertaking surveys and associated skills.
• Support of staff survey delivery and analysis.

We are seeking someone who is confident and capable of working at a strategic level and with the ability to quickly understand and respond to current needs and challenges.

Natural England staff are inclusive, motivated and ambitious to achieve results for our environment, 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 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.

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.

See more about the work of Natural England at:

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

National team roles can be done from any NE office / can be done from < specify> offices
You can view a map of our office locations here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-office-locations 

 

Information for applicants

 

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

At Natural England, we love what we do. We’re here to make sure people and nature can thrive. A healthy natural environment is fundamental to our wellbeing, prosperity and happiness – that’s why we collaborate with scientists, lawyers, project managers and experts to implement environmental policy and shape decisions.

We work with a wide range of partners, stakeholders and customers on a huge range of projects, from influencing construction, advising farmers and landowners how they can manage their land in a sustainable way for the benefit of the environment, gathering and analysing environmental data, and carrying out vital statutory duties. Across the country, we’re helping nature to support people and our planet.

We are focusing our efforts on six key programmes:

Greener Farming and Fisheries – supporting those who manage land and sea to operate in harmony with the environment

Sustainable Development – creating great places for people to live and work

Connecting People with Nature – promoting health and wellbeing through the great outdoors

Resilient Landscapes and Seas – protecting and restoring wildlife and natural beauty for future generations

Specialist Science and Evidence – an evidence-led organisation that is driven by science

Managing the Organisation – gathering business data to enable decision making

Competencies

 

Competence 1  

Professional competency

 

Detail  

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

 

Description  

• Demonstrable specialist knowledge of social science research at practitioner level with at least a graduate degree which involved designing, delivering and analysing robust research (quantitative and/or qualitative; using primary or secondary sources) (essential)
  • Identify priority evidence needs and seek ways to meet them (e.g. through funding or partnerships) (desirable).
  • Knowledge of relevant research themes (e.g. environmental/conservation social science, behavioural science, sustainability science) (desirable)

 

Competence 2  

Professional competency

 

Detail  

Personal Effectiveness

 

Description  

• Research and contribute to specialist products such as articles, think pieces, peer reviewed papers, reports and conference presentations for both general and technical readerships, both internal and external (practitioner)
  • Develop your personal impact skills in influencing, thought leadership, assertiveness by applying expertise in a proportionate and appropriate way and communicating to have impact (practitioner)
  • Prioritise and manage varied tasks from multiple sources using good time management, organisation, communication and reporting skills (practitioner)

 

Competence 3  

Professional competency

 

Detail  

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

Description  

• Build relationships and effective networks both externally and internally to bring in fresh perspectives, approaches and evidence to raise the profile of both your individual specialist work and that of Natural England (practitioner)
  • Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature (practitioner)
  • Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims (practitioner)

 

Competence 4  

Professional competency

 

Detail  

Work Delivery

 

Description  

• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (practitioner)
  • Identify and apply the most appropriate data and methodologies for your analysis, utilising reproducible analytical pipelines and data science approaches where appropriate (practitioner)
  • Work effectively within inter- / multi-disciplinary teams to ensure deadlines are met.

Please refer to Job Description

• 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 : Joe Allport
• Email : joe.allport@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07928891201

Recruitment team

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