Landscape Recovery Grants Officer (Ref: 5474)

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

The team 

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: 

1. Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive
2. Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change
3. Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods
4. Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature
5. 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 at the cutting edge of the piloting of large-scale land use change projects which will attract national attention and deliver the outcomes of the Environmental Improvement Plan. 

• The Landscape Recovery (LR) scheme is one of three Environmental Land Management schemes currently being developed in England: Sustainable Farming Incentive, an expanded Countryside Stewardship offer and Landscape Recovery. LR aims to offer long term environmental solutions and funding to deliver landscape scale change. 

• Further information on the LR scheme can be found https://networkrecruitment.tal.net/vx/lang-en-GB/brand-2/user-2016/xf-4613d2dd62ef/wid-2/ats/recruiter/opportunities/vacancy/5474/. 

• Natural England (NE) and the Environment Agency (EA) are leading the delivery of the two-year project development phase of Landscape Recovery. Our NE team is currently working with 11 projects in round 1 and will soon be working with new round 2 project, which opened for applications in Spring 2023. 

• This phase of the project will be hosted within the Strategy and Government Advice Team, with strong links to other parts of NE. 

• Working closely with Defra, EA, other ALBs and NE Specialists, the LR Delivery Team will manage a small number of pilot projects through their development phase. We aim to support these projects through to full applications for the implementation of 20+ year agreements. 

• Within this team we are looking for a Lead Adviser to carry out project budget management work. The post holder will work closely with the claims team – currently consisting of a Grants Manager, Grants Coordinator and existing Grants Officer, to ensure that claims are timely, accurate and compliant. 

N.B. The Landscape Recovery Project is currently commissioned until 31st March 2025.

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 (pro rata) to devote to personal learning and development, as well as an additional 3 days (pro rata) 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 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

Pay 

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

The Role 

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities 

The LR Grants Officer will work with the Grants Manager, Grants Coordinator and existing Grants Officer, to develop and manage budgets and payments for the NE LR Projects during the Project Development Phase (PDP).They will help to develop and pilot the processes needed to ensure that the Landscape Recovery Scheme reviews and pays claims, ensuring all systems meet the requirements of budgetary and financial management set by Natural England and Defra. 

The key tasks will include: 

1. Support the existing Grants Team with the design and delivery of the scheme claims and payments process.
2. Develop financial scheme guidance and provide specialist financial advice as required to support successful grantees.
3. Processing of grant claims, by carrying out initial claim checks and inputting data onto financial and records management systems.
4. Review and authorise payment of grants claims using the relevant financial management systems.
5. Developing a procedure with RPA to facilitate cross checks.
6. Maintain document records for audit and change management purposes.
7. Support colleagues in identifying the risk of duplicate funding during the project development and implementation phases of Landscape Recovery projects with other grants and schemes.
8. Participate in Grants development activities such as lessons learnt workshops, implementing process improvements and escalating risks and issues that affect delivery.
9. Work collaboratively with the Communications and Co-Design, and Duplicate Funding Lead Advisers to provide join up and flexible resources capable of responding to fluctuating delivery requirements.

To achieve this the Grants Officer will: 

1. Support colleagues in understanding the claims process and duplicate funding risks.
2. Develop trusted, professional relationships project liaison officers, project leads and other Landscape Recovery colleagues.
3. Liaise with external partners, particularly the EA and Defra.
4. Maintain an audit trail of the payments and claims documentation for each project and action taken to mitigate risks. 

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: 

1. Technical Skills and Knowledge
2. Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
3. Personal Effectiveness
4. Work Delivery 

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. 

Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency. 

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all four competencies as set out in the Job Description. 

Successful candidates will be allocated roles in merit order based on scores achieved at interview and in accordance with location preferences, taking into account the work area to which successful candidates are most suited, wherever possible.

Competencies

Competence 1 

Professional competency

Detail 

Technical Skills and Knowledge

Description 

We are looking for capabilities in a range of activities, drawn from the skills framework:

1. Experience working on grant schemes or other incentive schemes (Desirable)
2. Experience of administrating scheme claims payments, procurement, or financial management systems (Desirable)
3. A good understanding of Environmental Stewardship (ES) and Countryside Stewardship (CS) schemes (Desirable).
4. Experience of stakeholder engagement and building partnerships (Desirable)

Competence 2 

Professional competency

Detail 

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

Description 

1. Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and the organisation you represent (Practitioner)
2. Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver the organisation you represents vision, mission and aims (Practitioner)
3. Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature (Practitioner)

Competence 3 

Professional competency

Detail 

Personal Effectiveness

Description 

1. Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience (Basic)
2. Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Practitioner).
3. Through your networks, offer strategic solutions to financial implications and share best practice to influence informed decision making (Practitioner)

Competence 4 

Professional competency

Detail 

Work Delivery

Description 

1. Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures (Practitioner)
2. Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Practitioner)
3. Show strong financial awareness by understanding your team’s financial position, highlighting risks and opportunities and taking management action if a material variance is likely to occur (Basic)

 

Please refer to Job Description

Alongside your salary of £27,273, Natural England contributes
£7,390 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%

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Job contact :

• Name : Lee McQue
• Email : lee.mcque@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 07717 720853

Recruitment team

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