Senior Adviser – Green Urban Landscapes (Ref: 5267)

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 is a National Role

The team  

This role presents an exciting opportunity to work for a new strategic partnership of Natural England, National Trust, and a major UK funder, to improve urban greenspace for people and nature. We are looking for a Senior Adviser in Green Urban Landscapes to join the Urban Greening team within Natural England on a fixed term until March 2026. The successful post holder will be working closely with the partners.

Together, we aim to inspire, incentivise and reward urban local authorities and their partners to take ambitious action for people, nature and climate by increasing access to high quality natural spaces and green infrastructure in towns and cities. This role is a direct response to the 2023 Environmental Improvement Plan’s ambitions to develop an accreditation scheme to improve the landscapes of cities and towns and ensure equitable access to green and blue space in areas with high environmental and social need. 

The role will work closely with the partners to develop a new accreditation and incentives scheme as part of the wider green urban landscapes work.  The accreditation will encourage and reward progress in putting nature, climate and communities at the heart of decision-making in urban areas.  The accreditation is in the early stages of development, so there is space to shape its development, including how it will work to unlock incentives for local authorities and provide assurance for investors in urban greening.  

Responsibilities

The successful post holder will build relationships with stakeholders and partners and play a key part in creating the accreditation and incentives scheme, and in supporting Local Authorities through the accreditation process.

• As part of the strategic partnership, you will lead the development of a city/town scale urban greening accreditation and incentives scheme, working with Local Authorities and wider stakeholders.
• You will co-develop the application process for the accreditation and test it through stakeholder engagement.
• You will collaborate internally and externally to shape and develop accreditation systems including co-designing the urban greening accreditation levels (eg bronze, silver, gold).
• Co-develop with partners a robust approach to self-assessment that is sustainable and is externally validated
• Develop tools and provide support for Local Authorities and their partners going through the accreditation process.
• Support Monitoring and Evaluation of the accreditation and incentive scheme, including the process and impact evaluation for the scheme, monitoring progress against the outcomes and key measures of success and working together to shape the Theory of Change.
• Develop consultation and ongoing feedback mechanisms to ensure the accreditation and associated incentives evolve over time to reflect the changing national and local contexts within which it operates.

Competencies

Competence 1  

Professional competency

Personal Effectiveness

• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and available evidence (expert).
• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements to your team and Natural England to inspire others to act (practitioner).
• Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together. (Practitioner)
• Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience. (Practitioner)

Competence 2  

Professional competency

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them, the environment, and Natural England (practitioner).
• Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver your organisation’s vision, mission and aims (practitioner).
• Work proactively and collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to identify and secure opportunities to deliver gains for people and nature

Competence 3  

Professional competency

Work delivery

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

Competence 4  

Professional competency

Technical skills and knowledge (STAR format not required)

• Project Management Experience (essential)
• Report writing / writing papers (essential)
• Experience of working with multi-disciplinary teams and consensus building (desirable)
• Experience of working with local authorities on strategic projects and initiatives (desirable)
• Knowledge and experience of multi-functional Green Infrastructure planning and delivery (essential)
• Knowledge and experience in one or more of the following areas: Biodiversity Net Gain, Sustainable Drainage Systems, community engagement in urban greening, and Green Finance (desirable).
• Knowledge and experience of accreditation and award schemes (desirable)

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 : Victoria Wight
• Email : victoria.wight@naturalengland.org.uk
• Telephone : 02082257617

Recruitment team

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