NE

Senior Specialist - ( Ref : 6884 )

Natural EnglandApplies on LinkedInOther
Hiring from
United Kingdom
Work type
Hybrid
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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

Job Summary

This position is based Nationally

Job Description

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.

  • Recovering Nature– Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
  • Building Better Places– Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
  • Improving Health and Wellbeing– Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
  • Delivering Security through Nature– Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at:

Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK

The Role

The Team is responsible for delivering Natural England’s part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA).

The NCEA is a transformative programme to understand the extent, condition and change over time of environmental assets across England's land and water environments, supporting the government’s ambition to improve the environment within a generation. Data will come from Earth Observation, professional field data collection, citizen science and partner data sets.

Natural England’s NCEA Is Organised Into Projects:

  • Mapping and Earth Observation – Spatial data and maps on natural capital to inform national and local decision making and delivery.
  • England Peat Map – Mapping the extent and condition of England’s peatlands.
  • Field data collection – Data on habitats, soils, landscapes and species to understand the condition of natural capital assets.
  • Citizen Science – Working with citizens and community science to fill gaps, provide local and landscape scale information and engaging the public.
  • Data Engagement and Analysis - Making NCEA, partner and volunteer data available for analysis, integration, and use. Producing high quality evidence products by analysing and integration NCEA data.
  • Programme management – Managing Natural England’s NCEA programme.

You will be helping to deliver this as a part of project 5, by building and maintaining partnerships with key stakeholders. Additionally, you will be internally supporting and providing expert advice to project staff and solving problems for the NCEA to improve its data ethics, governance, maturity, and its management of data.

Job Description

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities

To support delivery of Natural England’s part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, Defra's largest research and development programme which seeks to generate and mobilise a baseline assessment of our natural assets by 2029. Achieve this by applying a deep knowledge of a specific and complex specialism and understand the broader context of the application of this specialism in delivering Natural England’s strategic objectives, as well as NCEA programme objectives. Maintain and build knowledge from external sources and networks to ensure expertise remains current. Make clear decisions and provide expert advice to internal and external customers in their area of specialism, that is key to successful achievement of Natural England environmental outcomes and the delivery of the NCEA. Identify evidence gaps and the research required to address these. Influence the development and implementation of Natural England and NCEA-wide strategy and programmes, by using your deep specialism in the mobilisation and use of relevant environmental data and evidence.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Understand Natural England’s priorities: You’ll learn about the short- and long-term priorities for Natural England’s work and its evidence needs. This will help with planning and solving data-sharing problems across different projects and teams.
  • Leadership: You’ll lead members of your team and wider Natural England through challenging and novel evidence requirements, requiring effective and clear communication skills
  • Improve data access, quality and management: You will help improve organisational capability by creating guidance, tools, and training for the managing, sharing, and licensing of impactful data.
  • Build partnerships: You will build and maintain strong collaborations with priority partners involved in collecting and sharing environmental evidence, including national organisations such as National Biodiversity Network Trust, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, and local environmental groups.
  • Collaborate with teams: You’ll work closely with teams across Natural England, Defra, and other NCEA Partners, to ensure everyone follows best practice, continuously improving the way we handle data and utilise evidence across the organisation.
  • Shape future strategy: You will help influence how biological data recording is managed in the future, working with Defra, other government departments, and external organisations.

Key Performance Measures:

  • Agreements, projects, programmes and advice delivered to agreed budgets and timelines.
  • Outcomes support NE Strategy and Action Plan, and Science Evidence and Evaluation Strategy.
  • Outputs deliver identified benefits / meet identified customer or improvement needs
  • Influencing work delivery and focus of external partners.
  • Investment in own capability and well-being

Key relationships

Senior Specialists work across the organisation, applying their specialist skills, experience, and knowledge to a wide range of subject areas, strategies, and programmes. Senior Specialists work closely with other organisations, such as DEFRA, other Government Departments, and external partners to identify new research to improve our evidence base. They provide evidence-based challenge to shape and influence policy and practice

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

  • Detailed knowledge of responsible data use, including data management processes, and implementing improvements to drive innovation and achieve best practice.
  • Experience of project delivery, including managing budgets, procurement, and contract management.
  • Experience of the range of monitoring techniques and environmental evidence used across the environmental sector, and their policy context.
  • Experience working closely with Intellectual Property Rights or Data Licensing and adherence to data’s terms of use.
  • Ability to apply effective communications skills (verbal and written) in communicating about their specialism to multiple audiences (staff, public, stakeholders, scientific/technical groups).
  • Experienced in producing impactful evidence, reflecting their understanding of Natural England’s and partner’s needs.
  • Experience of building and leading networks and establishing effective working relationships with a wide range of colleagues, partners, and stakeholders

Benefits

At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements.

We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering.

You’ll receive a generous leave allowance of 25 days per year (pro rata), increasing by one day for each year of service up to 30 days (pro-rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events.

We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Locations

Natural England has adopted 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. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.

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: online map of Natural England office locations

Pay

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

You will become an active member of the relevant local leadership community, the group of senior Natural England staff in each of the localities across England who we ask to provide support and co-ordination for the local group of staff.

Please note: Licensed visa sponsoring organisations are employers authorised by the government to recruit and sponsor overseas workers, enabling them to obtain the appropriate visa to work legally in the country. Natural England is NOT a licensed sponsorship employer.

As part of the Natural England’s application process, candidates are asked to confirm their right to work and remain in the UK. If a candidate says that they meet these requirements, ID is checked, a provisional offer of permanent employment is made and pre-employment eligibility checks commence. Only after these checks are candidates given firm offers of employment.

Natural England is unable to employ individuals who cannot provide the required evidence of their right to work.

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. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process. Please be aware that we reserve the right for roles that receive a high volume of applications to initially sift applications for one competence only.

  • Technical Skills & Knowledge

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 Action.

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.

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 competencies as set out in the Job Description.

As with all roles in NE, these roles require office attendance of a minimum of 20% of the working time – one day per week for those who work full time, subject to any reasonable adjustments and/or existing contractual homeworking.

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail

Technical Skills and Knowledge

Description

Essential

  • Detailed knowledge of responsible data use, including data management processes, and implementing improvements to drive innovation and achieve best practice
  • Experience of project delivery, including managing budgets, procurement, and contract management.
  • Experience of the range of monitoring techniques and environmental evidence used across the environmental sector, and their policy context.

Desirable

O Experience working closely with Intellectual Property Rights or Data Licensing and adherence to data’s terms of use

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Leading and Managing People

Description

  • Lead by example, engage and support your team through change (Practitioner)
  • Set clear plans and expectations for your team, 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 (Practitioner)
  • Encourage, inspire and support people to be ambitious, creative and innovative, and to reflect, celebrate and learn lessons from their work (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 (Expert)
  • Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England (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

Personal Effectiveness

Description

  • Develop and implement effective communication strategies and plans that deliver corporate objectives (Expert)
  • Understand the full context of each case or project you work on and use interpretive, evaluative, analytical and problem-solving skills to make informed decisions about it (Expert)

Test and challenge others in a constructive and evidence-based way providing scientific scrutiny, challenge and assurance to casework and other delivery that is practical and, where appropriate, cross-disciplinary (Expert)

Contact information

Rach Tebbs: Rachel.tebbs@naturalengland.org.uk 07767 939214

Lydia Brunt: Lydia.brunt@naturalengland.org.uk 07760373733

Our Role

Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Strategic Outcomes for Nature

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.

  • Recovering Nature– Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
  • Building Better Places– Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
  • Improving Health and Wellbeing– Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
  • Delivering Security through Nature– Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at:

Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK

The Role

The Team is responsible for delivering Natural England’s part of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA).

The NCEA is a transformative programme to understand the extent, condition and change over time of environmental assets across England's land and water environments, supporting the government’s ambition to improve the environment within a generation. Data will come from Earth Observation, professional field data collection, citizen science and partner data sets.

Description

  • Develop and implement effective communication strategies and plans that deliver corporate objectives (Expert)
  • Understand the full context of each case or project you work on and use interpretive, evaluative, analytical and problem-solving skills to make informed decisions about it (Expert)

Test and challenge others in a constructive and evidence-based way providing scientific scrutiny, challenge and assurance to casework and other delivery that is practical and, where appropriate, cross-disciplinary (Expert)

Contact information

Rach Tebbs: Rachel.tebbs@naturalengland.org.uk 07767 939214

Lydia Brunt: Lydia.brunt@naturalengland.org.uk 07760373733

Person specification

Please Refer To Job Description

Alongside your salary of £41,550, Natural England contributes £12,037 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

  • 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 employer contribution of 28.97%

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please Refer To Job Description

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:

  • UK nationals
  • nationals of the Republic of Ireland
  • nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
  • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
  • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
  • individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
  • Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

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).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact :

  • Name : Rach Tebbs
  • Email : Rachel.tebbs@naturalengland.org.uk
  • Telephone : 07767 939214

Recruitment team

  • Email : defra-recruitment-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

https://networkrecruitment.tal.net/vx/appcentre-7/brand-4/spa-1/candidate/so/pm/1/pl/8/opp/6884-6884-Senior-Specialist/en-GB

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