Senior People & Places Officer

Closing date: 5 February 2023 | Salary: £37,308 - £40,806 (Grade 6) | Location: Flexible in South-East Wales

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours. Part Time, Annualised Hours, Compressed Hours or Term Time Working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome

Post number: 201095

As an organisation we support flexible working. This role allows hybrid working (a mix of home and office working) and a working pattern suitable for you can be discussed on appointment if you are successful.

You will be contracted to a NRW office within the place base, of which you will be required to attend for regular meetings, training and for one-to-one meetings with your manager. These will be planned in advance.

Job description

The South East (SE) People & Places Team works with networks and regional partnerships to deliver the SE Area Statement (AS), improving place-based delivery through collaboration, strategy and planning, embedding SoNaRR priorities and championing best practice in engagement, involvement, inclusion and partnership, including delivery of a Gwent Well-being Plan.

This post offers an exciting and challenging opportunity to lead on elements of the interconnected AS themes, with a particular focus on the Climate Ready Gwent theme, our response to the Climate Emergency.

The role will include identifying landscape and regional scale opportunities and collective interventions for climate adaptation and mitigation which enhance local ecosystem and community resilience. The 'Climate Ready Gwent' theme focuses on taking every opportunity to address the root cause of issues and to do so collaboratively as partners, shifting the focus from risk to opportunity and putting communities at the centre.

This post also involves working collaboratively on some of the team’s integrated, cross-cutting workstreams, for example: strategic partnership-working; funding; green infrastructure; active travel; ecosystem resilience; sustainable local food production; development planning; environmental deprivation; data, evidence, monitoring and evaluation; water quality; water resources; access and recreation (including on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate); delivered through the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources.

If you are self-motivated, excited by new challenges, a team-player and have the skills, knowledge and experience to bring innovation and enthusiasm to delivery of the Climate Ready Gwent theme, then you could be the person we’re looking for. This role offers the opportunity to make a real difference to the communities and biodiversity of SE Wales and to shape a more sustainable future for ourselves, our organisation and partners, our communities and future generations.

Natural Resources Wales website / South East Wales Area Statement

SE Area Statement DMS link

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities include:

Lead for the place on one or more aspects of the team’s remit: Area Statement, wellbeing, PSB coordination, outward funding, conservation and designated sites planning, recreation & access, fisheries, water, providing technical expertise and advice to the team and Head of Place.
Mentor others in the team to broaden their understanding of your specialism so the team develops a multidisciplinary understanding of environmental issues.
Work with the team to develop innovative solutions to environmental issues, integrating multiple aspects of planning within the place. Identify gaps in the evidence base and work with EPP to prioritise and commission research.
Facilitate join-up of PSB objectives with Area Statements and the place plan, working across boundaries as appropriate.
Work co-productively with teams in the place and external stakeholders providing technical expertise to influence and develop priorities, projects and plans for delivery by others including through outward funding.
Develop and monitor the programme of outward funded projects across all funding opportunities.
Work with teams in the place to develop their skills in partnership working.
Work with stakeholders and partners to influence and develop priorities, objectives, plans and projects within the place that will deliver the Area Statement and PSB objectives such as water company plans, Active Travel Plans, Designated landscape management plans.
Network with other People & Places teams across Wales providing an agreed service level of technical knowledge and input to other teams.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

Knowledge and experience of the following:

Excellent skills in engagement, influencing, developing innovative approaches to complex problems.
Excellent at building effective working relationship with colleagues and partners.
Significant knowledge of the requirements of environmental legislation relating to the place remit.
You will have specialist knowledge of one or more technical areas of the team’s remit:
- Area Statement development.
- Public Service Boards & Wellbeing planning.
- Outward funding & Partnership working.
- Recreation & Access.
- Fisheries strategic planning.
- Conservation of Protected sites & landscapes, National Nature Reserves planning.
- Air quality impact assessment.
- Water resource management.
- WFD & catchment planning.
- Flood risk management.
Ability to assess multiple, complex, sources of information and engage others in making good decisions.
Excellent communication and inter-personal skills with a customer focus.
Experience of negotiating with senior managers.
Experience of influencing at senior level of organisations.
Excellent at building effective working relationship with colleagues and partners.
Excellent organisational skills.

Welsh language requirements

Essential Level 1 – Able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

Please note if you do not meet the level 1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Competencies

Applications to this role will be assessed based on the following competencies, both at shortlisting and interview. Please give examples of how you demonstrate these competencies when completing your application form.

Essential Knowledge and Skills	Able to undertake practical or technical tasks or work, requiring specialist knowledge/ expertise. Expert in a range of subjects relating to their specialism and able to act as the local expert or specialist lead for a small area, in an advisory capacity. Demonstrates substantial experience and specialist knowledge in their field, with the ability to manage projects, including the project budget and team. Possess analytical, influencing, persuading, supervisory and mentoring skills, together with project management skills.
Evaluation of Information	Able to interpret the function’s operational delivery plans and understand their context in the wider NRW strategy. Able to interpret developments in their area of expertise, contributing to business planning and the design and delivery of team-work programmes. Demonstrates the ability to analyse and interpret a wide range of complex information, extracting key points and able to communicate them to individuals at all levels and contribute to the development of policy.
Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements	Ability to lead and project manage specific areas of work, taking responsibility for managing project budgets and teams, and for the success and delivery of the project. Able to decide how best to achieve results, with guidance from peers, requiring the need for some degree of judgment and creativity which may lead to changes in established procedures/ practice in the work area. Post holders will be delivering often significant programmes of work, which may require the need to alter priorities due to conflicting demands. Responsible for making independent decisions at an operational level, with input from line management and peers, together with an understanding of NRW policy and the range of options available and their potential implications for the business. Understands the consequences of taking wrong decisions, which would have an adverse effect in relation to external stakeholders, such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. Decisions taken may concern a broad range of matters, the outcome of which may not always be immediately clear or apparent; and are likely to be wider than the immediate function or department. Problems encountered may also relate to the work of other parts of the organisation and could be variable and diverse.
Impact	Working as a local expert / sector lead, the post holder’s input and influence will be at an operational level and have an impact both internally and externally.
Communication and Relationships with Others	Ability to interact and link with other roles across the business, fostering and maintaining good relationships and networks, engaging the organisation in delivering polices and work plans in the most efficient way. Communication with others will be at an operational level both internally and externally and will typically be specialist in nature. Able to act as an advisory or functional specialist, providing advice, which may be technical, specialist or detailed; tailoring the method, style and level of communication appropriately for the audience. Demonstrates effective communication and persuasive skills with the ability to lead projects, which may include facilitating and presenting at internal or external meetings, giving advice and input as required. Able to produce documents, reports, programs, contracts, with some complexity; containing advice, guidance or opinion; which would have detrimental consequences if incorrect or poorly drafted. Ability to research and gather information and data from multiple locations or sources and apply professional judgment in how the information should be interpreted.
Responsibility for Resources	Will have a small budget for delivery of a specific project and/or responsibility for checking the validity of forms and documents as part of a process or procurement of goods and services.

Benefits of working for us

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

agile and flexible working (role dependent)
Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 26.6% to 30.3%
28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
health and wellbeing benefits and support
weekly well-being hour to use at your choice

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

How to apply

Please send a completed Application form to Applications@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk using the post number as the email reference

Before completing your application, please read our Guidance on completing a job application form

Application closing date 5 February 2023

Interviews will take place on through Microsoft Teams.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Juliet Michael at Juliet.michael@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Natural Resources Wales embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunity. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented, including women, black and ethnic minority groups and people with a disability. We have a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

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