About the job

Job summary

This position is based Nationally

Job description

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: 

• Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive.
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change. 
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods.
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature, and
• Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing. 

 

We are the Government’s Adviser 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 

Biodiversity Net Gain is an approach to develop and or/land management that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurable better state than beforehand. This means protecting existing habitats and ensuring that lost or degraded environmental features are compensated for by restoration, or by creating features that are of greater environmental value.

 

The Environment Bill will make the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) approach to development mandatory in the English planning system. It will require planning applicants to deliver 10% BNG, as measured by the Biodiversity Metric, on their own development site or at an offsite location, in order to receive planning permission from the Local Planning Authority (LPA).To ensure BNG is implemented consistently and transparently, the Bill will require two new digital services:  Biodiversity  Gain Site  Register  - A  publicly  accessible  record  of  sites  delivering  BNG across England, and a Statutory Credits scheme.

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 to devote to personal learning and development, as well as an additional 3 days 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 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. Full time staff are expected to attend their associated office for a minimum of one day a week. 
 
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.  

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. 

 

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.

 

Job description  

As Product Owner, you will be working with a multidisciplinary team to help build NE’s new case management systems for 3 statutory services Natural England provides: wildlife licensing, planning consultations, and consents & assents. Once built you will be responsible for continuous improvement of the services (post go-live). 

 

You’ll be responsible for managing part of the end-to-end service, including a complex back office digital product which will manage front-end transactions, and supporting the Senior Product Owner. Initially it is expected that this new role will take ownership of the front-end development for the wildlife licensing service.

 

Your role will see you as the point of liaison between Natural England and the development/design team at DDTS. You will gather and articulate business requirements, then work with the Business Analyst and Product Manager to analyse user needs and develop user stories. These are then broken down into tasks and assigned to the development team. Once the tasks have been actioned you will facilitate refinement, and alongside the Test Manager you will define test scenarios and acceptance criteria. You will also provide support during user research and testing phases, through to live launch.

The ideal candidate would already have experience of digital product management, however for someone who is digitally minded, ambitious and capable we would consider this role as a development opportunity for the right person.

 

Key tasks/principal accountabilities

• Provide direction and leadership within a multidisciplinary agile product team.
• Actively participate in Agile activities (e.g. Scrums, Sprint Planning, etc.,) and facilitate these when required.
• Communicate the product vision with clarity and set measurable, and achievable, objectives that align to this.
• Develop and manage the product backlog and roadmap, regularly iterating to meet changing needs and priorities, whilst maintaining alignment to the programme and organisation’s vision.
• Prioritise user needs and develop an expert understanding of user intent to develop and enhance product development.
• Provide active product support, acting as first point of contact for users through Private Beta to Live service launch.
• Keep abreast of evolving business needs, legislation, and policy changes in NE and ensure their impacts to the product direction are understood by the delivery team.
• Collaborate and communicate with stakeholders to ensure they are actively engaged in the process.
• Recognise and act when guidance or escalation is required to manage risks, dependencies, and scope changes
• Support the Senior Product Manager to run effective communities of practice, engage wider digital teams, set overall product direction and identify opportunities to maximise value of the digital programme.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:

• Technical Skills and Knowledge.
• Personal Effectiveness.
• Work Delivery.
• Leading and managing people.

  

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.  

Competencies

 

Competence 1   

Professional competency

 

Detail   

Technical Skills and Knowledge

 

Description   

• An ability to build effective working relationships with a wide range of colleagues, partners and stakeholders (essential).
  • Product Management (desirable)
  • Agile working methodologies (desirable)
  • User Centred Design (desirable)
  • Strategic Insight (desirable)
  • Lifecycle perspective (desirable)
  • Operational management (desirable)

 

Competence 2  

Professional competency

 

Detail   

Personal Effectiveness

 

Description   

• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Expert)
  • Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England, and inspire others to act (Practitioner)
  • Proactively communicate and present information in ways that meet people’s needs so they can understand its implications and use it effectively to deliver positive outcomes (Practitioner).

 

Competence 3   

Professional competency

 

Detail   

Work Delivery

 

Description   

• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Expert)
  • See the big picture so you can set your team’s work within the context of the organisation’s vision, mission and aims, and help them understand how their work relates to and supports this (Practitioner)

 

Competence 4   

Professional competency

 

Detail  

Leading and Managing People

 

Description   

• Encourage, inspire, and support people to be ambitious, creative, and innovative, and to reflect, celebrate and learn lessons from their work (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)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,098, Natural England contributes £9,782 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

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 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.