About the job

Job summary

Are you passionate about the environment? Do you want to work in a role where you can be an environmental advocate, in one of the largest civil service departments? Are you looking for an opportunity to use and develop your reporting and networking skills?  

 

We’re seeking an enthusiastic individual with knowledge and experience of environment protection to join the Defence Environment Protection Regulator (DEPR), in the Assurance Function. DEPR has responsibility for assurance, regulation and enforcement, as well as coordination of environmental protection reporting, to deliver a coherent and consolidated view on environmental protection compliance across Defence - encompassing the estate, equipment and activities.

 

DEPR sits within the Defence Safety Authority (DSA), an independent enabling organisation within the Ministry of Defence. The DSA is responsible for the regulation of Defence Health, Safety and Environmental Protection, operating under a Charter from the Secretary of State for Defence (SofS). The DSA provides independent assurance, directly to the SofS, that the law is complied with and the policy on safety and environmental protection in Defence is being promoted and implemented whilst Defence activities are conducted. This regulation is achieved through proportional and appropriate evidence-based assessment of the activity that supports Defence’s operational imperatives. The DSA hosts Defence regulators across all operating environments, the Defence Accident Investigation Branch, the Defence Themed Assurance Branch and a HQ into a single independent organisation led by a 3* military officer.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

Job description

The Assurance Function is responsible for delivering independent environmental protection assurance for Defence by implementing focused reviews on environmental themes, topics, processes, or risks, and by assuring compliance with departmental environmental protection policy and DEPR Regulation. Assurance activities recently completed include reports on hazardous substances and the maintenance of protected sites, with ongoing work on topics including waste management risks (E.g. electronic waste, chemical contaminants).  DEPR is a relatively new regulator, becoming established just over a year ago. This means that DEPR is very much at the early stages of establishing processes, exploring what methods and approaches will work best for the future. We’re looking for someone with a flexible approach and questioning mindset to help DEPR develop over the course of the next few years as we mature.   The primary function of this post is to deliver assurance reviews and reports on environmental themes, topics, processes, policy or risks to provide information on the status of environmental protection across Defence. The post-holder will need to be comfortable with conducting independent research, report writing and reviewing, interviewing and networking with stakeholders and partners from across Defence. The post-holder will be expected to lead on assurance activity independently, but will closely supported by their adjacent SEO, the Assurance Team Lead (Grade 7), and DEPR Team Leader (Grade 6). This post has no line management responsibility. The post holder will also be responsible for: ·       Working with the Assurance-ATL to develop the DEPR assurance strategy, which will be used to identify future priority areas, to allocate resources, to influence regulations development.   ·       Collaborating with the DEPR Coordination and Regulation functions to draft and manage the assurance programme, and to support the development of DEPR regulations;   ·       Working with others in the Assurance Function to determine assurance metrics to assess Defence EP performance, required for enforcement, reports, and to assess the maturity of management systems of TLBs and enabling organisations;   ·       Supporting the Assurance-ATL with assurance function activities, and deputising where required;   ·       Acting as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for DEPR, addressing requests to support, advising or responding to formal questions, consultations or briefings, providing specialist environmental support to DSA and Defence;   ·       Providing peer support to other DEPR team members and promote a positive EP culture. This includes contributing to DSA's Environment Community of Interest, via authoring, sourcing content, and communication of environmental materials;   ·       Maintaining and developing personal competence by identifying and participating in relevant development opportunities and retaining membership(s) of relevant professional bodies   ·       Being an environmental advocate, through engaging with and supporting MoD networks and the DSA Environment Community of Interest, and through developing and promoting a positive environment protection culture through the role.

Person specification

Essential skills, experience & qualifications:

 

• Experience working in the environment sector - but this may be from a variety of roles such as regulation, policy, auditing, consulting, academia or management.
  
  
• Formal qualifications (E.g. Undergraduate degree or HNC) in environment or related subject, for example geography, geology, natural science, environmental science, environmental management or similar equivalent
  
  
• Experience working in an assurance, auditing, compliance or assessment setting (for example, experience working on environmental impact assessments, compliance assessments or environmental audits). Desirable to have completed Lead Auditor Environment ISO1400, or be willing to achieve in post in first 6 months;
  

 

Desirable skills, experience & qualifications:

 

• Experience working in defence or on defence projects is preferable but not essential. If not, the candidate must demonstrate in their personal statement how they have transferable skills they can apply to this role;
  
  
• Knowledge and understanding of government process (either at a local or national level) in an environmental context. Particularly beneficial to have experience providing authoritative advice and judgements to senior management or decision makers; and,

 

• Desirable to be a member of a Chartered environmental institution (E.g. IEMA, CIWEM, CIEEM, IES). Opportunity to acquire or maintain membership of an environmental professional association related to the job role, to be active in continuing professional development.

The Defence Safety Authority and the Civil Service at large are strongly dedicated to promoting equal employment opportunity irrespective of your race, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, civil status, sex, or gender identity. Applications are welcomed and strongly encouraged from candidates of all backgrounds, and we are actively working to establish a diverse workforce across the entire organisation. We are delighted to announce that we are an Equal Opportunities Employer and that we recruit purely based upon the merit of each and every individual applicant. We pride ourselves on our commitment to ensuring that we recruit the very best individuals and obtain a diverse and inclusive viewpoint to our decision making. We can assure you that we search for all types of talent and are striving to make sure that all social groups are successfully represented. We work diligently to eradicate any bias and safeguard every protected status and characteristic as lawfully required under the 2010 Equality Act. Our dedication to promoting diversity is clearly reflected across our organisation and within our vision to foster an inclusive workforce. Defence harnesses the power of difference to deliver capability that safeguards our nation’s security and stability.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,631 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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

The initial application sift will be completed using a statement of suitability (Personal statement)(750), name-blind anonymous CV, three Civil Service behaviours and a technical skill (environmental protection competence).    Candidates who meet the criteria at sifting stage will be invited to interview in person at the MOD, Abbey Wood North, Bristol. The interview will comprise a short presentation, followed by a series of questions based on the three behaviours used in the application process, alongside a question on the environmental protection competency.    The deadline for applications is Thursday 4th January. As a guide, we aim to complete the initial sift within 10 days, with interviews at end Jan / early Feb.    The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk  As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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 also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.