About the job

Job summary

A very warm welcome to you and thank you for considering applying for the new role of Director of People and Infrastructure at the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC).  

We are only at the beginning of the most profound change to nature seen in our lifetimes.  Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.  It is essential to humanity and it is in crisis around the world.  Caused by changes in land and sea use, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species, species and habitats are declining at an unprecendented rate leading to damaged and dysfunctional ecosystem processes.  In turn, ecological collapse is having significant and inequitable impacts on people’s security, prosperity and wellbeing. 

There is an urgent need to understand the changes we are seeing and to use this knowledge to conserve and restore nature.  JNCC played a key scientific advisory role at the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties 15 (CBD COP15).  The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is the ‘Paris moment for nature’, guiding our work not only to 2030 but for generations to come.  This gives us cause for hope about the future.  JNCC knows nature and we are committed to using that knowledge to become a good ancestor.

Together for Nature  builds on our strong heritage of expertise, knowledge and networks with a new vision: Thriving nature for a sustainable future.  Our ambition to bend the curve on biodiversity loss is high.  Our integrated approach to nature conservation and restoration is through investing in our people and our partnerships.  Our intent is to maximise the impact of our evidence and advice on complex ecological, social and economic systems to conserve and restore nature.  

We are looking for an innovative, compassionate and inclusive leader to drive our people strategy, build our culture based on our values and help create an environment where all our people thrive.  If organisational excellence inspires you, this may be the leadership role for you.  We would love to hear about the values, experience, skills and qualities you can bring to our mission and vision for nature.

Job description

• Leadership – A bold and inspiring leader, you will drive delivery in a challenging environment whilst still ensuring that we have the skills, expertise and resources needed to deliver upon our strategic goals. You will contribute to corporate decision making and will inspire others across JNCC and externally.

• Innovation and development – you can drive delivery, continuous improvement and excellent performance. You will lead on the completion and implementation of a People Strategy to invest in our people and culture and to ensure an inclusive, collaborative and innovative learning organisation. You will guide our workforce planning and future organisational design to enable us to deliver in an often changing and complex environment.

• Responsive delivery and high standards – you will be responsible for all aspects of HR strategy, policies and delivery. You will also lead an established and effective set of operational functions covering Health and Safety, Office services and IT operations that support our employee experience.

• Stakeholder Engagement – build strong relationships with leaders across the organisation and externally, including with peers of HR professionals across government. You will lead formal and informal employee relations management with Trade Unions, staff and management groups, including negotiation of pay and reward arrangements.

• Advice and challenge –  you will mobilise the support of your team of highly professional and motivated business partners and HR advisers to support all members of staff. As our most senior HR professional your will advise our Executive Committee and engage with our Non-Executive Directors, through the Joint Committee (our board) and People Committee, on all strategic people matters.

• Personal development. You will actively seek personal growth and development through the role and will instil a culture of continuing professional development to support us becoming a learning organisation.

Person specification

It is important that, through your CV and Statement of Suitability, you provide evidence and examples of proven experience for each of the selection criteria listed.

Essential Criteria

• Strong leadership skills with demonstrable experience of developing high performing HR teams – building skills, confidence and aspirations of team members, simplifying and improving systems and processes and promoting excellence to meet customer expectations.

• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with a proven track record in working confidently across teams and Board level to develop effective and trusted working relationships.

• An understanding of Civil Service protocols, HR policies and controls.

• A track record of successful HR business partnering, policy application and wider HR function work, including pay and reward.

• MCIPD qualified with a deep understanding and knowledge of best practice in HR.

• This is a broad role for an ambitious HR professional. Strong core HR skills are essential but you will also have interest and aptitude to develop your skills in other aspects of the role.

• Whether you already have experience and understanding of workplace operations (IT, office services, Health and Safety) you will certainly have an interest in how these functions are a key part of the employee experience. Flexibility, enthusiasm and a strong motivation to learn and develop are also essential attributes for candidates. 

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £59,712, Joint Nature Conservation Committee contributes £17,316 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

The application process

To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process no later than 23.55 on Sunday 14 July 2024.

You will be asked to submit the following:

1. Some basic, personal information.
2. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
3. A Statement of Suitability, (max 2 pages, minimum font size 11) explaining how you consider your personal values, experience, skills and qualities provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification.
   As part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the particular characteristics, you have the option to select ‘prefer not to say’. The information you provide when submitting your application will help us monitor our progress towards becoming an inclusive employer and a great place to work. If you are unable to apply online or have any issues with the online application process, please contact: recruitment@jncc.gov.uk

Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only has limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the Person Specification.

How we decide whom to invite for interview

The panel will assess your application to select those demonstrating the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the essential criteria set out in the Person Specification section.  Failure to address any or all of these may affect your selection.

The panel will be chaired by David Collins, Director of Finance and Resources

Candidates applying under the Disability Confident Scheme who meet the minimum selection criteria in the job specification are guaranteed an interview. Please complete the relevant parts in the application system if applying under this scheme.

Assessment

If you are shortlisted, you will be asked to take part in the following additional assessment:

Staff Engagement Exercise (SEE) – an online presentation with a representative staff group from JNCC. 

Final Panel

You will be asked to attend a panel interview at Quay House in Peterborough for an in-depth discussion of your experience and professional competence in relation to the criteria set out in the Person Specification and the Civil Service Success Profiles. An accessible version can be found here.  You may be asked to deliver a presentation at interview.  Full details will be provided to candidates selected to attend final interview.

Timetable

Please note that this timetable is indicative at this stage and could be subject to change. The anticipated timetable is as follows:

Closing Date: 23:55pm Sunday 14 July 2024

Shortlisting outcomes: End of July - early August

Staff Engagement Exercise: End of July - early August

Panel Interviews: End of July - early August

Interview arrangements will be confirmed to shortlisted candidates and are expected to be in person in Quay House, Peterborough. 

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process as it may not be possible to offer any alternative dates for assessments or interviews.

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.