About the job

Job summary

This post provides an opportunity to work in a high-profile policy area which plays a leading role in supporting Programme for Government commitments and in delivering Ministerial priorities on marine renewable energy, including recommendations arising from a recent Ministerial Deep Dive on renewable energy.

This post is located in the Marine Policy Branch within the Marine and Biodiversity Division.  The Marine Policy Branch leads on the development and management of the marine planning system in Wales, as well as policy on marine licensing and marine aggregates.  The successful candidate will join a small and friendly team, which is collaborative in how it works with colleagues across the organisation and beyond.  

The purpose of this role is to lead on mapping and related spatial analysis work, with particular focus on engaging with and understanding the implications UK-level initiatives which are planning and mapping for marine renewable energy development.  The postholder will play a fundamental role in developing momentum around mapping for marine renewable energy opportunities, in particular in relation to offshore wind (a key priority for Welsh Ministers and UK Government).  A key focus for the post will be engaging with and working alongside Defra, The Crown Estate (TCE), Cefas and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to ensure UK level mapping projects take account of Welsh priorities and objectives.

Job description

Grade Description:

What the organisation will expect

• Ability to manage own and others work and prioritise to ensure that objectives are met to time and to standard, using own initiative and decision making, managing risks as appropriate.
• The ability to solve problems and make operational/policy decisions and/or recommendations by choosing between a number of options which may involve researching, organising and analysing facts and data.
• You will be adaptable, flexible, open to, and accepting of change affecting you and your area of work and deal with that change efficiently and professionally.

What your team will expect

• Work independently on day to day issues which may include providing advice to more senior grades and supporting policy, digital, legislation or operational development work; whilst being the lead official to engage with a wide range of stakeholders both internally and externally.
• Line management of individuals or a team. Management responsibilities may include supporting team members on more difficult cases, managing work allocation and prioritisation. Responsibility for  performance management, coaching, mentoring and development of staff from all backgrounds to ensure they are able reach their full potential, helping to create a culture of inclusion; making sure that any development opportunities are accessible and inclusive for all. You are proactive in exploring your own developmental needs and take action when required.

What key stakeholders will expect

• Provide sound judgement with the ability to interpret information where issues are complex or conflicting with the ability to weigh up a number of factors to produce constructive ideas and solutions.
• Required to communicate information, to provide advice to senior colleagues on the effects of policy or operational changes and influence outcomes.
• Ability to grow strong professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders, effectively collaborating to share information, resources and support.

Main Responsibilities:

The role will involve working collaboratively with technical colleagues to develop joint solutions to GIS modelling and spatial analysis challenges.  Key tasks include:

• Understanding existing and developing new GIS methodologies for spatial mapping of marine space, particularly for marine renewable energy.
• Exploring, developing and testing GIS modelling methodologies, finding the most suitable approach to spatial mapping for marine renewable energy.
• Engaging with Defra, The Crown Estate, MMO and Cefas to understand how offshore wind mapping options have been developed and to ensure they take account of Welsh priorities and objectives.
• Maintaining an understanding of planning constraints for spatial mapping, how these are identified, their relative importance and how they can be applied in practice.
• Identifying priority spatial evidence needs for marine renewable energy.
• Developing further understanding of sector-specific spatial needs to allow more refined mapping of sector-specific resource areas.
• Analysing spatial mapping outputs and briefing policy leads on robustness of methodology and mapping.
• Delivering GIS mapping scenarios for marine renewable energy.
• Developing an approach to and managing the migration of existing spatial planning guidance into an online interactive service.

Person specification

• A starting salary between £34,083 and £38,420 will be offered to the successful candidate based on their skills, knowledge and experience and performance at interview. This range is not negotiable and anything above point 1 is at the discretion of Welsh Government.  This role has a salary band between £34,083 and £41,675 in 4 annual increments. Pay progression is based on annual incremental advance to the next point on the scale (awarded subject to satisfactory performance) until the employee reaches the target rate.
• This advertisement confirms the overall criteria being assessed throughout this recruitment exercise. For further details on the criteria and evidence required at the application stage, you will need to press apply and review the application form. 
• When presenting your evidence, you may find it useful to consider the expectations of the grade as set out in the Grade Description as well as the main responsibilities that are essential for the role.
• In the case of more than one candidate scoring the same, the panel has agreed the following criteria will determine merit order:

1. Score for Technical
2. Score for Working Together
3. Score for Experience criterion 2

Benefits

All Welsh Government staff are members of the Civil Service, and as a result are eligible for:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme
• 31 days annual leave (pro-rated for part time)
• training and development opportunities
• Cycle2Work Scheme
• Smart Working flexible working arrangement
• Green Car Scheme (subject to availability)

If you are an active Civil Service Pension member you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

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

Welsh Government, like all other Government Departments use Success Profiles when we recruit. For each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job. It raises performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

The selection process and stages are:

Number of Stages:	2 stage process
Stage 1	Application Form
Stage 2	Interview

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.