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 

• 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    

The Team 

This post will sit in the nutrient mitigation project team, in Strategy and Government Advice (SGA). SGA advises government on the development of its environmental policy relevant to our remit; develops and delivers new programmes and pilots for the government to support major strategies such as the 25 Year Plan; leads stakeholder relationships with key national level partners; and develops internal standards and guidance on novel issues. 

The nutrient mitigation scheme is an exciting new and expanding team. The team enables housing developers to buy credits to mitigate their impact on waterways. The payments from developers fund a variety of environmental measures to improve nutrient levels in our waterways. payments from developers will fund a variety of measures to reduce nitrogen and phosphorous in waterways for example land use change, cover crops and the creation of new wetlands. The mitigation will be directly linked to impact and will be maintained and monitored by the scheme.  

The credit scheme launched in the Tees catchment in March 2023. The nutrient mitigation project team are now working to roll out this credit scheme in catchments across England where the impacts of excess nutrients are greatest.    

This post is part of the Service Operations part of the team and focusses on the functional oversight of the credit scheme, developing and maintaining good customer relations with housing developers and working to improve our digital system with our external provider.

Job description 1 

Role description 

This is an exciting opportunity to be a key part of a dynamic and flagship Natural England project.  

We are seeking an ambitious individual with great communication and organisational skills to join our high performing and friendly team working on a fast-paced and evolving project. 

The role is within the Service Operations area and we are looking for a resourceful and resilient individual to join a team of Advisers and Lead Advisers to coordinate the sales of credits and help us develop and refine our processes and systems as the nutrient credit scheme rolls out. Good time and task management skills are essential, as is the ability to work well with external customers (housing developers) to ensure high service standards are met. 

You will have an aptitude for spotting opportunities for improvement, be able to work flexibly, enjoy the challenge of resolving complex cases, and have a willingness to be collaborate with others. This role gives you the opportunity to be part of Natural England’s aims, to learn about strategic working and to be a part of implementing Defra policy.  You will be able to learn and grow in an exciting in an exciting new part of the organisation and provide transferable skills and knowledge.   

Key tasks/principal accountabilities 

• Provide oversight of the administration and day to day management of the nutrient mitigation credit sales service.  
• (Contributing to continuous improvements by identifying issues, considering the solutions, feeding back to the team and working with colleagues to implement new, more effective ways of working.) 
• Managing the resourcing of the nutrient mitigation mailbox escalating risks, issues and opportunities to the Service Owner.  
• Contributing to the administration of customer applications for credits including: 

• Resolving complex cases 
• Responding to developer enquiries within an agreed timescale. 
• Entering details of all enquiries and applications into the nutrient mitigation digital system. 
• Confirming the cost of credits with developers. 
• Issuing nutrient mitigation certificates 
• Maintaining contact with customers where required to ensure timely delivery of work 
• Delivering work within deadlines set out within the Internal Guidance Note.   

• Records management, tracking and credit reconciliation through SOP and the Nutrient Mitigation digital system. 
• Running reports and providing management information to ensure we can track our service to customers, our ability to meet developer demand for the scheme and provide accurate information to the rest of the nutrient mitigation team, wider Natural England and Government as necessary. 
• Ensure best practice approaches are shared and embedded within the team. 
• Deliver excellent customer service.  

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 while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.   

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.   

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 
• Putting People at the Heart of the Environment   

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.   

Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency.  Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.   

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all four competencies as set out in the Job Description.   

Successful candidates will be allocated roles in merit order based on scores achieved at interview and in accordance with location preferences, taking into account the work area to which successful candidates are most suited, wherever possible.

 Competencies

Competence   1

Professional competency

Detail  

Technical Skills and knowledge

**You do not need to use STAR format for this competency**

Description  

Good IT skills, especially Excel, and SharePoint Online and the ability to learn new systems and software quickly

An understanding of workflow management

Experience of tailoring messages to specific audiences, both internal and external to deliver high customer service standards?

Ability to work in a fast paced, evolving project where change is constant.

Experience of prioritising workloads

Competence 2  

Professional competency

Detail  

Personal effectiveness

Description  

Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Basic)

Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)

Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience (Basic)

Competence 3  

Professional competency

Detail  

Work delivery

Description  

Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Practitioner)

Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures (Basic)

Competence 4  

Professional competency

Detail  

Putting people at the heart of the environment

Description  

Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England (practitioner)

Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims (Basic)

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,064, Natural England contributes £6,792 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.