3605 - Landscape Senior Adviser

12
East Midlands, East of England, London, North East, North West, South East, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber
National
SEO
Senior Adviser
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time, Part Time/Job Share
Environment & Sustainability
£32,438

Role Description

An exciting opportunity to lead the Area Teams’ work on the roll-out of Natural England’s recently announced Landscape Programme, and to help secure ‘quality of place’ outcomes across the breadth of our local Nature recovery partnership activities. Designated Landscapes will be a priority work area and working collaboratively and creatively to develop new landscape approaches that will drive Nature recovery and improve people’s connection with nature, particularly in and around our towns and cities. We are seeking an individual with specialist Landscape expertise, exceptional partnership skills and experience to: 

  • Provide strategic leadership on Landscape designation, conservation, enhancement and monitoring within the area
  • Lead on regional place-making projects which support Natural England’s Landscape Programme commitments
  • Help manage local partnership relations, engaging with consultants and a range of regional partners and stakeholders as well as the national designations team within Natural England
  • Provide technical Landscape advice to support colleagues, partners and stakeholders in their work to create resilient, functioning, nature-rich, accessible and characterful landscapes 

Key tasks/principle accountabilities: 

For Yorkshire & Northern Lincolnshire, Thames Solent, and Cheshire/Lancashire Area Teams only. A priority project will be working in liaison with landscape consultants and Natural England’s national and area team colleagues, assisting in the process of assessing the natural beauty of the areas proposed for AONB designation/boundary extensions

    • Facilitate/ provide secretariat for the relevant Management Advisory Group
    • Support/ lead the organisation of local meetings to facilitate local stakeholder engagement with the designation process
    • Collaborate with the relevant Technical Advisory Group to facilitate appropriate communications about the project both externally and internally
    • Act as a ‘link’ between the national team and area team, facilitating the sharing of local knowledge and information
    • Support the consultants commissioned to work with NE on the review 

To challenge and enable regional Designated Landscape partners and stakeholders to deliver even more for our NPs and AONBs, your primary responsibilities will be to lead/support:

  • The reform and nurturing of collaborative Ways of Working within those partnerships
  • Sharing local and national landscape evidence, research and monitoring data and evaluation
  • Robust consultation responses to Management Plan reviews and development
  • Advice on developing and reporting on associated Nature Recovery Plans
  • Alignment of Designated Landscape plans with emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategies
  • Our team role in influencing landscape scale Green recovery investment opportunities, including future Environmental Land Management schemes 

To contribute to development work on alternative landscape approaches and an assessment of places in need of landscape intervention, your primary responsibilities will be to lead on/support:

  • Nurturing strong working relationships with regional landscape and heritage interests, and broader nature recovery partners and stakeholders
  • Community engagement, welcoming new and excluded voices, to inform local needs and aspirations to improve quality of life and place, and to help better understand and address barriers in access and connection to nature
  • Identifying/developing mechanisms to help gather, share and evaluate collective ideas, priorities and evidence
  • Identifying capital and revenue investment streams to support new landscape approaches e.g. to improve degraded urban landscapes, support longer-term enhancement and pilot projects 

To support, and in addition to, the above specific project and partnership activities, you will: 

  • Act at the ‘link’ between national teams and our area team, sharing Landscape intelligence, evidence, best practise, and business planning
  • Provide landscape advice to Sustainable Development colleagues to support the delivery of planning casework.
  • Help co-ordinate, facilitate and, where appropriate, deliver Landscape training to increase our team’s capability and capacity to deliver for local landscapes
  • Support colleagues to utilise, gather, evaluate and share learning on Landscape evidence, research and monitoring to support local landscape quality objectives for plans and projects
  • Work closely with workstream leads to inform and influence piloting/roll-out of Nature recovery initiatives across our region to deliver quality of place outcomes, reflective of a landscape’s distinct sense of place, quality objectives and communities, for e.g. Nature Based Solution projects
  • Help co-ordinate, facilitate and, where appropriate, deliver timely and audience friendly communications to showcase our team’s partnership place-making initiatives, seeking to engage diverse audiences

Skills and Knowledge: 

  • Ability to develop and apply map based, documentary and field-based evidence in decision making
  • Experience of stakeholder engagement and partnership working to develop projects or programmes, and ability to work collaboratively, in particular where there is a range of views.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills to enable effective communication with a range of internal and external customers.
  • Experience of using facilitation skills to plan, guide and manage discussions between different groups to ensure all can participate and objectives are met.
  • Demonstrate change leadership for your work area and bring people with you.
  • Knowledge and experience of environmental and landscape planning and management
  • Project planning and project management experience, ideally including contract procurement and management. 

Competencies

We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process. When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. STAR stands for:

  • Situation
  • Task
  • Action
  • Result

Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency. Please ensure you read the candidate information pack before you begin your application.

We are the Government’s statutory advisor for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan. This describes an ambitious vision, bringing new opportunities to protect and enhance, and to achieve real outcomes for the environment.

At Natural England, we love what we do. We’re here to make sure people and nature can thrive. A healthy natural environment is fundamental to our wellbeing, prosperity and happiness – that’s why we collaborate with scientists, lawyers, project managers and experts to implement environmental policy and shape decisions. See more about the work of Natural England at:

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

Natural England staff are inclusive, motivated, and ambitious to achieve results for our environment, for everyone. We welcome and encourage applications from all communities, and we operate a guaranteed interview scheme for disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role.

From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Where appropriate there will be offers of training under our apprenticeship schemes. 

The team

This role is based within one of the 12 Area Teams across England. The team uses a range of mechanisms for delivering environmental outcomes including land management and planning advice, engagement with stakeholders and direct management of our own land, to achieve the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and landscapes within the patch.

Ideally you will be based in or near to the team’s geographic area and be willing to travel as part of your role, including to the National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty within their patch.

Gareth Lake

email: Gareth.Lake@naturalengland.org.uk

phone: 07423 814235

28/10/2021, 23:55 hours

TBC
Basic Check (BPSS)
Professional competency
Technical skills and knowledge
(You do not need to use STAR format when answering this question)
• Qualified to degree level in Landscape or a related environmental discipline or have an equivalent level of demonstrable applied experience from a previous position where landscape evaluation was a key part of the role. – (essential).
• Member or Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute (CMLI) – desirable.
• A good knowledge of relevant national landscape legislation and environmental regulations influencing Natural England’s statutory remit for landscape including designated areas and the wider countryside.
• An ability to apply landscape knowledge/experience in the context of Natural England’s statutory responsibility in designating areas as National Park or AONB.
• Knowledge and experience of applying Landscape/ Townscape/ Seascape Character Assessment
• Experience of project planning and management, including contract procurement and management.
Professional competency
Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
• Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims. (Practitioner)
• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England. (Practitioner)
• Understand and explain the outcomes that we seek in your local patch and how these fit in with local and national issues. (Practitioner)
Professional competency
Personal effectiveness
• Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience. (Practitioner
• Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence. (Expert)
• Act with integrity, addressing challenging issues and managing conflict through being open and objective. (Practitioner)
Professional competency
Creating resilient landscapes and seas
• Use and contribute to the evidence base on environmental and landscape change to support resilient landscapes and seascapes. (Expert)
• Use National Character Area profiles and landscape/seascape character assessment to inform your decisions and projects. (Practitioner)
• Identify and apply relevant planning and environmental legislation, policies, and processes to deliver effective and proportionate evidence-based solutions and advice. (Practitioner)
Member or Chartered Member of the Landscape Institute (CMLI)
Natural England

This Vacancy is closed to applications.