Landscape Recovery - Managing Legal Risks and Providing Innovative Legal Solutions
About the Role
As Principal Solicitor you will take a leadership role in the legal team, providing expert legal advice and guidance to assist Natural England’s work across all its programmes with a particular focus on Landscape Recovery. You will manage complex legal matters, lead the legal input to the work area, supervise junior solicitors and contribute to the strategic direction of the team. This role involves a combination of legal expertise, key client management, and team leadership.
Landscape Recovery is one of the three Environmental Land Management schemes, alongside the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship.
Landscape Recovery offers farmers and land managers the opportunity to co-design a bespoke agreement to produce environmental and climate goods across landscape scale projects.
Landscape Recovery projects will deliver a range of outcomes, with a focus on net zero, biodiversity and water quality.
There are 4 main distinguishing features of the Landscape Recovery scheme:
- Large-scale projects: the scheme is designed to deliver outcomes that require collaborative action across a big area, such as restoring ecological or hydrological function across a landscape.
- Long-term public funding (for example for 20 years or longer): the scheme will support outcomes that take a long time to deliver, such as peatland restoration, woodland management, or habitat restoration.
- Bespoke agreements: the scheme can fund activities that contribute to priority outcomes but are specific to the locality and so difficult to facilitate through other schemes.
- Blended funding: the features above and the provision of development funding should enable projects to attract private investment.
Key Tasks/Accountabilities
- Leading Natural England legal team’s involvement on Landscape Recovery, including advice on the contracting arrangements between Natural England and projects over large-scale areas of land. This is likely to involve commercial, contracts, grant funding, property due diligence and public law expertise.
- Ensuring legal and governance risks are identified, understood and properly managed by providing legal advice, assessment of legal risk and interpretation of legislation, policy and guidance affecting Natural England to Landscape Recovery officers, managers/Directors and Chief Officers.
- Day-to-day management and prioritisation of legal queries relating to Natural England’s role in Landscape Recovery including relating to existing/future grant agreements and the design of the scheme in operation.
- Advising on governance and vires issues relating to any delegation of powers, formal directions or contractual relationships that establish Natural England’s functions, roles and/or duties pursuant to the Agriculture Act 2020. Implementing corporate discipline about the use of delegated powers and the schemes of delegation.
- Representing Natural England Legal Services at regular meetings with Defra and other Landscape Recovery partner organisations (Environment Agency, Forestry Commission) with a clear understanding of the various roles and responsibilities of different public bodies.
- Working closely with our Senior Solicitors and guiding, supporting and supervising their work on Landscape Recovery and more broadly.
- Instructing Counsel and/or other external legal providers as appropriate.
- Participating in multi-disciplinary, cross-department and cross-organisational groups as directed from time to time.
- Establishing close links with colleagues working on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), nutrient neutrality and conservation covenants to understand and advise on possible connections with Landscape Recovery and mechanisms to secure long term outcomes.
- Adopting a flexible approach to managing casework and legal risk that can absorb new roles and responsibilities as needed to deliver Natural England’s aims. Proactively horizon scanning for emerging risks.
- Advising and leading on other environmental / commercial matters as required by the organisation (with additional training/support given in new areas), and to support the work of other programmes where required. This will include both the provision of legal advice and the supervision of Senior Solicitors.
- Advising on public law issues.
- Contributing to regular legal risk reviews and recommendations.
Client and Case Management
- Cultivating and maintaining strong client relationships. Act as the primary point of contact for key clients, addressing their legal needs and providing strategic guidance. Working closely with practitioners and specialists to identify and manage risks,
- Leading and managing a portfolio of complex queries, overseeing triaging and allocation of work internally and externally, assisting with management of the legal budget and resources associated with this role, and
- Ensuring effective and proportionate matter progression and timely resolution.
Management
- Line managing, inspiring, and coaching legal colleagues on delivery, ways of working and personal development.
- Supporting and supervising legal colleagues on their case work, work allocation and prioritisation.
- Assisting with induction of new team members.
Supporting the Development of Post-EU Exit Environmental Law and Governance
- Contributing with legal support to the development of post-EU Exit environmental law and governance, including proposed reforms linked to nature conservation; and implementation of the Environment Act and Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
Raising Capability and External Relationships
- Contributing to devising and delivering an in-house legal training programme for the Legal Services team and across Natural England.
- Providing thought leadership on Landscape Recovery and linked matters internally and within relevant Government legal teams to develop Natural England’s reputation as a trusted and expert body.
- Developing relationships with key external stakeholders to influence outcomes including counterparts in Defra, DLUHC, Environment Agency and Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies.
- Continuous learning and professional development to enhance your knowledge and skills and mentoring activities.
Leadership and Collaboration
- Contributing to and supporting the Legal Services Team to ensure a high performing and motivated team including improving ways of working for the best use of legal resources, contributing to high quality team deep dives and communications.
- Supporting collaboration across the Legal Governance and External Affairs Team and Natural England’s Senior Leadership.
- Deputising for the Legal Deputy Directors from time to time.
- Regularly updating the Deputy Directors on legal case work. Reporting to and advising the Legal Director, Chief Officer, NExCo, High Risk Casework Panel and Complex Casework Unit on contentious cases.
- Collaborating closely with Principal Solicitors with overlapping specialisms including to cover busy periods and leave.
- Assisting with management of the legal budget and resources associated with this role.
- Adopting a flexible approach to leadership that can absorb new roles and responsibilities as needed.
- Travel and some overnight stays across England to attend meetings are an essential part of this role.
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.
Candidates with disabilities will automatically be put forward to the interview stage provided that they satisfy the minimum criteria for the role. Flexible working patterns will generally be accommodated unless stated otherwise.
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.
The salary range for this post is £51,000 - £58,400. There is currently a further market skills allowance for this role of £6,000, which may be subject to change.
Whilst it is Natural England's policy to appoint at salary minimum, a higher starting salary within the pay range may be considered for exceptional candidates.
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
- Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
- Work Delivery
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.
Next Steps
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.
