To provide an excellent service to Natural England’s Directors, working with their senior officer and helping them to operate effectively to deliver organisational objectives and targets that contribute to Natural England’s vision, mission and goals.
You will lead by example to keep Natural England a safe organisation providing expert advice and guidance.
You will support our Board and NEXCO in providing effective direction. Together we will encourage ongoing creativity and innovation needed to assist Natural England develop the tools to achieve our Goals and Objectives.
Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities
· To develop an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the directors’ key objectives, business priorities and direct reports along with Natural England’s governance structures and processes in order to provide advice and guidance to others.
· To proactively management of the director’s busy mailbox; prioritising, filtering and responding to requests on their behalf.
· To be responsible for diary management and arranging meetings, 121’s or telecalls with internal and external customers with a high regard for excellent service.
· To arrange and book travel and hotel accommodation, desks, meeting rooms and conference facilities while demonstrating compliance with ‘Travel, Accommodation and Related Expenses Policy’ and ensuring ‘Health, Safety and Wellbeing’ practices are followed.
· To deal with any issues in the day-to-day role, exercising professional judgement in making recommendations or decisions and escalating issues accordingly.
· To build and sustain effective relationships with a range of internal and external customers based on understanding customers’ needs and priorities, providing advice and guidance and efficient delivery of service to make a positive impact to achieve the best outcomes.
· To actively contribute to continuous improvement of processes, systems, and standards in order to develop new ways of working or suitable solutions that will have a positive impact on work delivery.
· To mentor other newly appointed personal Assistants, as part of your own and their development.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
· Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience.
· Ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act.
· Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together.
· Respect the diverse needs and experience of other people, be inclusive in everything that you do.
· Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England.
· Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims.
· Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines.
· Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures.
· Competent users of Microsoft Office, SharePoint online- These requirements should only be used in the “Technical Skills and Knowledge” section
Benefits
At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements.
We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering.
You’ll receive a generous leave allowance of 33 days per year (pro rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events.
We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
Locations
Natural England has adopted 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. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.
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: online map of Natural England office locations.
Pay
It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.
Note You will become an active member of the relevant local leadership community, the group of senior Natural England staff in each of the localities across England who we ask to provide support and co-ordination for the local group of staff.
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. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.
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 Action.
Please note that STAR format is not required when answering a 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 competencies as set out in the Job Description.
Additional Information
· Occasional travel will be required to conduct team meetings and other meetings, visits and training. This may sometimes require overnight stays.
· Flexible working patterns will generally be accommodated unless stated otherwise.
Please note: Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
