Natural England
Senior Manager - Sustainable Development Team - ( Ref : 6825 )
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Yorkshire and the Humber
Job Summary
This position can be based at Leeds or York
Job Description
Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.
Our Role
Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.
Strategic Outcomes for Nature
Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.
- Recovering Nature– Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
- Building Better Places– Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
- Improving Health and Wellbeing– Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
- Delivering Security through Nature– Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.
Find out more about the work of Natural England at:
Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK
The Role
We are looking for someone to provide leadership, support, and clear direction for individuals within the team.
Senior Managers will translate organisational priorities into day-to-day work. They will develop a good understanding of technical and delivery work themes and topics specific to their team. They will support individuals through coaching, mentoring to ensure a fulfilling and healthy work/life balance for those they manage.
There are 12 Area Teams within Natural England (NE). They all sit within the Operations Directorate and are at the forefront of delivering environmental advice and expertise. Area Teams routinely work with external partners and stakeholders developing strong and productive partnerships and relationships across sectors.
This Senior Manager Role, is one of two Senior Managers, working together to provide the support and oversight required for the Sustainable Development team.
We are looking for someone who is efficient, highly organised, adaptable to change, and has strong emotional intelligence.
Job Description
Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities
- Be responsible for setting direction and goals for individuals within the team. These must be aligned to wider Area Team and Organisational priorities and be understood by all.
- Undertake performance management of individuals. This includes celebrating good and managing poor performance, supporting individuals through difficult personal circumstances and seeking appropriate support and guidance via policy and relevant procedures.
- Lead on specific recruitments to fill resource gaps when they arise. This will include writing role descriptions and processing the recruitment using correct process and procedure, and selection and interview of candidates.
- Work with other Managers and Area Managers to create a positive team culture. Help organise team meetings, events and activities that will benefit the Area Team.
- This role will be responsible for the line management of up to 15 individuals. The Senior Manager will have responsibility for leadership, direction setting, coaching, mentoring and performance management as well as oversight of technical or delivery work areas.
- Senior Managers may have to manage resource issues and constraints. This will require strategic thinking about how to fill those gaps as well as supporting their team to re-prioritise and manage the work that needs to be delivered. They will need careful judgement and understanding of the priorities while keep wellbeing and health and safety at the forefront of their decision making.
- Championing Natural England’s values and ways of working.
- Leading by example in everything they do.
- Senior Manager roles are essential for providing clear leadership to support individuals through day-to-day pastoral care. These roles create a sense of place and connection to the wider Area Team as well as being visible across the organisation for specific aspects of work and delivery.
- These roles are also a critical point of escalation for high-risk problems or issues; they are an important Senior member of the Area Team structure for managing and mitigating risk.
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Knowledge, Skills & Experience
- Experience of leading and managing groups of people to help them understand and deliver against priorities to ensure targets and outcomes are met.
- The ability to lead people and teams through periods of change and an understanding that individuals adapt and react to change differently.
- Experience of managing the performance of individuals, ensuring that delivery standards are met.
- Understanding and experience of using coaching and mentoring skills to develop and support individuals within the team. Demonstrate leadership by sharing skills to help others achieve their capability and career goals.
- Managing complex and several areas of work at the same time, having the ability to prioritise and communicate decisions that are taken.
- Demonstration of good communication skills, both written and verbal, as well as the ability to actively listen and relate to people from different backgrounds or cultures.
- Using creative thinking to find solutions to problems to seek continual improvement for individuals and the wider Area Team.
- Knowledge or experience working in the environment sector, or relevant degree is desirable. In the absence of this, willingness to learn and upskill to understand delivery specialisms of the team is essential.
- The ability to work with partners internally and externally to the organisation. Utilising communication skills to develop good working relationships is essential as this role will work with many different people internally and externally.
- Knowledge or experience working in Sustainable Development is desirable.
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 25 days per year (pro rata), increasing by one day for each year of service up to 30 days (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.
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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
This role is based in either our York or Leeds Office. 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. 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 a minimum 20% of their contractual hours, subject to reasonable adjustment.
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.
View a map of our office locations here.
Pay
It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.
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.
Please note: Licensed visa sponsoring organisations are employers authorised by the government to recruit and sponsor overseas workers, enabling them to obtain the appropriate visa to work legally in the country. Natural England is NOT a licensed sponsorship employer.
As part of the Natural England’s application process, candidates are asked to confirm their right to work and remain in the UK. If a candidate says that they meet these requirements, ID is checked, a provisional offer of permanent employment is made and pre-employment eligibility checks commence. Only after these checks are candidates given firm offers of employment.
Natural England is unable to employ individuals who cannot provide the required evidence of their right to work.
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.
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.
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 in person 40 minute interview at our York Office, where you will be asked to give examples for all competencies as set out in the Job Description.
Competencies
Competence 1
Professional competency
Detail
Leading and Managing People
Description
Develop an inclusive and trusting team environment that positively safeguards team members’ physical and mental wellbeing. (
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