Higher Officer - Protected Sites and Agri-Environment - ( Ref : 6876 )

The East Midlands Area Team covers Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Lowland Derbyshire and the Peak District uplands. This covers a wide range of land use, ecologies and topography. There are also a number of urban centres in the region.

Job description

Role Description Template for Formal External Recruitment

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 Governments 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 Englands Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK .

The Team

The East Midlands Area Team covers Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Lincolnshire, Lowland Derbyshire and the Peak District uplands. This covers a wide range of land use, ecologies and topography. There are also a number of urban centres in the region. The advertised role sits in one of our integrated County Teams containing staff from a variety of functions and with a wide range of technical expertise.

The Role

Driving nature recovery through farm advice and protected sites management within the East Midlands Team. Achieving the Governments 25 Year Environment Plan objectives for nature recovery and the Environmental Improvement Plan targets are dependent on greener farming. Our team of advisers support farmers and other land managers build long-term capability to deliver nature recovery and associated environment benefits such as climate adaption, access, clean air and water.

As a Higher Officer, you will have a unique mix of knowledge and skills including an up-to-date understanding of conservation management, protected sites management, land management regulations and incentives that underpin them, and how they come together to help farmers and land managers deliver nature recovery. You will also be expert at bringing people together and building consensus to deliver nature-based solutions for the most challenging problems.

These skills and knowledge will enable you to provide high-quality advice for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier applications to famers and land managers on across the East Midlands. You will also provide regulation and advice for the management of protected sites.

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities

• Engage with farmers and other land managers to drive forward nature recovery, providing advice, signposting and encouragement regarding ongoing and new opportunities such as Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, Landscape Recovery scheme, Capital Grant schemes, England Woodland Creation Offer, Biodiversity Net Gain and Green Finance.
• Negotiate Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier schemes, providing Pre-Application advice to applicants that seeks to maximise nature recovery and wider environmental benefits whilst also supporting sustainable food production.
• Regulate protected sites and advise land managers to support positive management of these special areas for nature.
• Where needed, draw in advice and specialist knowledge from other Team members to maximise nature recovery outcomes, including Catchment Sensitive Farming Advisers to secure water and air quality improvements.
• Undertake 1:1 site visits, events, and communications to engage with farmers, land managers and partners to improve environmental outcomes through farming practice.
• Work with partners and stakeholders to identify and deliver shared objectives.
• Support existing Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Stewardship agreement holders to maximise the environmental outcomes from their schemes.
• At least weekly attendance in the office to network with colleagues. Attendance at team training and other events across the East Midlands Team area.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Experience of providing land management advice and being able to communicate effectively with landowners to deliver environmental outcomes alongside long-term sustainable food production/agricultural transition.
• Good level of agricultural knowledge and agri-environment schemes, particularly Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.
• An understanding of what makes protected sites ecologically valuable and a working knowledge of how to manage sites for nature conservation.
• A broad understanding of priority habitat management, ideally with more detailed experience in either species rich grassland, wetlands, wood pasture or heathland.
• The ability to gain technical understanding and knowledge quickly over an agreed timetable is a key skill to demonstrate.

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.

Youll 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.

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.

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 ...