Senior Permitting Officer (Water Resources) - 23068

4
East Midlands, East of England, North West, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber
Birmingham , Exeter , Ipswich , Nottingham , Sheffield , Warrington
Staff Grade 5
Permanent
Full Time, Part Time/Job Share
Environment & Sustainability, Geography
£36,389
We are the Environment Agency. We protect and improve the environment. We look after the water and air environment, and land quality, promoting sustainable land management and helping protect and enhance wildlife habitats. We also work closely with businesses, enabling them to operate whilst complying with relevant environmental regulations.

The National Permitting Service has accountability for delivering the Environment Agency permitting/licencing responsibilities. This is achieved by working with external applicants and internal teams, therefore offering technical challenges and significant opportunities.

We’re looking for two Senior Officers working with the Exeter or Ipswich Water Resources permitting teams. We embrace hybrid working so you don’t have to be based at either location. There is an expectation for occasional travel to offices.

As an Officer you’ll provide high level advice, support and coach team members to ensure sound technical decisions are made in line with best practice. We’re looking for a technical leader, therefore encouraging applications from related Water Resources disciplines to nurture and grow our technical skills as well as your own.

You’ll have good communication skills, be a team player, make risk-based decisions, look to improve processes within the business and assist your team to improve our determination times for customers.
You’ll join one of two permitting teams of new and established team members dealing with a range of permitting activities, providing a great opportunity to further your career. With a real mix of experience, we deal with small farm holdings up to nuclear power stations. Supporting businesses throughout England whilst crucially delivering for the environment. Enabling fish passage, wetland and habitat creation, reducing abstraction in sensitive areas and delivering drought permits to protect the environment.
A successful Senior Permitting Officer will need experience in Water Resources or wider related Environmental Management and ideally a degree (or equivalent) in a Science or humanities subject as well as experience of assessing a range of complex permits. The following is also essential;
Experience of Water Resources or a related subject
Drive for risk-based decision making/continuous improvement
Good communication, organisation and planning skills
Good team player and strength in positive collaborative working
Good coaching skills and the ability to explain complex issues to people with a range of experience
Technical Leadership to support the National Permitting Service business aims
Excellent customer relation skills
Ability to develop technical and personal skills within a team
Thorough knowledge of relevant legislation
Ability to work collaboratively with others both internally and externally
Experience of dealing with sites of high public interest or complex applications is desirable as is thorough knowledge of relevant legislation.
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, people with a disability, people with gender diverse identities and from varying socio-economic backgrounds.
All assessments and interviews will be carried out using an online platform such as MS Teams.

CONTACT INFO

For further information, please contact:
NPS_recruitment@environment-agency.gov.uk

03/07/2022, 23:55 hours

Basic Check
Delivers Results Through Others
Description: Harnesses others to deliver results on time, to required standards and in line with organisational processes and procedures.

PLEASE NOTE: Your answer will be used for interview selection- please draw out your skills and experience in your response.

You may find researching the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) useful when answering this question.

Question: Describe a situation when you have had to get high quality results from others to ensure the delivery of a piece of work on time.
Takes Decisions and Solves Problems
Description: Finds and delivers optimal solutions by effectively analysing all the information, probing to develop alternatives and taking sound and timely decisions.

PLEASE NOTE: Your answer will be used for interview selection- please draw out your skills and experience in your response.

You may find researching the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) useful when answering this question.

Question: Describe a time when you have faced a significant work-related problem, what actions did you take to overcome it and what were the results?
Influences and Persuades Others
Description: Presenting a case in a convincing and attractive way that will win people over, encouraging them to follow plans willingly; often succeeding where logic and reason alone would fail.

PLEASE NOTE: Your answer will be used for interview selection- please draw out your skills and experience in your response.

You may find researching the STAR technique (Situation, Task, Action, Result) useful when answering this question.

Question: Describe a time when you have successfully influenced others to achieve a desired outcome. How did you convince them this was the right approach and what were the results?
If you are applying from the Civil Service please note that the Environment Agency is not a part of HM Civil Service and you would not be a Crown Servant in the event of being appointed. Therefore, you will not be eligible for continuous service. For applicants who currently work in local government or other bodies listed in the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government etc) (Modification) Order 1999, you may be eligible for continuous service for the purpose of calculating any future redundancy payment. If you are unsure of your status then you should contact your own HR Team.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please include clearly any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application.

We also have a Guaranteed Interview Policy to support those with a disability who are seeking employment. We have committed to guaranteeing an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

The Environment Agency, as a Non-Departmental Public Body, is committed to providing value for money and utilises Central Government frameworks and contracts for all external recruitment needs. For this reason, we are unable to engage with the market directly through post, email or phone calls . Should you wish to become a support supplier on one of these frameworks or contracts please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-crown-commercial-service-supplier/becoming-a-supplier-through-the-crown-commercial-service-what-you-need-to-know for more information.

This Vacancy is closed to applications.