Environment Planning Specialist - 28851

Would you like an exciting opportunity to have a long-term influence on our environment? Do you want to take the next step in your career; to develop your knowledge about the water environment in the northeast, whilst learning new skills and, become one of the areas subject matter experts?

We are looking for an innovative problem solver to become an Environment Planning Specialist within the Integrated Environment Planning Team for the Environment Agency’s Northeast Area. Environment Planning is the foundation of the Environment Agency’s work to protect and restore the water environment; it is crucial to people, wildlife and the economy.

You will become a lead in one of the teams’ functional areas, with an initial focus likely on Water Resources. This will require you to work across teams in the northeast and with colleagues in national teams. You will lead on the production and maintenance of
environmental assessments, management plans and investment programmes.

Work will include but not be limited to the following:

·Provide technical direction for your functional area,
·Use data innovatively to think critically about complex issues,
·Undertake environmental assessments,
·Coach and mentor other staff and,
·Deliver programmes that improve and protect the environment in the north east.

We strive to reflect the communities we serve and welcome applications from all backgrounds regardless of race, sexual orientation, and religion.

You’ll have access to our great benefits package, including generous annual leave, an excellent pension, flexible working arrangements and the opportunity to be part of a variety of staff networks.

You will be required to have an incident role and make yourself available to respond to incidents or provide business continuity support during an incident. This may attract an additional payment and full training and alternative working arrangements will be
available to support you with your incident role.

You will be part of the Integrated Environment Planning Team. We seek to identify the environmental objectives for the northeast, establish the evidence needs, and, deliver work programmes.

The team, based from Tyneside House, is made up of Advisors and Officers. We each have functional roles which are focused on either: catchment planning, protected areas, water quality or water resources. But we always seek to share our knowledge, work across functions, and integrate our outcomes.

Having expert technical knowledge is not essential to applying for this role. But we do need someone who has:

·The ability to think through challenges unsupervised.
·The ability to develop and maintain relationships.
·Be able to handle and assess data and information.
·To think critically about evidence and outcomes.
·Be able to communicate effectively to a range of audiences.

You will also need an interest in protecting and improving the water environment. You should be comfortable delivering work over extended periods. Knowledge about the teams functional work areas would also be beneficial.

You should be educated to degree level in an appropriate discipline, or you should be able to demonstrate at least 2 years of appropriate experience.

You must be committed to your own professional development; it will take several months to fully understand your role, so you must have an interest in learning new things and frequently challenging yourself.

Base location will be in the North East. Occasional site visits and some national travel is expected. The team currently works together one day each week within Tyneside House and participates in face-to-face to meetings when appropriate, whilst at other times remote working is the norm. Your answers to the below competencies will be used for selection. Please see the competency dictionary within the candidate pack - you may find it helpful to use the STAR approach to answer the questions. If you consent to be recruited onto a reserve list, we’ll hold your details for 6 months and may offer you an alternative post. Please contact Kyle McGuigan (Integrated Environment Planning – Team Leader) on kyle.mcguigan@enviornment-agency.gov.uk further information about this role.

In this role you will need to decide what actions to take, how to respond to complex problems and to develop solutions to a range of challenges.

Can you describe a time when you had to make a difficult decision? What was the situation and what factors did you consider when making the decision? How did you evaluate the potential outcomes and risks? What was the outcome of your decision?

In this role you will need to work closely with others, including external and internal customers and some of the messages you will be giving may not be peoples preferred option.

Can you describe a time when you had to influence someone else to gain their buy-in or change their mind? What was the situation and what was your approach? What obstacles did you face and how did you overcome these? What was the outcomes?

In this role you will need to handle and utilise data and information, which could come from a variety of different sources.

Can you describe a time when you had to manage a large amount of data? What tools or techniques did you use to organise and analyse the data? How did you ensure the accuracy and integrity of the data?

In this role, you will need to plan for changes in the environment, or activities that influence the environment.

Can you describe a time when you produced a plan to meet an environmental outcome? What was the situation and what was your approach? How did you consider the environmental outcome? What was the outcome?