Senior International Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Manager

Location

This post will have a base in Peterborough or Aberdeen. JNCC has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. Employees are expected to work from our office base or at external meetings or events for 1 – 2 days a month as a minimum, this will vary by team and the exact balance will depend on the nature of your role. We can provide more details at the interview and offer stages

About the job

Job summary

Why JNCC?

We’re small enough (c.290 staff) that your voice is heard by everyone including the CEO, but big enough that we have all the skills, resources and people you’ll need to get the job done. All our staff are passionate about conservation and making a difference to the world we live in. We have a very flexible, inclusive and welcoming organisational culture. Our Executive Management provides employees with the freedom and tools you will need, and our friendly team will assist you in your role.  
 
JNCC is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities as well as an exciting job in a unique environment.  

Short Summary: Post background

JNCC supports the UK and international governments in incorporating the value of nature, especially biodiversity natural capital and ecosystem services, into decision-making to provide solutions that improve human well-being. JNCC’s International Implementation Team (IIT) is seeking a project manager with significant experience at the intersection of socioeconomic development, climate change, and conservation. 

You will provide strategic project management leadership and lead efforts to develop new partnerships and opportunities for JNCC, especially in priority countries. You will produce analysis that shapes the advice we provide to UK and partner governments on the economic and social value of nature at national, regional, and local levels. You will work closely with external partners and JNCC staff of different backgrounds, such as conservation biologists, data scientists, geospatial analysts, environmental modellers, and international negotiators, among others, so will need to be a confident communicator, able to work across teams and with a wide range of high-level external stakeholders in an international context. You must be willing and able to travel internationally.

As well as providing advice to UK government partners, the team takes a collaborative, stakeholder-driven approach to supporting governments, communities and other stakeholders in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) and Official Development Assistance-eligible (ODA) countries to implement a wide variety of on-the-ground projects covering marine, terrestrial and coastal environments. 

We provide technical assistance, policy advice, and capacity building, supporting our partners to improve resilience against disaster risks, manage biodiversity, understand and respond to climate change impacts, improve food security, support sustainable livelihoods, and more. 
Recent & planned projects include:

•    Promoting the value of ecosystem accounting to inform policy and decision-making in government.

•    Post-Covid ‘green recovery’ and sustainable livelihoods initiatives with the OTs

•    Analysis and advice on sustainable and innovative financing options in the OTs, including the preparation of natural capital investment plans.

•    Exploration of the intersections between public health and nature conservation

•    Behaviour change and community engagement activities to foster awareness of the social and economic value of nature.

•    Providing advice and evidence around a sustainable blue economy and its implications for current and future resource use

•    Development of ecosystem markets and the economic case for restoration in coastal habitats, including saltmarsh and seagrass, and identifying financial models to increase financial flows towards restoration.

•    Advice to UK Government on high-impact investment strategies for nature-based solutions in the OTs and ODA-eligible countries.

•    Analysis on the effects of UK consumption on international biodiversity and the relationships between ODA and sustainable production incentives in UK trade policy.

 

Job description

Post Duties 

Responsibilities of this post will include:

•    Manage a range of new and existing on-the-ground implementation projects related to environmental economics and natural capital.

•    Work with experts across JNCC to provide advice around more sustainable decision-making in the OTs and ODA-eligible countries, integrating knowledge of interdisciplinary evidence to inform choices, including:
  o    articulating the evidence and narratives to explain the interdisciplinary benefits of nature- and climate-positive development
  o    driving dialogue to deepen JNCC’s and partners’ understanding of the opportunities and barriers
  o    disseminating the messages via meetings, groups, talks, training courses, presentations, reports, web material and other media.

•    Cultivate collaborative partnerships with OT Governments, UK policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders. This may include travel to OTs in the Caribbean and South Atlantic.

•    Identifying new partnerships and funding opportunities to maintain and expand our work in this area, including preparing funding applications and liaising with other JNCC teams to identify and make best use of staff resources across the whole organisation.

•    Maintain up-to-date knowledge of policy drivers related to triple-win thought leadership across the UK, UKOTs and relevant ODA-eligible countries.

•    Undertaking staff management responsibilities including recruitment, as required.

•    Support the wider work of the Team as appropriate, including providing senior technical input into projects as required.

Person specification

Please demonstrate in your statement of suitability your reasons for applying.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in a relevant field and/or relevant recent practical work experience. Relevant fields may include environmental economics, environmental science, sociology or anthropology with a concentration on the relationship bet
• Experience of interdisciplinary environmental work in the Global South to further sustainable development. This may include topics like: o Blue/green finance or economics o Nature-based solutions o Environmentally-relevant behavioural economics/behavio
• Knowledge of the drivers of policy and how they can be connected to the needs of major stakeholder groups, including communities, the private sector, UK government, IGOs and multi-lateral agreements, and local and international NGOs
• Experience using, interpreting, and delivering scientific and technical analysis to communicate complex concepts to non-technical audiences in simple, engaging, and easily accessible terms

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,669, Joint Nature Conservation Committee contributes £9,900 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Equality and diversity

JNCC is committed to creating an environment where everyone feels valued and respected and see this as a good place to work. JNCC has a responsibility to ensure that we have an inclusive culture where discrimination, harassment, bullying and prejudice will not be tolerated. Our selection process is determined on fair and open competition and regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership.

Continuous professional development (CPD)

Employees are encouraged to keep developing skills and professional knowledge.
JNCC has made available, and encourages employees to use, on average, five working days per annum for CPD activities with access to related funding

Leave entitlement

JNCC annual leave allowance is 25 days per annum. After five years’ service, leave entitlement increases to 30 days per annum.
In addition to annual leave, JNCC offers 12 public and privilege days per annum, three of which are explicitly reserved for office closure between Christmas and New Year.

Work/life balance

JNCC supports flexible working hours and practices to help employees strike a good balance between work life and personal life.

Our policies are family-friendly and include flexi-time, flexible working patterns, compressed hours and dispersed working. JNCC also offers paid maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave, over and above the minimum statutory entitlements. Some work/life balance benefits are available following a minimum length of service.

Any move from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/

Civil Service Pension

Employees will have the opportunity to join Civil Service pension arrangements, which include a valuable range of benefits. JNCC makes a significant contribution to the cost of employee pensions.

Employee Assistance Programme

JNCC provides employees with a free and confidential support service which gives unlimited access to information, advice and emotional support to help employees prepare for and manage all of life's ups and downs, events and challenges.

Trade Union

JNCC has entered into a partnership agreement with its recognised Trade Unions: Prospect and PCS, which employees are able to join and be involved with.

Salary sacrifice schemes

Employee Discount Scheme

Civil Service Sports Club

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a statement of suitability. In your statement, refer to the responsibilities and experience section of this advert to show how you’re suitable for the role.

Please use the STARR technique

• Situation: Set the stage. 
• Task: Explain where you fit in. 
• Action: Describe each step. 
• Results: Impress with your achievements.
• Reflection: what have you learned

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name :Recruitment Team
• Email :recruitment@jncc.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email :recruitment@jncc.gov.uk

Further information

Selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit, on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. In accordance with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles, our recruitment and selection processes are underpinned by the requirement of appointment on the basis of merit by fair and open competition. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact recruitment@jncc.gov.uk in the first instance.

Attachments

202326 Senior International Interdisciplinary Biodiversity Manager Opens in new window(pdf, 151kB)

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