A Recruitment and Retention Allowance (RRA) up to £5,000 per annum, pro rata, may be agreed. This allowance is discretionary and will depend on candidate's qualifications and experience.

This post will have a base in either 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 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.

Who are JNCC?

Established in 1991, we’re the UK’s statutory advisor on issues affecting the natural environment across the UK and internationally. Our primary role is advising all four Governments of the UK. We also work with private sector organisations to support decision making on the sustainable use of marine waters and natural resources around the UK. JNCC is led by the Joint Committee, which brings together members from the nature conservation bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and independent members appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under an independent Chair. Support is provided to the Committee by approx. 300 people who bring together scientific and technical expertise, extensive knowledge of policy at global, European and national levels, and skills in working with other organisations. Staff are based in two main offices in Peterborough and Aberdeen.

Why JNCC?

We’re small enough (c.300 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.

Hours of work:                     Full-time

Normal minimum hours of attendance for the post are 36 hours per week over a 5-day period, Monday to Friday.

Flexi time is available. This post may also be suitable for job share. 

Annual Leave:

The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years’ service. There are also 12 days public and privilege leave. Part-time staff will receive this on a pro rata basis.

Post background

This exciting new post will lead a team of application developers to deliver innovative environmental data products, cutting-edge earth observation solutions, and bespoke applications to meet the evolving needs of JNCC. The postholder will join the Digital and Data Solutions Team which works across the organisation to deliver application development alongside data engineering, project management, data protection, and information management expertise.

The postholder will lead a team of four developers, facilitating new development by selecting appropriate technologies, managing Agile delivery of work, and liaising with customers internal and external to the organisation. Alongside this, you will work with the team to support, monitor and maintain existing applications and tools.

You will be leading a portfolio of projects that is highly varied and dynamic. You might find yourself working on utilising public cloud services and national supercomputing resources or helping to develop JNCC’s approach to data and metadata management. Working with our technical project managers and key scientists, the successful candidate will help organise development time and assignments as well as advising on technical aspects of project delivery.

Within the team there are lots of opportunities to work on projects of interest and collaborate with like-minded developers and data engineers. An interest in nature conservation and ecological knowledge would be helpful to you but are not a requirement.

Post Duties

• Line Manage four developers including, but not limited to, day to day assignments, prioritisation of tasks, performance reviews and professional development.
• Coordinate and deliver a small portfolio of highly technical projects from start to finish. In many cases, this will include enabling the application development team to deliver work through facilitation of technical decision making, task assignment, management of risks and blockers.
• Engage with users and key suppliers to firm up specifications, manage expectations, conduct user acceptance testing and ensure new applications are fit for purpose.
• Support, monitoring and maintenance of our suite of existing tools and applications, including managing the utilisation of AWS and JASMIN (storage and data analysis supercomputer platform) environments.
• Develop solutions to produce environmental data products at scale.
• Advise leadership on technical strategy and help shape organisational approach to cutting edge system development.
• Manage the digital development budget in line with JNCC monitoring and reporting requirements. This may include supporting procurement processes for systems and licences to inform project plans and existing system maintenance.
• Keep abreast of new IT technologies and techniques and complete individual Continuous Professional Development (CPD) to maintain technical currency in languages and methodologies.

Technical

To be a successful candidate you will be/have:

·         Knowledge of software/applications development – with lifecycle product experience in the design, development, testing, implementing and support and maintenance of software systems.

·         Detailed knowledge of cloud hosting solutions (AWS preferred) and Python.

·         Experience and knowledge of open-source development models and general IT industry trends.

·         Knowledge of data standards, assessing data quality, translating data between different formats.

Experience (Responsibilities)

To be a successful candidate you will have:

• Experience of, or aptitude for, leading a hybrid-based development team and managing a portfolio of work in an Agile manner.

• Experience in project management for digital project scoping and delivery including Agile methodologies and user centred design. 
• Experience in business analysis principles and techniques, with particular reference to effective liaison between technical experts and customers to define, prioritise and articulate requirements as technical specifications.
• Demonstrable ability to create and apply innovative technical or digital solutions to support specific areas of business.
  

Behaviours

•   Leadership
•   Seeing the Big Picture
•   Communicating and Influencing
•   Making Effective Decisions

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on the Lead Behaviour of Leadership

Please see the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Nationality requirements 

This job is broadly open to the following groups: 

• UK nationals 
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK 
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland 
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the?European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) 
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service 
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service 
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals 

JNCC do not provide sponsorship.

Closing date and interview date

The closing date for this post is 23:55 on Wednesday, 17 April 2024

The anticipated interview date is week commencing Monday, 29 April 2024

Please note that there will be two interviews for candidates who are shortlisted. The first interview will focus on technical skills and experience and may include a short presentation. The second interview will be more general in nature, with a focus on experience and skills. Further details will be circulated to shortlisted candidates.

How to apply: CLICK HERE