Senior Advisor - Future Agriculture - Environmental Land Management - 31666

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Job Description
The Environment Agency is committed to an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We don’t just talk about diversity; we seek it, embrace it and live it, for the benefit of our staff, our communities and our environment.

England is reforming agricultural policy and spending with Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. ELM schemes support farmers to provide public goods for public money, incentivising actions to protect water, soil and biodiversity alongside food production. Working with Defra and delivery partner colleagues, you will aim to improve services to farmers. These reforms are essential to grow and sustain a resilient, productive agriculture sector and to realise our EA2030 strategy and government targets for water, the environment and climate. This role will influence the design and delivery of incentives within the wider context of the organisation’s response to government reviews, which aim to achieve cleaner water, greater economic growth and nature recovery through regulation.

The Environment Agency ELM team seeks dynamic, strategic thinkers to inform and shape the future of ELM, particularly the delivery of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You will help deliver key CSHT products for the Farming and Countryside Programme and contribute to continuous scheme improvement through design and delivery. You will provide advice in meetings, manage commissions, oversee Programme milestones, and identify risks and resource requirements. You will work across teams and with senior leaders to articulate a scheme that meets outcomes.

The team
The team sits within the Nature & Place Directorate, part of the National Agriculture and Land Team, working with government, statutory bodies and industry. We work in an agile, fast-paced, flexible and collaborative environment, managing uncertainty to deliver clarity. We foster a welcoming, safe, supportive environment where everyone feels valued. We are a dispersed team and use smart tools to stay connected and reduce travel.

Experience/skills required
The role represents our expertise to Defra, delivery bodies and the agriculture sector to achieve consistency and improve collaboration. Essential experience includes agriculture knowledge and experience working with Defra and other statutory bodies. You should be politically aware with excellent communication and networking skills, understand environmental sensitivities linked to major agriculture sector reform, and have experience interpreting/evaluating evidence to propose risk-based solutions. You should prioritise and deliver complex work and be a self-starter who develops ideas and drives them forward. Ideal candidates will be able to:

• get stuff done, including through others
• embody our culture
• ensure information is trusted
• cascade key information
• build relationships quickly
• soothe troubled waters

Relevant capabilities: Shapes Organisational Approach & Delivery; Achieves Results; Seeing the Bigger Picture (Business of the EA); Focuses on Customers and Partners; Delivers Results Through Others.

Contact and additional information
You’ll have an incident management objective in your development plan. Training will be provided. The EA Office base location is flexible/hybrid in England. Some travel/overnights will be required. Please read the Candidate/Additional Information Pack for information. For more information contact:

• Kate Bayley: kate.bayley@environment-agency.gov.uk
• D-J Gent: dj.gent@environment-agency.gov.uk

Applications are “blind” assessed using answers to competency questions. Interviews are expected via MS Teams two weeks after the closing date. If you consent to being placed on a reserve list, we may hold your details for 6 months and offer an alternative post.

Competencies

1. Shapes organisational approach & delivery
   Informing and influencing Government Policy and Agricultural scheme design and implementation is a key part of this role. Provide an example of actively supporting strategic work and aligning priorities, targets and resources.
2. Achieves Results
   Prioritise and organise tasks and resources while working with uncertainty. Describe a time you prioritised work to ensure timely delivery of results.
3. Focuses on Customers and Partners
   Address internal and external customer needs. Provide an example of a rapid and effective response to a group of customers and how you engaged and managed expectations.
4. Delivers Results Through Others
   Harness a team to deliver on time and to required standards. Share a time you led others to deliver results and what you learned.
5. Seeing the Big Picture
   Understand and react to the changing direction, goals and business of the Environment Agency. Explain the implications of recent government reviews on the water sector and regulatory reform.

Notes: The Environment Agency is not part of HM Civil Service. We welcome flexible working patterns and offer a Guaranteed Interview Policy for applicants with disabilities. See the policy details in the Candidate Pack. We use Central Government frameworks for recruitment; no direct outreach or mailings are allowed.