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 seek, embrace and live diversity for the benefit of our staff, our communities and our environment.

England is reforming agricultural policy and spending through Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. ELM schemes incentivise farmers and land managers to deliver water, soil and biodiversity outcomes alongside food production. Working with Defra and delivery partner colleagues, you will help improve our services to farmers. These reforms aim to support 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 organisational responses to government reviews.

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 deliver key CSHT products for the Farming and Countryside Programme and contribute to continuous improvement of the scheme through its design and delivery. You will provide advice in meetings, manage commissions, oversee programme milestones, and identify future risks and resource requirements. You will work across a variety of teams and organisations with senior leaders to articulate a scheme that supports 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 between organisations. Essential experience includes:

• Experience of Agriculture and working with Defra and other statutory bodies
• Political awareness with excellent communication and networking skills
• Understanding of environmental sensitivities related to significant agriculture sector reform
• Experience interpreting/evaluating evidence to propose risk-based solutions
• Ability to prioritise and deliver complex work
• Self-starter who actively develops and advances ideas

Ideal candidates will show they can

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

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. Appropriate training will be given. Your base location is flexible/hybrid in England with some travel/overnights required. Reading the Candidate/Additional Information Pack is advised. For more information, contact:

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

Applications are assessed using competency questions. Interviews are expected to be held via MS Teams two weeks after the closing date. If you are placed on a reserve list, we may hold your details for six months and offer an alternative post.

Competencies

1. Shapes organisational approach & delivery — inform and influence policy and agricultural scheme design and implementation. Provide examples of supporting strategic work and organisational priorities, targets and resources.
2. Achieves Results — prioritise and organise tasks and resources under uncertainty; describe delivering timely results.
3. Focuses on Customers and Partners — address internal and external customer needs; provide rapid, effective responses and manage expectations.
4. Delivers Results Through Others — harness teams to deliver on time and to required standards.
5. Seeing the Big Picture — understand and react to changing direction, goals and business of the Environment Agency; discuss implications of government reviews on the water sector and regulatory reform.

Equality, flexibility and employment notes

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. Flexible working patterns are welcome, including job sharing. We guarantee an interview to disabled applicants meeting minimum criteria. Guidance on civil service status and redundancy is provided in the candidate pack. We are unable to engage with the market directly by post, email or phone for recruitment purposes; see Crown Commercial Service for supplier information.

Senior Advisor - Future Agriculture - Environmental Land Management - 31666

Greater Lincoln Area, United Kingdom