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 diversity as a core strength for our staff, communities and environment.

England is reforming agricultural policy and spending, moving from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) to Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. ELM schemes incentivise farmers and land managers to deliver water, soil and biodiversity outcomes alongside food production, with public funding.

Working with Defra and delivery partner colleagues, you will aim to improve our services to farmers. These reforms support a resilient, productive agriculture sector and contribute to our EA2030 strategy and government targets for water, environment and climate. The role will influence the design and delivery of incentives within the wider context of organisational response to government reviews, aiming to achieve clean and plentiful water, growth and nature recovery through regulation.

The Environment Agency ELM team seeks dynamic, strategic thinkers to 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 design and delivery. You will provide advice in meetings, manage commissions, oversee programme milestones, and identify risks and resource requirements, working across teams and organisations with senior leaders to articulate a scheme that delivers outcomes.

The team

The team sits within the Nature & Place Directorate, part of the National Agriculture and Land Team. We work with government, statutory bodies and industry in an agile, fast-paced, flexible and collaborative environment. We are committed to 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. Experience of agriculture and working with Defra and other statutory bodies is essential. You should be politically aware with excellent communication and networking skills, understand environmental sensitivities related to significant agriculture sector reform, and have experience interpreting/evaluating evidence to propose risk-based solutions. You prioritise and deliver complex work and are a self-starter who actively develops and takes ideas forward.

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 provided. The EA base location is flexible/hybrid in England. Some travel/overnights will be required. Please read the Candidate/Additional Information Pack for more information.

Contacts:

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

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

Competencies

1. Shapes organisational approach & delivery – Informing and influencing Government Policy and Agricultural scheme design and implementation. Provide an example of supporting strategic work and prioritising resources.
2. Achieves Results – Prioritising and organising tasks and resources amid uncertainty.
3. Focuses on Customers and Partners – Addressing internal and external customer needs; provide rapid, effective responses and manage expectations.
4. Delivers Results Through Others – Harnessing teams to deliver on time and to required standards.
5. Seeing the Big Picture – Understanding changing direction, goals and business of the EA; discuss implications of recent government reviews on the water sector and regulatory reform.

We are committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce and welcome flexible working patterns, including job share. We guarantee interview to any applicant with a disability whose application meets minimum criteria.

The Environment Agency uses government frameworks for recruitment. For supplier opportunities, visit the Crown Commercial Service information linked in the original posting.

Seniority level

• Mid-Senior level

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Management and Manufacturing

We encourage you to apply and join a team focused on delivering public value in environmental land management.