30312 - Director of Operations Growth, Permitting and Monitoring

The Environment Agency are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect 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.

The Government has set out their plans for a decade of renewal, and made economic growth a core mission. This includes ambitious aims for infrastructure (including net zero), housing, the circular economy and water. Helping the Government sustainably deliver its mission-driven approach to growth is core to the Environment Agency’s purpose.

We are looking for an operational leader to ensure that we play an effective role in delivering that ambition. This new role expands our operational leadership capacity, particularly in terms of planning advice, permitting, major infrastructure Development Consent Orders; and the high-quality environmental evidence needed to drive decision making.

You will be a dynamic and experienced leader, and a member of our senior operations team. You will play a crucial role in leading national services with over 1200 talented and purpose-led staff. You will work with senior leaders across the Environment Agency, other parts of Government and industry and support our local place-based leaders. You will set operational direction, ensure delivery and provide strategic focus, drive performance and assurance. Your efforts will influence sustainable growth, climate change and a better future for everyone in England.

Responding to incidents is a central part of what we do. You will be required to have an incident role and make yourself available to respond to incidents or provide business continuity support during an incident. This may attract an additional payment and full training and alternative working arrangements will be available to support you with your incident role.

The team

You will report to the Executive Director of Operations, and form part of a confident and purposeful team of senior leaders. You will be a member of our broader Environment Agency community of executive managers, and our national Director’s forum.

Your own team includes 3 Deputy Directors and a small executive office.

We’re looking for candidates with:

Extensive leadership experience at a senior level, ideally Director or equivalent. Strong political awareness, networks, and experience of working with Government departments, industry and developers. A demonstrable ability to deliver large scale, high impact and complex work at pace.

Vision, and the ability to develop your teams’ capabilities and empower them to improve the world around them. You will be great at working as ‘one team’ with colleagues across an organisation.

Emotional intelligence, consensus-building, and influencing skills when working with senior level stakeholders to make the best choices for the environment and people.