Marine Advisory Officer

Team / Directorate: Development and Planning Advice Service, Operations

Starting salary: £36,246 rising to £39,942 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Post number: 203895

The role

Are you passionate about protecting Wales' marine environment? We're looking for a motivated marine specialist to join our team, providing expert advice and helping shape the management of our marine protected areas. As a Marine Advisory Officer, you'll deliver technical marine advice across a range of casework, focusing on marine protected areas (MPAs) and wider marine conservation. You'll contribute to the sustainable management of Wales' marine environment, ensuring that decisions are underpinned by sound science and aligned with our natural resource management and ecosystem services approach. Working across specific geographic areas in North and South Wales - and occasionally more widely - you'll collaborate with internal colleagues and external partners, supporting conservation goals and strengthening our evidence base.

Key responsibilities include:

• Providing marine technical advice to support casework and the management of MPAs and other key marine areas.
• Supporting the development of local partnerships to promote marine conservation and sustainable use.
• Promoting an evidence-led, ecosystem-based approach to marine advice and decision-making.
• Collaborating across teams and with stakeholders to support integrated marine management.

This is an excellent opportunity to apply your marine knowledge in a dynamic, collaborative environment and make a real impact on the protection of Wales' coastal and marine resources. Interviews will be confirmed at a later date. Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you will do

• Contribute to day to day advice on MPA management and wider marine management in specific geographic areas of Wales.
• Provision of technical advice into development and other casework/information requests in MPAs and marine areas.
• Supporting senior team and Service members in this provision for high profile cases.
• Provide marine advice to the development and implementation of Area statements.
• Contribute to local delivery of SMNR in the marine and coastal environment within the geographic area, working with the marine Area Statement Advisor.
• Contribute to the development and maintenance of effective stakeholder relationships and engagement, including liaison and partnership working in particular with respect to marine protected areas.
• Support the influencing and contribute to the development and delivery of NRW Marine Service Plan and Marine Programme, and other relevant NRW policy, strategy and process, working with EPP colleagues.
• Provide technical and operational advice to the development of corporate standards/process and guidance.
• Contribute to the delivery of marine surveillance and monitoring programmes as required in relevant MPA, in liaison with marine monitoring assessment and reporting team.
• Marine pollution incident response and preparedness.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post.
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.
• Required to take part in incident response activities.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method:

• Marine environment skills and experience.
• Knowledge of marine legislative requirements.
• Knowledge and some experience of monitoring methods.
• Knowledge and experience of marine casework and the different legislative frameworks.
• Good communication and influencing skills.
• Good analytical and interpretation skills in relation to marine data, report critiquing and writing skills.

Welsh language level requirements

Essential: Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh). Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme).
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days.
• Generous leave entitlements for all your life needs.
• Commitment to professional development.
• Health and wellbeing benefits and support.
• Weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose.

Please keep reading

If you think you have what it takes to do this role, but don't necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch and we will be happy to discuss the role with you in more detail. We're passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion. We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values. We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year. We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on a variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses. We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.