Senior Specialist Surveyor in London

The role Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is looking for an experienced and commercially astute Senior Specialist Surveyor to play a pivotal role in the management of our diverse landholding portfolio across North East Wales. This is an exciting opportunity to join our Land Management and Forest Operations Team, where you will provide expert professional advice on a broad range of land and property matters, including valuation, acquisitions and disposals, estate management, compulsory purchase, and complex legal and contractual issues. Your expertise will directly support high-value, high-profile and often sensitive decisions that help NRW deliver its environmental, operational and strategic objectives.

As a senior specialist, you will lead and manage complex land transactions and projects, working collaboratively with colleagues across NRW as well as external partners, stakeholders and professional advisers throughout Wales and the wider UK. You will use your professional judgement to navigate complex challenges, identify opportunities and deliver practical solutions that balance commercial, environmental and public interest considerations.

Beyond project delivery, you will contribute to the development of strategy, policy and best practice, helping to shape how NRW manages its land and natural assets for the benefit of current and future generations. You will also act as a trusted source of expertise, sharing your knowledge and supporting colleagues across the organisation.

Reporting to the Land Management Team Leader, this flexible and rewarding role offers the chance to make a genuine difference by helping NRW sustainably manage one of Wales's most important public asset portfolios while supporting the organisation's purpose of ensuring that Wales's natural resources are used sustainably, now and for the future. Driving is essential to this role as it may require site visits or meetings with external partners. You must hold a full and current UK driving license.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to an NRW office within the place base / location above and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

What you will do:

• As a professionally qualified Land Agent you will be responsible for providing authoritative professional expertise and advice to senior management to support NRW's Land Stewardship, legal compliance and strategic budget management.
• You will negotiate and lead acquisition of land, valuing assets, and give professional advice on legal and tax issues associated with land stewardship.
• You will be accountable for this advice which will be relied upon in high risk decision making.
• You will have operational responsibility for leading and managing complex task groups and high-profile projects involving multifunctional specialist/technical staff.
• You will be accountable for the instruction of solicitors and barristers and for providing information to legal agents in support of court cases, conveyancing and litigation.
• You will be responsible and accountable for land transactions and claims settlement.
• You will contribute your professional knowledge and judgement to the development of business plans, strategy, policy and guidance.
• You will coach, mentor and support colleagues across Operations either in your capacity as the Land Agent for a Place or as a technical lead for a specific topic area for the Directorate as a whole.
• You will work with other Technical Specialists in NRW, leading where appropriate, to promote consistent advisory and regulatory practices across functional regimes.
• You will represent NRW as a professional expert on internal and external forums operating at a Wales and UK level.
• You will be accountable for building, maintaining and improving relationships with internal and external stakeholders and management teams.
• You will be accountable for maintaining your personal professional accreditation (RICS) and ensure the latest developments in the professional field are reflected in your work and your contributions to strategy, policy and guidance production.
• You will maintain auditable records of actions and outcomes to justify and demonstrate that all legal and procedural requirements have been met.
• 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 and that of your staff through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Required to take part in incident response activities.
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills:

• Full Chartered Surveyor membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
• RICS Registered Valuer or a willingness to become one.
• Substantial relevant experience in the field and ability to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and personal and professional credibility and a commitment to continuing professional development.
• Excellent people management, financial management, leadership and influencing skills.
• Able to manage complex Projects and Programmes of work.
• Proven ability to manage financial, legal, operational and reputational risk around the post holder's area of work and identify risks to the business.
• In-depth knowledge in land and property management to enable the provision of objective advice to others on specialist issues.
• Confidence and the ability to discuss policy and legal land stewardship issues with a range of audiences.
• Excellent inter-personal and influencing skills and the ability to develop and maintain good relationships and networks with a range of individuals and at all levels.
• Excellent negotiating skills employed to achieve the best outcome for NRW.
• Expertise in identifying areas for cost reduction and increasing income.

Welsh Language level requirements:

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level.

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.

Additional Information:

• Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check.
• Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.
• This role meets the criteria for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. Natural Resources Wales welcomes applications from non-UK citizens who are eligible to apply under this route, subject to confirmation by the Home Office.
• Please note that while we may be able to support the Certificate of Sponsorship required for a visa application, the organisation does not cover the cost of the visa itself, including any associated fees for dependants.
• The applicant must still meet the UK Skilled Worker Visa Eligibility and Requirement.

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.

We're passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 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.