Senior Officer Major Infrastructure - ( Ref : 6413 ) in London

This position is based Nationally.

Natural England are yet to finalise the details of the 2025 Pay Review. This will be backdated to July 2025, and this could involve a review of our current terms and conditions alongside increases to the advertised pay ranges. If there are any changes to what has been advertised the vacancy manager will be able to provide further details ahead of any offers being accepted.

Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.

Natural England is the Government's adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.

Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes:

• Recovering Nature – Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
• Building Better Places – Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
• Improving Health and Wellbeing – Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
• Delivering Security through Nature – Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.

The Planning and Infrastructure Team forms part of the Land for Nature Team, in the Strategy Directorate of Natural England. The Team works across the terrestrial and marine environment to:

• Advise Government on national policy issues, contributing to the development of planning policy, guidance and process changes and responding to national consultations.
• Provide strategic technical advice and leadership to our programme and operations teams and develop new approaches to planning and infrastructure work.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key national partners including Government, other regulators and agencies, NGOs and the commercial sector.

We are looking for up to 3 Senior Officers to join our team to lead our strategic work on major infrastructure. In this role you will play a key role in shaping Natural England's response at a critical time with fundamental changes proposed to the planning, infrastructure planning and environmental assessment regimes. You will work alongside our Infrastructure Principal Officers and the wider Planning and Infrastructure Team to provide the leadership and technical focus to drive forward Natural England's ambitions for the natural environment.

A key element of these roles will be interacting with key regulators, delivery bodies, industry bodies and partner organisations within the major infrastructure sector. You will work proactively to build an understanding of the aims, objectives and challenges of industry and partners and provide strategic support to decision-makers dealing with complex or novel impacts.

Collaborative work both internally and externally will be required to identify and maximise opportunities to improve our evidence base and knowledge, identifying consenting challenges and driving forwards solutions to those which help further the ambitions of the government's Environmental Improvement Plan.

Internally, you will provide national leadership and technical advice for your core topic area to ensure consistency of advice both within and across sectors, through the development and provision of training, guidance and leading technical networks.

Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities:

• Act as sector lead for a key infrastructure sector(s).
• Provide and co-ordinate technical advice to Defra, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Department for Transport (DfT) and other government departments to support NE's response to emerging infrastructure planning policy and guidance including responses to national consultations.
• Build effective relationships with Defra, DESNZ, MHCLG, DfT and other Government Department colleagues alongside key infrastructure delivery bodies, developers and industry groups.
• Provide technical infrastructure planning advice to operations teams on casework and environmental assessment processes, particularly around novel/precedent setting issues or where strategic approaches are required.
• Lead/contribute to technical guidance, standing advice, briefings and training on infrastructure and planning.
• Horizon scan, understand future development proposals and policy changes relevant to the sector, identify opportunities and share this intelligence with delivery teams to enable them to anticipate future workloads.
• Progress opportunities to increase the evidence base around environmental impacts associated with the sector(s), with a focus on addressing key evidence gaps, working collaboratively and with partners.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience:

• A working knowledge of environmental assessment processes (HRA, EIA, SEA) and their application in development planning and development management casework (Essential).
• Working knowledge of infrastructure consenting and addressing the environmental impacts of infrastructure development, specifically within the context of protected sites, landscapes and species (Essential).
• Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver the organisation's strategy, vision, mission and aims (Essential).
• Demonstrate personal effectiveness by using initiative, being well organised and identifying ways to improve and develop work programmes (Essential).
• Being able to identify work priorities in a fast-paced team and show clear communication on the actions you take (Essential).

At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements. We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering. You'll receive a generous leave allowance of 33 days per year (pro rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events. We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.

Natural England has adopted hybrid working – which means our staff work from a flexible range of locations, encompassing home, offices (ours and our partners) and relevant sites. All new staff will be formally linked to one of our 25 offices across England, and the expectation is that all new staff will be able to access their local office to be part of the community of staff in their geographical area. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.

It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range. You will become an active member of the relevant local leadership community, the group of senior Natural England staff in each of the localities across England who we ask to provide support and co-ordination for the local group of staff.

We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.

If you require a reasonable adjustment at interview, or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you should notify us of this at application stage where possible, or well in advance of your interview. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.

This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:

• Technical Skills and knowledge
• Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
• Creating resilient landscapes and seas
• Personal Effectiveness

When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. Give us an example of how you have demonstrated the competency (which can be work related or from another area of your life) and tell us about the Situation, the specific Task you had to undertake, the specific Actions you took, and the Result (both immediate and in a wider context) of your Action.

Please note that STAR format is not required when answering a Technical Skills & Knowledge competency. Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.

If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all competencies as set out in the Job Description.

Please note: Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.