Environment Officer in Welshpool

Are you passionate about protecting the environment and making a positive impact in local communities? As an Environment Officer with Natural Resources Wales, you will help deliver sustainable management of natural resources across North Powys. Working within a multi-disciplinary team, you will provide technical expertise to protect and improve the water environment through environmental management, compliance work, water quality investigations, and sustainable water resource management.

The role includes carrying out regulatory duties under environmental legislation, responding to environmental incidents, and working with farmers, businesses, communities and partners to deliver practical environmental solutions. You will also support wider priorities such as biodiversity enhancement, protected site management, fisheries initiatives and Water Framework Directive objectives.

This varied role combines technical, regulatory and field-based work, offering the opportunity to contribute to healthier rivers, resilient ecosystems and thriving communities across North Powys. A full UK driving licence is essential for this role. The successful candidate will be required to travel regularly to sites in rural locations that are not accessible by public transport, often at short notice, including attendance at environmental incidents.

At NRW, we are committed to supporting flexible ways of working. You will be contracted to an NRW office within the advertised location, with a hybrid working arrangement agreed on appointment. Any regular face-to-face meetings, site visits or training activities will be planned in advance wherever possible.

The North Powys Environment Team is based at the Welshpool Depot on the Severn Farm Industrial Estate and covers a diverse area stretching from North Powys to Machynlleth and south to the A44 corridor. The team works closely with colleagues in the South Powys Environment Team to deliver environmental improvements across the region.

Predominantly rural in character, North Powys is home to beautiful landscapes, river catchments and traditional market towns. As part of this supportive, experienced and dynamic team, you will contribute to a wide range of work aimed at protecting and enhancing the natural environment of Mid Wales. You will collaborate with specialists in environmental regulation, water quality, fisheries, designated sites and project delivery, helping to deliver Natural Resources Wales' objectives and achieve positive outcomes for nature, local communities and the environment.

What you will do:

• Work with a wide range of internal and external customers including permit holders, landowners, businesses, public bodies, recreation groups, volunteers and third sector organisations to enable others to achieve SMNR.
• Establish, maintain and advise partners to support the development of partnership projects and plans through from concepts to implementation. These projects will deliver outcomes aligned with place priorities.
• Assess compliance with relevant legislation, permit or consent conditions. Where non-compliance is identified, determine and implement the most appropriate intervention option to ensure a return to compliance as quickly as possible. Take appropriate actions to collect evidence for enforcement purposes, in accordance with defined procedures.
• Draft valid consents and assents for operations affecting protected sites. For all work areas produce required advice, investigations, documentation and reports to agreed quality standards to support operational and management decisions, protected site notification, public enquiries, court cases etc so that information, evidence and NRW interests are accurately and effectively presented.
• Within your area of expertise, provide professional local advice and responses to consultations from planning and permitting teams. Maintain working relationships with these teams through regular liaison.
• Monitor progress of work, which may include interpretation of data, contractor management, project delivery or compliance with management agreements or statutory legal notices. Identify and support any remedial actions to ensure outcome delivery.
• Play a role in a resilient NRW Incident Management Service that follows NRW process to ensure effective, timely and safe response to incidents.
• 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).
• 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:

• A good working knowledge of environment management, agriculture, fisheries, conservation or biodiversity, with focused experience in one of these distinct areas of the team remit.
• An understanding of how these multi-functional teams can contribute to the sustainable management of natural resources.
• Ensure continuing professional and personal development, expertise and competence through formal and informal learning and certification.
• Strong and effective self-management and organisational skills.
• The ability to influence, negotiate and gain cooperation of others. Experience of dealing successfully with difficult people/situations is important.
• The ability to use specialised IT systems, such as GIS or NRW customised applications.
• Able to work well as part of a team.
• Hold a current full UK valid licence to drive NRW fleet vehicles (cars and vans).
• 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.
• Natural Resources Wales is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. Although we hold a Skilled Worker visa sponsorship licence, it applies only to specific roles that meet both the eligibility criteria and salary requirements set out by the UK Government under the Skilled Worker visa route.

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 are 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.