Peatland Action Programme Administrator in Scotland

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NatureScot’s Peatland programme delivers actions to care for Scotland’s peatlands. It is integral to the government’s determination for peatland protection, restoration and management to reduce carbon emissions and contribute wider benefits for biodiversity, water management and green growth. The Peatland Programme covers the requirements under the Scottish Government ring-fenced PeatlandACTION support for restoration and the wider NatureScot work on valuing, protecting and managing peatlands.

The NatureScot PeatlandACTION role is expanding in support of the government’s 10 year, £250m commitment for restoration. It has an annual budget of ~£20m and comprises over 60 posts employed/supported by NatureScot.

Job Purpose Summary

The main purpose of this post is to lead and manage administration tasks that support delivery of the PeatlandACTION Programme. The post holder will support the Peatland ACTION programme with underpinning administrative tasks across the breadth of its functions. The post sits within the Peatland ACTION Coordination & Governance Team. This team provides a central PeatlandACTION support service on programme development, monitoring & governance; project & risk management; health, safety & wellbeing; and financial probity, monitoring and audit/accountability. It requires working within a fast-paced environment with multiple lines of responsibility from supporting Peatland ACTION Project Officers requirements to wider Peatland ACTION Programme needs such as financial planning and reporting. The post holder should be able to work independently and manage and prioritise their workload. They will also need to liaise in a professional manner with a very wide range of stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to, and facilitate, the development and delivery of Governance and Co-ordination requirements for the expanded Peatland ACTION Programme.
• Support the Peatland Programme Officer with process improvement - mapping/analysing PeatlandACTION processes, designing process improvement and tracking/monitoring improvement undertaken.
• Alongside the Peatland Programme Officer, support the review, and champion, the Programme Plan and coach staff in its successful use.
• Maintain financial housekeeping of the annual PA budget, ensuring it is coded and tracked monthly and reported appropriately.
• Assist in issuing Memorandums of Agreements and contracts required to support delivery of PeatlandACTION projects across all eight PeatlandACTION teams.
• Make sure invoices are paid and liaise with transaction services where appropriate/required.
• Support coordination of PeatlandACTION events logistics.
• Assist in the assessment, implementation and reporting on H&S requirements.
• Keep PeatlandACTION Programme Administrative requirements, and tasks, under review and, where deemed appropriate, secure/recruit and manage the B Grade posts in these tasks.
• Support the PeatlandACTION Programme to implement NatureScot administrative requirements.
• Helping to support the integration and alignment of PeatlandACTION within NatureScot.
• Maintain an overview of organisational development and attend NatureScot Change Partner meetings.

Skills Required

• Knowledge and awareness of project or programme administration, health & safety and business planning requirements and delivery processes.
• Familiar with the general functions and statutory duties of NatureScot, and the Peatland ACTION Programme.
• Competent with document management systems, MS Office suite, Oracle e-business suite, Fusion and the business planning systems.
• Ability to manage budgets and use financial management information, including understanding of procurement processes and experience of dealing with financial transactions.
• Good communication skills, including influencing, listening and demonstrating clear written and verbal presentation.
• Good interpersonal skills with an ability to work in a team, to foster good relations and to encourage actions by others.
• Proven ability to work on own initiative, accurately and to deadlines.
• Solution focused and innovative approach, with experience of contributing to change initiatives.
• Aptitude to resolve problems, including the use of novel and innovative techniques.
• Driving licence or other means of transport.

Prerequisites

• Candidates must be eligible to live and work in the UK and resident in Scotland for the duration of the job contract.
• To undertake a Disclosure Scotland application.
• Although Gaelic language is not a prerequisite it is a desirable skill in support of our Gaelic Language Plan.

Benefits

• NatureScot offers some great benefits to reward and support you whilst you are working for us.
• Our benefits package includes the civil service pension scheme, a generous holiday leave allowance plus flexi time, and employee discount scheme.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% (7.35% employee contributions).
• 41.5 days of annual leave, including 5 fixed public holidays.
• Equivalent of 2 days paid volunteering leave.
• A focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme.
• Job satisfaction from contributing proactively to the twinned nature and climate crisis.
• Cycle to work and electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes.
• Access to an employee discounts scheme.
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.

Application Process

Application is by CV and Supporting Statement. Please ensure you have attached these documents when submitting your application.

Internal applicants should read the Self Service Guide. External applicants should read the Online Job Application Guide.

If you have previously applied for a vacancy with NatureScot you must remove the supporting statement from your profile, before uploading a new version.

External candidates will be invited to interview if we are unable to recruit internally.

Whether working at home or in an office, or travelling to meetings and site visits, as a NatureScot you will contribute to our Net Zero plan, for example through positive carbon travel choices.

Contacts

For information regarding the vacancy please contact: Cerian Baldwin, Peatland Programme Officer – Governance and Coordination.

For information regarding the recruitment process please contact NatureScot.

The more diverse NatureScot is, the better we will be in connecting everyone with nature. We particularly encourage applications from people from Minority Ethnic (ME) backgrounds and people with a disability.