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Do you have a passion for nature and the environment? Do you want to make a real difference and secure significant environmental gains in the present and the future? Do you enjoy working in a team? Can you see yourself advising communities and customers to maximise gains for the Natural Environment?

If this appeals to you, a career at Natural England offers rewarding opportunities to secure environmental improvements and play your part in creating a better future for people and nature.

The priority work Natural England is delivering includes:

• Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive;
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change;
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods;
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature, and
• Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing.

We are the Government’s Adviser for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, an ambitious vision which brings new opportunities to protect and enhance and to achieve real outcomes for the environment.

Find out more about the work of Natural England at www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

The Chief Scientist Directorate (CSD) provides scientific and evidence leadership services and support to help Natural England operate as an evidence-led organisation. The Data Science Services (DSS) Team, within the Analysis Team of CSD, provides access to evidence through the provision and management of data and digital systems, and through application of data science, statistics and geospatial analysis to maintain and expand our evidence base.

Job description

Species distribution modelling plays an important part in many projects across Natural England. We create models correlating observations and environmental predictors by integrating observation data from multiple sources. These ecologically-focussed models predict suitable habitat for multiple species, feeding into connectivity analysis, risk and alert zones, and strategic opportunity mapping. Colleagues and stakeholders utilise this range of products to inform strategies and policies that improve the conservation of protected species, such as great crested newt, dormice, and water voles. Connectivity analysis identifies corridors to repair fragmented landscapes and accelerate dispersal and colonisation.

Find out more about how our species distribution modelling is enhancing the prospects of great crested newts here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McljEIsFaJw)

The post holder will lead the regular production of statistical models to feed into conservation strategies and policy. This will include coordinating the responsible management and documentation of data both throughout its lifecycle and between different teams. Further, the post holder will utilise their technical expertise to inform data interpretation and the understanding of data quality, while also supporting the presentation and communication of results to internal and external stakeholders. As a Senior Adviser, the post holder will work with others across the team and organisation to identify strategic opportunities for improvement, development, and integration of our evidence services to anticipate and meet the changing evidence needs of the organisation.

The post holder will:

• Develop and fit ensemble models in R to predict the occurrence of species across different geographic areas
• Produce and improve connectivity analysis to identify species dispersal potential and conduct metapopulation impact assessments
• Develop spatial and temporal statistics based on species observations and survey results, correlating these with modelling predictive layers and outputs
• Develop and produce stratified random sampling strategies
• Explore the potential use and implementation of alternative datasets in supplementing or adding value to existing analytical processes and outputs
• Contribute to and implement solutions within a cloud-based environment
• Contribute technical expertise to the development of strategy for species distributions modelling-based delivery, the development of stakeholder relationships, and integration with other strategic environmental improvement projects
• Provide modelling and statistical expertise to wider Data Science Services team projects
• Provide mentoring and technical training to members of the Data Science Services team and wider Natural England colleagues
• Communicate and present technical work including analytical methodology, results and opportunities to internal and external audiences with varied technical experience

Benefits

Wherever possible Natural England accommodates requests for both full-time and part-time hours and other flexible working patterns to help employees achieve a good work/life balance and maintain their health and wellbeing.

Natural England provides excellent opportunities for career progression, training and development tailored to your role. From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Everyone has 10 days to devote to personal learning and development, as well as an additional 3 days to volunteer.

You will have access to Civil Service Pension and benefits arrangements and generous leave allowances (33 day per year pro rata), as well as flexible working, to help you achieve a work-life balance that works for you and us.

You will have access to a range of benefits including discounts on shopping vouchers, cycle to work scheme, and childcare vouchers. You can also join the Civil Service Sport club which offer discounts on a range of sports and leisure opportunities as well as social events.

Natural England is a fantastic place to work, where difference is celebrated.

We’re committed to fairness and equality for all, so you feel valued for who you are and what you do. Our shared values help us work together to benefit the communities we serve. Our thriving employee-led diversity networks support our inclusive culture and contribute to our Diversity Action Plan.

Locations

Natural England is adopting hybrid working – which means that our staff will 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 geographic area. Full time staff are expected to attend their associated office for a minimum of one day a week.

Staff members are required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Travel expenses will be paid if work related travel is required but does not apply to travel between home and your associated office.

National team roles can be linked with any Natural England office while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.

View a map of our office locations here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/natural-england-office-locations

Pay

It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.

How to Apply

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.

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

• Technical skills and Knowledge
• Personal Effectiveness
• Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
• Work Delivery

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 doing so.

Please note the STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency.

Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.

Competencies

Competence 1

Professional competency

Detail

Technical Skills and Knowledge

Description

• Significant experience in the development of species distributions models at varying spatial/temporal scales with understanding of multiple regression and classification modelling methodologies (including the optimisation of those models)
  
  • Understanding of terrestrial species ecological niches and dispersal characteristics, and how these are incorporated into species distributions models
  • Experience coding in R and proficiency in at least one other programming language, e.g. Python
  • Experience using statistical techniques for identifying and exploring relationships between data
  
  Desirable
  
  • Highly proficient in using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software including ArcPro, ArcGIS, and QGIS, and in the use of scripts to handle spatial data
  • Experience in using GIS (or other tools) to conduct connectivity analysis
  • Knowledge of options relating to sampling strategies and experience in their development
  • Experience of transforming data including integrating different data types (e.g., spatial and non-spatial) and from varied data sources
  • Experience of developing databases to store a wide range of spatiotemporal ecological data

Competence 2

Professional competency

Detail

Personal Effectiveness

Description

• Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act (Practitioner)
  
  • Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Practitioner)
  • Apply new technology to improve the way we deliver our work (Practitioner)

Competence 3

Professional competency

Detail

Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

Description

• Listen to and understand our diverse partners and customers so that you achieve the best outcomes for them and Natural England (Practitioner)
  
  • Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver Natural England’s vision, mission and aims (Practitioner)

Competence 4

Professional competency

Detail

Work Delivery

Description

• Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines (Practitioner)
  
  • Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures (Practitioner)

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Job contact :

Name :
Ben Payne
Email :
[email protected]

Recruitment team

Email :
[email protected]