Senior Officer Major Infrastructure

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.
• This presents a unique opportunity to influence government policy to secure greater outcomes for the natural environment, whilst also playing a key role in both supporting and shaping Natural England’s Planning and Infrastructure work.

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.

This will be delivered through our policy advice and by helping to shape the way in which we deliver our statutory advice on major infrastructure work.

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.

• Act as sector lead for a key infrastructure sector(s). For example:
• 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. Act as relationship manager as required.
• 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. Work with industry and regulators to develop best practice guidance and approaches where possible.
• Horizon scan, understand future development proposals and policy changes relevant to the sector, identify opportunities and share this intelligence with delivery teams to able 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.
• It should be noted that we are working in evolving policy environment with novel technologies and new industry…