Wildlife Licensing Lead Adviser

Do you have a background in ecology and/or protected species? Would you like use your skills to deliver ecologically sound and pragmatic solutions for both wildlife and humans?

We have a number of vacancies in our national team delivering our wildlife licensing work. Natural England’s Wildlife Licensing Service has been created to provide effective and efficient protected species licensing in line with our service standards. The team covers Species Management, European Protected Species, Science and Conservation Licences among other strands of related activity. The team is focused on providing high quality processing, assessment, and determination of individual and Class licence applications. We also offer chargeable discretionary advice services which can bring considerable benefits to our customers and protected species. All aspects of the licensing life cycle are handled within the team from initial administration/registration through to compliance. We work closely with other teams in Natural England to secure the best outcomes for our natural environment. In parallel to managing our annual caseload we are always striving to improve our service and find smarter ways to protect our wildlife alongside sustainable growth. This includes developing and refining our licensing processes, the range of services and licence types we can offer and improving our ways of working through reform and continuous improvement.

The successful candidates will play a central role in the delivery of Natural England’s wildlife licensing work.Job description

Delivery Team Wildlife Adviser roles will:

Undertake technical assessment of a wide range of licence applications for science and conservation, damage and development and Public Health and Safety under a range of legislation including: Wildlife & Countryside Act (1981), Conservation of Habitats & Species Regulations (2017), and Protection of Badgers Act (1992).Provide effective, clear and pragmatic advice and information to customers on a wide range of wildlife related issues to Natural England’s customers and partners in order to support Natural England’s statutory responsibilities and wider ambition.Work with non-governmental organisations NGOs, consultant ecologists, developers and other customers towards the best outcome for the species.Pro-actively engage to meet the changing nature of licensing work so that our species regulatory advice makes an optimal contribution to species conservation outcomes, fully implementing our Conservation Strategy.Provide an efficient, customer-focused and responsive service working within statutory and agreed deadlines while maintaining good working relationships with Natural England’s partners and stakeholders.There will be opportunities to develop strategic solutions at a landscape-scale for greater benefits for protected species for example district level licensing for Great Crested Newts.Interpret and apply to your work the policies, legislation and guidance on wildlife protection and management.Promote a culture of continuous improvement in Wildlife Management Advice and Licensing by adopting and helping take forward Better Regulation principles.Identify opportunities around income generation and deliver authoritative and outcome-focused charged-for advice through our discretionary advice and pre-submission screening services.

Additional information:

A current, full driving licence is important for this role as it may require accessing remote locations. A commitment to obtain a full driving licence quickly is also acceptable.

The role involves an element of field work which can involve walking a distance and being outdoors in inclement weather.

From time to time you will be required to attend training courses or meetings that involve overnight stays away from home.

Some of our licence applications can involve the use of lethal control. Assessing these applications will be a mandatory part of the Wildlife Adviser role.

How to apply

We will assess you against the competencies below during the selection process. When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. STAR stands for:

SituationTaskActionResult

Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency. Please ensure you read the Candidate Information Pack before you begin completing the application form. Please note STAR format is not required for the ‘Technical Skills and Knowledge’ competency.

If we have a significant number of applications, we may decide to sift on the first two competencies which are 'Technical Skills and Knowledge' and 'Personal Effectiveness'. Candidates who are invited for interview will be assessed on all four competencies.

As this is a large recruitment campaign the expected timeline may be extended. Candidates should expect to hear if they have been invited to interview by end-July. Unfortunately, due to the size of this recruitment we are unable to provide feedback to candidates.