Development Planning Advisor

Closing date: 12 February 2023 | Salary: £28,403 - £32,088 (Grade 4) | Location: Flexible in mid Wales

Contract type: Fixed Term appointment until 31 March 2024

Work pattern: 37 hours, Monday to Friday

Post number: 200039

As an organisation we support flexible working. This role allows hybrid working (a mix of home and office working) and a working pattern suitable for you can be discussed on appointment if you are successful.

You will be contracted to a NRW office within the place base, at which you will be required to attend for regular meetings, training and for one-to-one meetings with your manager. These will be planned in advance.

Job Description

The post holder will assess development proposals for potential environmental impacts across the breadth of NRW interests. They will respond to development management casework across several Local Planning Authority areas. They will ensure advice is provided to customers that influences sustainable place making and supports the sustainable management of natural resources.

The post holder will be part of the Development Planning Advice Service, which is a national team split into management groups.

Travel is expected to be limited for the role with occasional site visits, office meetings or outdoor face-to-face meetings

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include to:

Produce external advice to preapplication enquiries, development management consultations (with the support of more senior colleagues on technically complex, development proposals) ensuring NRW advice is robust, evidence based and delivered to deadline.
Contribute to the preparation of information in relation to challenges against at NRW advice.
Develop and maintain effective customer relationships.
Maintain auditable records of actions and outcomes to justify and demonstrate that all legal and procedural requirements have been met.
Required to take part in incident response activities

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

You will be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience of the following:

Knowledge of environmental impact assessment techniques and methods.
Knowledge of development planning processes.
Able to communicate effectively with customers, explaining complex issues and gaining support by influencing.
Able to analyse information and situations, solve problems and make sound judgements.
Able to write clear, concise documents.
Able to work well as part of a team.

Welsh language requirements

Essential: Level 1 – Able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

Please note if you do not meet the level 1 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.

Competencies

Applications to this role will be assessed based on the following competencies, both at shortlisting and interview. Please give examples of how you demonstrate these competencies when completing your application form.

Essential Knowledge and Skills	Demonstrable previous practical experience gained in a technical discipline or scientific environment, at a level that enables them to implement programmes of work of a modest size and complexity and provide guidance and supervision to others. Able to evidence subject matter expertise in a discrete area of their work. Ability to process and analyse routine information and produce accurate reports and information based on sound analytical processes. Has good literacy, numerical and communication skills together with IT and systems knowledge.
Evaluation of Information	Ability to understand and interpret procedure manuals, statutory codes and legislation used whilst carrying out the role. May lead and implement a programme of work requiring the gathering of data and information from different sources and systems, to produce standard documents. Able to undertake routine analysis of samples and simple data following formal procedures, resulting in the production of analytical reports and documentation that will be used by others.
Decision Making and Autonomy	Ability to apply some technical judgment to deal with issues; or know when direct them to others. Able to consider options from a small range of solutions to make decisions, possibly having to tailor some work methods to achieve the required results without making fundamental changes to procedures or processes. Whilst the work will predominantly involve a variety of similar, well defined tasks; it will require the initiative to resolve issues and apply different techniques or methods. The post holder will manage discrete programmes of work and need to solve problems and make decisions which have a degree of complexity, around how best to achieve results. The work of the post holder may be part of a larger project, so that the degree of autonomy will be limited.
Impact	Ability to make straightforward decisions; with more complex areas limited to making recommendations to others.
Communication and Relationships with Others	The role will require a high degree of interaction with people with the ability to foster good working relationships, with internal and external contacts. Demonstrates good communication skills with the ability to adapt style and content depending on the person and nature of the relationship. Able to advise and brief others, requiring the ability to clearly explain and share information with a variety of people, adapting their style and approach as necessary. Communication includes dealing with difficult or challenging customers, often in sensitive or complex situations; requiring the need for tact, patience and the ability to remain calm.

Benefits of working for us

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

Agile and flexible working (role dependent)
Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 26.6% to 30.3%
28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
Generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
Health and wellbeing benefits and support
Weekly well-being hour to use as you choose
Competitive financial rewards to enhance your monthly pay

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

How to apply

Please send a completed application form to: Applications@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk using the post number as the email reference

Before completing your application, please read our Guidance on completing a job application form

Application closing date: 12 February 2023

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Lucie Haines at lucie.haines@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Natural Resources Wales embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunity. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition.

We welcome and encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented, including women, black and ethnic minority groups and people with a disability. We have a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

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