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Senior Industry Permitting Officer

Closing date:14 August 2022 | Salary: 6, £35,994-£39,369 | Location: Flexible

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours

Post number: 201565

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 the nearest NRW office to your home, of 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 role sits within a closely working team, supporting each other to assess complex and sometimes contentious applications across a broad spectrum of industry sectors; including medium combustion plant, large combustion plant, intensive farming, chemicals, food and drink, metals, cement and minerals, power generation, waste treatment, landfill, waste incineration and activities that use radioactive substances. The successful candidate is not expected to have experience and knowledge of all these industry areas but should have good knowledge and understanding of at least one or two industry areas.

The successful candidate will have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of Environmental Permitting Regulations permitting, and scientific skills that will allow understanding of complex technical proposals, and the ability to provide robust scrutiny to ensure that policy and guidance has been followed and legislation and good practice has been met.

The individual will have organisational skills and be a good communicator, using their initiative to solve problems and take risk-based and timely decisions.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

Lead on complex permit determination and decision under Installation permitting legislation by carrying out appropriate technical assessment in accordance with NRW policies and procedures where available, and issue, refuse or vary permits within timescales.
Lead on influencing and implementing mentoring and coaching frameworks to aid technical development of other permitting officers within the Installation Permitting Team and where applicable throughout the permitting service, ensuring consistency in approach.
Extensive experience of permitting decision making using a range of technical guidance and technical software and modelling programmes as required by the Installation regime.
Lead on supporting operational teams by providing specialist expertise in pre-application discussions and post permit work for a range of application types within the various sectors of the installation regime.
Identify and deliver opportunities for process and procedural changes.
Deliver an efficient and effective service by co-ordinating change that leads to improved internal and external stakeholder experience of the Permitting Service.
Co-ordinate and lead in preparing defence in relation to legal challenges against permit decisions for your assigned area of work.
Represent the Permitting Service on relevant internal technical groups and relevant external stakeholder events.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

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

Education to degree level or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline.
An in-depth understanding of the relevant legislation and how it relates to the installation permitting process.
Extensive experience of assessing complex installation permit applications or significant practical work experience of regulated process industry.
Proven coaching and mentoring skills.
Strong customer focussed approach to delivery.
Track record of delivering timely optimal solutions by effective information analysis and risk-based decisions.
Effective planning and organisation skills.

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	Able to undertake practical or technical tasks or work, requiring specialist knowledge/ expertise. Expert in a range of subjects relating to their specialism and able to act as the local expert or specialist lead for a small area, in an advisory capacity. Demonstrates substantial experience and specialist knowledge in their field, with the ability to manage projects, including the project budget and team. Possess analytical, influencing, persuading, supervisory and mentoring skills, together with project management skills.
Evaluation of Information	Able to interpret the function’s operational delivery plans and understand their context in the wider NRW strategy. Able to interpret developments in their area of expertise, contributing to business planning and the design and delivery of team-work programmes. Demonstrates the ability to analyse and interpret a wide range of complex information, extracting key points and able to communicate them to individuals at all levels and contribute to the development of policy.
Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements	Ability to lead and project manage specific areas of work, taking responsibility for managing project budgets and teams, and for the success and delivery of the project. Able to decide how best to achieve results, with guidance from peers, requiring the need for some degree of judgment and creativity which may lead to changes in established procedures/ practice in the work area. Post holders will be delivering often significant programmes of work, which may require the need to alter priorities due to conflicting demands. Responsible for making independent decisions at an operational level, with input from line management and peers, together with an understanding of NRW policy and the range of options available and their potential implications for the business. Understands the consequences of taking wrong decisions, which would have an adverse effect in relation to external stakeholders, such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. Decisions taken may concern a broad range of matters, the outcome of which may not always be immediately clear or apparent; and are likely to be wider than the immediate function or department. Problems encountered may also relate to the work of other parts of the organisation and could be variable and diverse.
Impact	Working as a local expert / sector lead, the post holder’s input and influence will be at an operational level and have an impact both internally and externally.
Communication and Relationships with Others	Ability to interact and link with other roles across the business, fostering and maintaining good relationships and networks, engaging the organisation in delivering polices and work plans in the most efficient way. Communication with others will be at an operational level both internally and externally and will typically be specialist in nature. Able to act as an advisory or functional specialist, providing advice, which may be technical, specialist or detailed; tailoring the method, style and level of communication appropriately for the audience. Demonstrates effective communication and persuasive skills with the ability to lead projects, which may include facilitating and presenting at internal or external meetings, giving advice and input as required. Able to produce documents, reports, programs, contracts, with some complexity; containing advice, guidance or opinion; which would have detrimental consequences if incorrect or poorly drafted. Ability to research and gather information and data from multiple locations or sources and apply professional judgment in how the information should be interpreted.

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 at your choice

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

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

Application closing date 14 August 2022

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Holly Noble at Holly.Noble@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk or 03000 654385

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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