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Senior Specialist Surveyor

Closing date: 4 July 2022 | Location: Flexible within South Wales | Salary: £45,739 - £50,516 (Grade 8)

Contract type: Fixed term Appointment to 31 March 2025

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours a week, flexible

Post number: 202935

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, 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 post holder will provide the high-level professional land agent expert role in their geographical area (South Wales), being responsible, directly and by the advice given, for ensuring NRW manages the significant financial, legal, operational and reputational risk arising from the management of land and assets.

The post holder will be the organisation's high level professional expert for bringing Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) into better condition.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

As a professionally qualified Land Agent you will be responsible for providing authoritative professional expertise and advice to senior management to support NRW’s Land Stewardship, legal compliance and strategic budget management. You will negotiate and lead acquisition of land, valuing assets, and give professional advice on legal and tax issues associated with land stewardship. You will be accountable for this advice which will be relied upon in high-risk decision making.
You will have operational responsibility for leading and managing complex task groups and high-profile projects involving multifunctional specialist/technical staff.
You will be accountable for the instruction of solicitors and barristers and for providing information to legal agents in support of court cases, conveyancing and litigation.
You will be responsible and accountable for land transactions and claims settlement.
You will contribute your professional knowledge and judgement to the development of business plans, strategy, policy and guidance.
You will coach, mentor and support colleagues across Operations either in your capacity as the Land Agent for a Place or as a technical lead for a specific topic area for the Directorate as a whole.
You will work with other Technical Specialists in NRW, leading where appropriate, to promote consistent advisory and regulatory practices across functional regimes.
You will represent NRW as a professional expert on internal and external forums operating at a Wales and UK level.
You will be accountable for building, maintaining and improving relationships with internal and external stakeholders and management teams.
You will be accountable for maintaining your personal professional accreditation (RICS) and ensure the latest developments in the professional field are reflected in your work and your contributions to strategy, policy and guidance production.
You will maintain auditable records of actions and outcomes to justify and demonstrate that all legal and procedural requirements have been met.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

You will have knowledge and experience of the following:

Full Chartered Surveyor membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. (RICS)
RICS Registered Valuer or a willingness to become one.
Substantial relevant experience in the field and ability to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and personal and professional credibility and a commitment to continuing professional development.
Excellent people management, financial management, leadership and influencing skills.
Able to manage complex Projects and Programmes of work.
Proven ability to manage financial, legal, operational and reputational risk around the post holder’s area of work and identify risks to the business.
In-depth knowledge in land and property management to enable the provision of objective advice to others on specialist issues.
Confidence and the ability to discuss policy and legal land stewardship issues with a range of audiences.
Excellent inter-personal and influencing skills and the ability to develop and maintain good relationships and networks with a range of individuals and at all levels.
Excellent negotiating skills employed to achieve the best outcome for NRW.
Expertise in identifying areas for cost reduction and increasing income.

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	The post holder will demonstrate good influencing, people management, networking and mentoring skills, as well as the ability to make critical judgements at short notice. The post holder will undertake a range of advanced skilled work, involving significant technical tasks or specialist knowledge in a defined discipline; and where the job holder is required to manage some significant processes, will require previous experience in managing people or other projects and resources. Post holders must have a detailed understanding of a specific area of and substantial relevant experience and knowledge. The ability to manage financial, reputational, environmental, commercial and health and safety risks is essential. The post holder will have the skills to facilitate and enable the delivery of policy and client aspirations, both internally and externally. People management, financial management, leadership and influencing skills are essential as is a high level of personal and professional credibility from both an internal and external perspective. The post holder will need to actively update their knowledge and remain fully aware of developments in their field of expertise, with a clear understanding of the potential impact of any such changes and the ability to interpret and apply their learning across the function.
Evaluation of Information	The post holder will interpret the function’s operational delivery plans and understands their context in the wider NRW strategy. They will also interpret developments in their own area of expertise, contributing to the development of strategy and policy. The post holder will analyse and interpret a wide range of complex information, extracting key points and communicating this to individuals at all levels.
Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements	Work is generally guided by expected results, but the job holder is able to decide how best to achieve these. Guidance will be available from peers, but there will be a need for some degree of judgment or creativity to be applied. There may be a requirement to alter their priorities or those of their team as a result of conflicting demands. Objectives and targets, etc., will be reviewed on an intermediate basis. The post holder is responsible for making critical judgments and independent decisions based on input from line management and peers; an understanding of national and NRW policy; the range of options available; and their potential implications for the business. The post holder will contribute to the strategy and plans for the function in conjunction with senior management. Decisions taken by the post holder may lead to changes in established procedure/practice for dealing with issues within the post-holder’s area of work, and/or where the consequence of taking wrong decisions will have an adverse effect on the organisation in relation to its external stakeholders such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. Decisions may concern a broad range of matters and the outcomes of some decisions will not always be immediately clear or apparent. Problems encountered may also relate to the work of other parts of the organisation and could be variable and diverse. The impact of decisions is likely to be wider than the immediate function or department and is likely to be medium term.
Impact	The work of the post holder will have a moderate level of impact and influence, which will generally be medium to longer term in nature. There is a reliance on the work and contribution of post holder, and their decisions and actions will influence others. The consequences of their decision making/ action will have a medium to long term impact internally or externally. The impact of the post holder’s decisions is likely to be wider than the immediate function or department and is likely to be medium term. The impact of decisions from an external perspective may be at a national level.
Communication and Relationships with Others	Post holders will interact and link with other roles across the business, engaging the organisation in delivering strategies and polices in the most efficient way. Interaction and relationships will be with senior level individuals both internally and externally at a Wales and UK level. The post holder will discuss policy issues with others, which may be technical, specialist or detailed, tailoring the method, style and level of communication appropriately for the audience. This work will involve written and verbal communication and/or leading key projects, which will have a high degree of complexity requiring excellent communication and persuasive skills. This may also include facilitating and/or presenting at internal or external meetings, giving advice – including around legislative changes - and steering the direction of discussion or activities. There will be a requirement to foster and maintain good relationships and networks. Post holders will produce moderately complex documents, reports, accounts, contracts etc. Content will contain advice, guidance or opinion which the recipient will act upon or use, and which would have detrimental consequences if incorrect or poorly drafted. Data and content may need to be sourced from multiple locations or sources, entailing external research and professional judgment in how such research should be interpreted. The impact of such documentation is likely to be generally longer term in nature.
Responsibility for Resources	The post holder will have responsibility for the contribution to managing budgets and/or for being accountable for expenditure, in accordance with internal procedures. The post holder’s level of financial responsibility will be a delegated part of a much larger budget managed by a more senior employee. Post holders will be responsible for the safe and legal use of equipment and data that they use to fulfil the requirements of the role.

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

Please read our Guidance on completing a job application form before applying.

Application closing date: 4 July 2022

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams, date to be confirmed.

If you have any queries about the role, please contact nick.thomas@cyoethnaturiolcymru.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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