Senior Specialist Officer, Regulatory Business Change Lead

Team / Directorate: Management Team Operations / Operations

Starting salary: £52,268 rising to £57,726 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Fixed Term appointment until 31^st March 2026

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: To be confirmed

Post number:  203762

The role

The design, development and implementation of an ambitious programme of transformational waste reforms is underway as outlined in Welsh Government’s (WG) Beyond Recycling and Net Zero Wales strategies including the development and implementation of a UK Digital Waste Tracking Service. 

These reforms will change the landscape of waste regulation, and the cumulative effect will have a significant impact on who and how NRW’s Operations Directorate regulates in Wales. The purpose of the role is to provide high level specialist expertise in the Regulatory service area across the Operations Directorate. You will work closely with the relevant Head of Service to -:

Act as a link between Waste Subgroup, Operations and the NRW Waste Regulatory Reform Programme

• Prepare the effected business area for the implementation of new regulatory duties and processes and the resulting transition to new structures and ways of working, ensuring that structures and regulatory capacity is future proofed for any further reform.
• Realise the benefits of the NRW Waste Regulatory Reform Programme and to ensure the required staff structure and capabilities are embedded into Operations.
• Embed the new duties into business as usual and ensure that they do not impact business stability and ongoing capability.
• Ensure the delivery of the required regulatory models, underpinned by the Programme/Business Board approach to provide oversight and coordination.

You will work closely with EPP and Operational Managers to plan and oversee the implementation of waste reform regulatory models and associated regulatory duties across the whole Operations Directorate.  You will work with the Regulatory Business Management Team to provide assurance that funding and resources allocated to the regulation service are used to deliver NRW’s statutory duties and are fully cost recovered.

The waste reform regulatory models that need to be implemented within Operations include but are not exclusive to:

• Digital Waste Tracking Service
• Extended Producer Responsibility
• Deposit Return Scheme
• Workplace Recycling
• Material Facility Regulations

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Martin Cox at martin.cox@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.

Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

This role will report to a new Operations Manager post which will manage several ‘Once in Wales’ waste focused teams.  The post will be in Operations within South East while the new teams are recruited to.

What you will do

•       You will work closely with the Waste Regulatory Reform Programme Manager and Senior Specialist Officer, Operations Service Lead for Regulation to translate the waste regulatory reform programme into practical regulatory delivery that supports NRW to embed and deliver against its new regulatory duties.
• You will lead the operational input, response and oversight to the Waste Regulatory Reform Programme, 
• You will develop a high level (Operations wide), prioritised work programme for the service area and take a programme management approach to the required business change ensuring effective governance in line with NRW’s PMO processes.
• You will work closely with Operational Managers and Team Leaders to coordinate the embedding of new regulatory duties and monitor performance in line with priorities and resource allocation. 
• You will lead on identifying potential regulatory delivery issues for the new duties and coordinate the development and implementation of corrective interventions or service level adjustments.  This work will have extensive impact on the workplans and priorities of large groups of other operational staff, in addition to the environmental and stakeholder impact.
• You will have a key role in identifying and responding to important emerging business risks and opportunities.
• Provide a clear, focussed link to the EPP Business Lead roles and act as an effective bridge between EPP and Operations.  This will include providing a clear link between Corporate, Business Board, and Place business planning.
• You will ensure effective communications between operational teams, Business Boards and their subgroups, and you will work closely with other service and business leads to ensure effective linkages across the business and service areas.
• You will also support the Head of Service and work alongside the Service Lead for Regulation on wider regulatory delivery and reporting.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

• You will be a recognised expert with extensive operational and/or policy experience across the relevant service area, and a good level of understanding of the wider business of NRW including how the service impacts and interacts across the whole business. 
• Extensive knowledge of the external stakeholders interacting with and impacted by the service area, and existing credibility and established relationships with a range of relevant stakeholders.
• A high level of financial, project management, risk management and performance management skills to enable you to lead the operational input, response to and oversight of the service plan delivery and business planning processes.
• Excellent internal and external communication skills to convey complex technical and business information to broad audiences, and to create an effective dialogue on these issues.
• The ability to interpret and analyse large amounts of highly complex data and information, to inform effective decisions and interventions across the service planning and delivery.
• The ability to act independently taking complex high impact decisions across potentially conflicting priorities with limited input from line management.
• You will have a recognised professional/technical qualification or equivalent relevant knowledge.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential:  A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh) previous Level 1
• Desirable:  B2 - Upper intermediate level (able to discuss work matters) previous Level 3

Please note if you do not meet the A1 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.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

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

Please keep reading

If you think you have what it takes to do this role, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch and we will be happy to discuss the role with you in more detail.

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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