Senior Development Planning Advisor

Closing date: 12 February 2023 | Salary: £37,308 - £40,806 (Grade 6) | Location: Cardiff (other locations may be considered)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: 37 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Post number: 203250

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 NRW location stated in this advert, 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 professional and technical expert role within the local Development Planning Team. They will usually case manage the most significant complex and high-profile casework in the team, oversee NRWs advice to Local Development Plans and coach and mentor colleagues. They will contribute their technical expertise and experience not only to the immediate team but also to colleagues across the wider DPAS service and other departments.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities include:

Oversee and provide assurance of Advice to Local Development Plans and other sub-regional strategies and plans, including the advice on strategic environmental assessment of such plans.
Produce Advice to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects or complex, high-risk development proposals ensuring NRW advice is robust, evidence based and delivered to deadline.
Contribute professional judgement and assistance to decision-making in respect of strategic and complex individual development proposals and Plans managed by other team members.
Assure information prepared in relation to challenges against NRW development planning advice.
Attend Appeals and Inquiries.
Provide operational input to the development of NRW policy, process and guidance.
Ensure that NRW Policy, process and guidance is consistently applied within the team.
Development of effective customer relationships (internal and external).
Influence local development projects and strategies early in their evolution.
Responsible for the technical development of team members.
Provide functional advice and experience to multifunctional place planning such as Area Statements.
Contribute to the development of the team work plan.
Manage and deliver continuous Improvement projects for the Service.
Maintain auditable records of actions and outcomes to justify and demonstrate that all legal and procedural requirements have been met.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

Knowledge and experience of the following:

Excellent knowledge and substantial experience of environmental assessment and development planning processes.
Excellent understanding and significant experience of the development sector.
Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities in relation to major projects.
Able to communicate and negotiate effectively with stakeholders at senior management levels.
Good written and spoken communication skills and an ability to represent both the technical and strategic aspects of Development Planning work to non-specialists, both within NRW and externally, in a concise and effective way.
Able to analyse complex information and situations, solve problems and make sound judgements.
Able to coach and mentor others effectively.
Able to manage projects and lead virtual task groups.
Strong and effective self-management and organisational skills.

Welsh language requirements:

Essential Level 1 – able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

Desirable Level 3 – able to communicate with confidence in Welsh in some work situations.

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

Please note - 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.
Responsibility for People	No line management responsibility but will have operational responsibility for leading specialist/ technical staff through non-complex technical/ specialist programmes through a ‘matrix management’ structure. Post holders may also mentor colleagues.
Responsibility for Resources	Will have a small budget for delivery of a specific project and/or responsibility for checking the validity of forms and documents as part of a process or procurement of goods and services.

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 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 Gemma Beynon at gemma.beynon@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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