IMPORTANT:  This Advertiser has requested that applicants MUST be National Residents / Valid Work Permit-holders.  Other applicants need not apply.

 

Biodiversity Evidence Specialist

Post Details

The post is part of the Surveillance Team, with a main focus on delivery of the JNCC terrestrial surveillance programme.  The post may also include tasks working across other teams in JNCC, for example Biodiversity Information and Advice and Data Services Teams, which cover areas such as biodiversity reporting, working on standards and principles for conservation, addressing ecosystem services and developing IT systems to support conservation, e.g. the National Biodiversity Network.

Post Duties

Members of the team have generic duties, with the precise tasks decided by work planning and the nature of the particular objectives they are helping deliver.  The post will work across the programme’s portfolio of monitoring schemes and contracted research.  The post is initially for a single year (with the possibility of extension) to provide critical additional short term capacity, largely in projects relating to the development of efficient, documented, repeatable methods for determining habitat extent and condition, the development of a new vegetation monitoring scheme for the UK, and JNCC’s input to the national plant biosecurity strategy.

The main duties of the post are to:

• Identify relevant evidence, summarise and present it concisely, in order to contribute to internal briefing documents, guidance, or advice to JNCC’s government and agency stakeholders.
• Read and analyse environmental legislation, policy documents and case law in order to understand implications for evidence requirements.
• Specify and project manage contracted technical analysis, research or evidence collation, applying JNCC’s science quality standards in delivering evidence related work.
• Quality assure reports from contracted projects, and extract relevant detail to disseminate through the JNCC website, presentations etc.
• Provide expertise to aid delivery of programmes led by other teams within JNCC, especially where a good understanding of the results or potential of monitoring are required.

The post-holder will be required to attend meetings and other fora at various localities in the UK and in Europe, involving overnight stays away from home.

Competencies

Candidates will need to demonstrate all essential specialist and core competencies. Desirable competencies will aid performance and can be developed in post.  JNCC’s approach to competencies, and how candidates can demonstrate their abilities, is set out on our website.

Specialist competencies

Essential

• A good understanding of habitats and vegetation.
• A good level of numeracy including both understanding and applying statistical methods and models
• Ability to spatially display and manipulate datasets within GIS

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of habitat mapping, based on ground data or earth observation methods.
• Knowledge of ecological survey and the methods for analysis of the data that it produces.

Core Competencies

Seeing the Big Picture

• Be alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact or benefit own and teams work  (Essential)
• Actively seek out and share experience to develop understanding and knowledge of own work and of team’s business area (Desirable)

Making effective decisions

• Identify a range of relevant and credible information sources and recognise the need to collect new data when necessary from internal and external sources  (Essential)
• Explore different options outlining costs, benefits, risk and potential responses to each  (Desirable)

Leading and Communicating

• Communicate in a succinct, engaging manner and stand ground when needed.  (Essential)
• Communicate using appropriate styles, methods and timing, including digital channels, to maximise understanding and impact  (Desirable)

Collaborating and Partnering

• Establish relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes  (Essential)
• Encourage collaborative team working within own team and across the organisation  (Desirable)

Delivering value for money

• Follow appropriate financial procedures to monitor contracts to ensure deliverables are achieved (Essential)
• Recommend actions to achieve value for money and efficiency (Desirable)

Managing a Quality Service

• Work with team to set priorities, goals, objectives and timescales. (Essential)
• Make effective use of project management skills and techniques to deliver outcomes, including identifying risks and mitigating actions.  (Desirable)

Salary

Annual Leave Entitlement