Head of Environment, Northern Powerhouse Rail

Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

London

About the job

Job summary

We recognise the challenges that people with protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.

Would you embrace the opportunity for close ministerial working at various Bill stages, working with technical experts in their field, particularly in HS2 Ltd?

Do you enjoy collaborating with a range of diverse stakeholders, quickly forging positive relationships?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity available and would love to hear from you!

Job description

The Government is committed to investing in the country’s infrastructure to improve productivity, level up our regions and provide low carbon transport. Whilst the Network North announcement made clear that Government would no longer build HS2 to Manchester, the High Speed Rail (Crewe – Manchester) Bill has been adapted and carried over in order to deliver the parts of the scheme required for the building of Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).

As Environment Lead, you will join the Consents and Environment Division at a crucial juncture for the NPR new railway programme, and will be responsible for key elements of policy development related to the new railway programme, in particular NPR’s environmental strategy. This hybrid Bill is about to be remitted to a Select Committee to consider its private elements, namely individual petitions. In the medium term you will be responsible for oversight of Bill scheme environmental assessments to be undertaken by HS2 Ltd, and we can expect Bill petition management of environmental stakeholders to be a key part of this role.

Working as part of a close knit, high performing, and friendly team, you will have opportunity for close ministerial working at various Bill stages, working with technical experts in their field, and liaising with stakeholders both within and outside of Government to obtain their buy-in to your policy solutions. This will include leading on a range of stakeholder relationships on environmental issues, your development and maintenance of which will directly feed into the success of the railway programme and the Bill’s passage through Parliament.

If you would like to find out more about what it’s like to work at Department for Transport (DfT) Rail, please click here.

Your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading for DfT on working with HS2 Ltd to develop the responses to the petitions of key strategic environmental stakeholders.
• Working with colleagues on cross-cutting (mainly environmental) workstreams and interdependencies, both within NPR and across the Department, for example to resolve trade-offs between different policy areas.
• Leading on the development and delivery of key strategic environmental and wider policy across the NPR programme. This will include working closely with policy leads from the other HS2 phases, the Group and the cross-DfT strategic environment team on carbon net zero and biodiversity net gain policies.
• Considering what the future environmental approach for NPR as a project looks like, and exploring whether HS2 Ltd or other delivery partners can work in different ways with DfT to deliver the right level of environmental assessment and commitment in the most cost effective and efficient way.

For further information, please see the attached Role Profile.

Person specification

About you

You will be politically astute and have an environmental interest and awareness, with the ability to identify common themes and emerging issues as they arise. You will be highly organised with the ability to effectively handle numerous priorities, whilst successfully delivering through others. You will be able to quickly get to grips with complex and fast-moving areas, and work effectively and efficiently across a breadth of issues.

You will have excellent interpersonal skills and will enjoy collaborating with colleagues across DfT, HS2 Ltd and with other government departments. You will have the ability to quickly develop positive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, supporting in achieving progress on shared objectives.

You will be an articulate and confident communicator, both verbally and in writing, with the ability to clearly convey complex issues and propose action to address problem areas in a way that is easily understood.

Additional Information

This role is available to individuals who wish to be spending their office time in London, and will be required to attend committee sessions in Parliament, which can sometimes run into the evening. Whilst you may be required to attend Parliament/ministerial meetings at short notice, the team has a strong culture of flexible working and inclusion and works hard to ensure that we support each other in managing the demands of a Bill. We would also expect the individual to be willing to travel to visit different locations relevant to the route on a regular basis.

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. 

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement, for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 26 hours per week.

If you would like to find out more about what it’s like to work within the DfT Policy Profession, please click here – https://careers.dft.gov.uk/policy/

You will be assessed against the Technical element of the Success Profile Framework. Two Policy Profession Standards are being assessed: Policy profession standards – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Working Together

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• 1. Strategy 1.1. Policy Context and Purpose Level 1: Developing • Define the sought impacts and outcomes of a policy.
• 2. Democracy 2.1. Working with Ministers Level 1: Developing • Deliver effective internal communication. Write for different audiences and purposes, including scrutiny.

Benefits

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

Find out more about what it’s like working at the Department for Transport.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Rail Resourcing
• Email : [email protected]

Recruitment team

• Email : [email protected]

Further information

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact Government Recruitment Services via email: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website Here

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