Join us in shaping a future where nature and people thrive. Whether you're drawn to hands-on conservation or playing a vital part behind the scenes, your work at Natural England will support lasting benefits for the environment and society.
Our Role
Natural England is the Government’s adviser for the natural environment and the Nature regulator with a wide range of statutory duties and powers. We provide the evidence, expertise and advice to recover Nature and shape better places for people to live. We do this working through and with others.
Strategic Outcomes for Nature
Our strategy is framed through four strategic outcomes. Each of these outcomes reinforces and amplifies the others, and together they address environmental, social and economic actions critical to thriving nature.
- Recovering Nature – Increased scale and quality of places where nature thrives.
- Building Better Places – Greener homes and infrastructure create healthier, more
investable places, recognising we live better where nature thrives around us.
- Improving Health and Wellbeing – Build nature into everyday life so people can support, access and benefit from nature, wherever they live.
- Delivering Security through Nature – Nature helps us adapt to the threats of a
changing climate and improves our national security, supporting more resilient food production, healthy soils, clean and plentiful water and clean air.
Find out more about the work of Natural England at Natural England’s Strategy: Natural England’s Strategy: Recovering Nature for Growth, Health and Security - GOV.UK
The Team
Do you want to make a real difference, working in a high priority area, securing significant environmental gains in the present and the future? Do you enjoy working in and leading a team? If so, this role may interest you as an opportunity to create a better future for people and nature.
The roles are based across England in our Area Teams. Some travel may be required.
Natural England’s Area Teams use a range of mechanisms including land management and planning advice, engagement with stakeholders and direct management of our own land, to achieve the protection and enhancement of biodiversity and landscapes within its area.
Natural England’s new Strategy includes making a shift from isolated interventions to nature recovery happening at scale, ensuring our efforts deliver lasting improvement across whole landscapes and seascapes. As part of this, our sustainable development work is helping build better places, and ensure nature is designed into development and investment plans from the outset to strengthen communities and benefit growth.
These roles will contribute to Natural England’s sustainable development delivery, with a focus on securing nature recovery and long-term environmental benefits. The roles will need the flexibility to advise on local plans and spatial development strategies as well as high risk and high opportunity development cases. The work will include supporting the development of new strategic approaches to manage environmental pressures and building strong relationships with developers so that nature is planned in from the start to streamline development and reduce risk.
Job description
The Role
The successful candidate will work alongside other senior staff in similar roles and the role and responsibilities will include:
- Providing a strategic lead for specific high risk, high opportunity casework, with a particular focus on Town and Country Planning Act development proposals. This will involve working closely with colleagues across the team, supporting others delivering technical advice, and drawing down national specialist input as required.
- Providing advice on spatial development strategies and working closely with local planning authorities on high priority local plans to manage risk, ensure nature is designed into development, and secure plan policies that support strong, long term environmental outcomes.
- Building partnerships with customers and stakeholders to resolve complex planning issues. Providing clear, pragmatic, evidence-based advice to developers and local planning authorities, seeking opportunities to maximising delivery through our discretionary advice service (DAS).
- Act as an account manager for Lead Environmental Regulator, managing relationships with developers and working with Defra and other Arm’s-Length Bodies (ALBs) e.g. Environment Agency, to provide joined up advice to developers and enable delivery of integrated outcomes for nature recovery and growth.
- Enabling developers to use tools such as Green Infrastructure standards, Biodiversity Net Gain and Environmental Delivery Plans (as these are developed) to secure planning approvals and gains for people and nature.
- Provide support to other sustainable development advisers within the team, including support at external and internal meetings, providing a steer on complex and challenging issues, and escalating risk through appropriate channels.
- Contributing to the broader leadership of the area team through active participation in cross-team groups and briefings to NE senior leadership and working with other Senior Officers within the wider area team to ensure consistency in advice delivery across all our work areas.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
- The ability to see the big picture, so you can steer sustainable development work within the context of Natural England’s Strategy and help colleagues understand how their work relates to and supports this.
- The ability to build collaborative relationships with colleagues (both internally and externally) to help make things happen and deliver outcomes.
- The ability to direct, coach and support staff to deliver on sustainable development objectives.
- The ability to resolve problems and manage risks with good judgement and seek innovative solutions.
- Strong planning, prioritisation, and organisational ability to manage complex delivery areas with competing demands.
- Excellent written and oral communications skills.
- Robust and current knowledge of relevant legislation and guidance and how to apply and interpret it to NE’s activities and duties.
- Strong understanding of environmental protection in England and the legislation that underpins it.
- Demonstrable experience of UK ecology with a broad understanding of priority habitats and species.
Benefits
At Natural England, we support a healthy work-life balance by offering full-time, part-time, and flexible working arrangements.
We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training, and development tailored to your role. This includes ten days annually for personal learning and development, plus three additional days for volunteering.
You’ll receive a generous leave allowance of 33 days per year (pro rata), access to the Civil Service Pension scheme with a 28.97% employer contribution, and a range of benefits such as shopping discounts and a cycle-to-work scheme. Staff can also join the Civil Service Sport club for discounts on sports, leisure activities, and social events.
We are committed to fairness, equality, and inclusivity. Our employee-led diversity networks help foster a welcoming environment where everyone feels valued and supported.
Locations
Natural England has adopted hybrid working – which means our staff work from a flexible range of locations, encompassing home, offices (ours and our partners) and relevant sites. All new staff will be formally linked to one of our 25 offices across England, and the expectation is that all new staff will be able to access their local office to be part of the community of staff in their geographical area. Staff are expected to attend their associated office for 20% of their contractual hours.
Staff members are required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Travel expenses will be paid if work-related travel is required but does not apply to travel between home and your associated office.
National team roles can be linked with any Natural England office while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.
View a map of our office locations here: online map of Natural England office locations
Pay
It is Natural England policy to employ at the entry point of the salary range.
You will become an active member of the relevant local leadership community, the group of senior Natural England staff in each of the localities across England who we ask to provide support and co-ordination for the local group of staff.
Closing date: 15 February 2026.
