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Specialist Surveyor (Assistant Land Agent)

Closing date: 26 February 2023 | Salary: £37,308 - £40,806 (Grade 6) | Location: Llandovery or Resolven

Contract type: Fixed Term until 31 October 2023 with a possibility of a further extension.

Work pattern: 37 Hours per week.

Post number: 202390

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

This role provides a fantastic opportunity to join Natural Resources Wales NRW as an Assistant Land Agent (Specialist Surveyor). The role will help provide professional expertise and advice to teams and Senior Management, on all land agency matters to support NRW’s work.

The work will involve the management of a large and varied portfolio including forestry land (Welsh Government Woodland Estate), protected and designated sites, agricultural land, water resources and flood assets. The post holder will work with a Senior Specialist Surveyor (Land Agent) to deliver rent reviews, negotiations of new leases, easements and licenses, tenancy negotiations, valuations and planning advice, grazing licences and event and access permission agreements. As well as working on the NRW managed estate, the role also involves supporting work and agreements on third party land, particularly in relation to conservation management agreements and water management works. Advice will need to be provided to colleagues relating to property deeds and their interpretation to include rights such as mineral and access rights. The post holder will be expected to prepare appraisal reports (Land and Property Consultation’s) and other approval documents seeking consensus and necessary approval for all manner of proposals affecting NRW managed land.

The post holder will need to provide professional expertise on a wide range of rural estate management matters and will be expected to negotiate with third parties to reach agreements. The Specialist Surveyor will be expected to agree Heads of Terms and prepare instructions to solicitors and liaise with the instructed solicitor to support and ensure completion of a range of different types of legal agreements such as leases, conveyances, and easements etc. Occasionally the post holder will be expected to provide information to legal agents in support of claims and litigation on the NRW managed estate, as well as assessing and negotiating the settlement of claims off the NRW managed estate. The role will need to help ensure third party agreements on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate and our managed land are compliant with industry standards, and all relevant legislation and certification schemes including the UK Woodland Assurance Standard.

Candidates should be a qualified Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rural or General Practice Pathway, or similar).

Dependent on experience and knowledge of suitable candidates, we may consider graduates in another discipline willing to complete the Post Graduate Diploma in Surveying and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Assessment of Professional Competency and become a Chartered Surveyor within an agreed time period; or an enrolled APC member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors working towards full membership.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

Planning, prioritising and organising resources to ensure projects are delivered in line with agreed time, cost and quality standards.
Identifying and acting on opportunities to reduce cost, increasing income and achieve value for money.
Identifying and managing potential risks to the business.
Assumption of delegated authority for decision making and be able to progress matters within a given tolerance to a satisfactory conclusion.
Building strong stakeholder relationships.
Building, maintaining and improving relationships with internal and external stakeholders to best achieve the shared outcomes; and being visible and approachable to all.
Setting strategic direction.
Evaluating strategic policy and procedure and initiate appropriate change to meet objectives.
Being sensitive to the political landscape and the possible impacts on NRW business.
Recognising that knowledge exists at all levels and look to provide opportunity for knowledge transfer.
Required to take part in incident response activities

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

You will be able to demonstrate knowledge and experience of the following:

Qualified Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rural or General Practice Pathway, or similar) or Graduate in another discipline willing to complete the Post Graduate Diploma in Surveying and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Assessment of Professional Competency and become a Chartered Surveyor within an agreed time period; or an enrolled student member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors working towards full membership.
Experience in property management and able to demonstrate experience of working with legal documents such as leases.
Proven ability to analyse property related issues and to develop solutions to deliver the optimum overall outcome, often working in collaboration with others.
A sound working knowledge of a wide range of legislation and common law interacting relating to bodies with statutory responsibilities.
Experience of assisting in managing either private or public- sector land.
Experience of working in partnership with fellow professionals of mixed disciplines (e.g. engineers, building surveyors, cost consultants, designers, environmental managers) to deliver large operational programmes.
Sound working knowledge of Microsoft Office.

Welsh language requirements

Essential: Level 1 – Able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

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

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	Demonstrable depth and breadth of knowledge obtained from previous experience, with a good grasp and understanding of organisational knowledge, policy and procedures. Substantial previous project/contract management experience in a technical field and able to undertake the full range of tasks associated with managing projects. May be expert in a range of subjects relating to their profession. Good level of literacy, numeracy and communication skills including experience in presenting to internal and external stakeholders, with the ability to influence others to achieve outcomes. Ideally the post holder will have experience of supervising others/contractors. Able to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and experience of health, safety and wellbeing as well as public safety and public liability.
Evaluation of Information	Ability to interpret operational delivery plans and understand their context in the wider NRW strategy. Able to analyse and interpret a wide range of technical information, extracting key points, and communicate the information to individuals at all levels. Ability to produce documents, business cases, reports, briefing notes and contracts which will be signed off by others, as part of agreed internal processes and contribute to policy development.
Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements	Responsible for the delivery of projects in line with the governance structure, with the autonomy to decide how best to achieve these, with guidance from peers. Objective judgement and the ability to alter priorities and approaches to address conflicting demands, ensuring the delivery of significant projects or programmes of work. Able to make independent decisions at an operational level, based on input from line management and peers; an understanding of NRW policy; the range of options available; and their potential implications for the business. Accountable for all aspects of delivery and performance for a wide range of technical projects, which may require guidance from the Project Executive. Ability to make decisions which may lead to changes in established procedures/practice within the area of work, where the consequence of taking wrong decisions will have an adverse effect on the organisation in relation to its external stakeholders such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. The outcomes of some decisions and their impact will not always be immediately clear or apparent, but will be wider than the immediate function or department and are likely effect the environment and landscape over a longer-term.
Impact	Has an appreciation that their decisions and actions will influence others; are likely to extend across other subject areas or projects; and that the impact will have a lasting influence on the landscape. Able to take responsibility for the overall delivery and output of a range of projects within the governance structure. Ability to identify and manage risks, as health and safety and environmental considerations will be a feature of all projects.
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. Effective communication and persuasive skills, which may include facilitating and presenting at internal/external meetings; giving advice and input as required. Ability to manage relationships with internal/external stakeholders and third parties involved in project delivery. Relationships are likely to be of an on-going nature and may involve a degree of influencing. Able to produce technical documents, reports, accounts, computer programs, contracts etc., containing advice, guidance or opinion which could have detrimental consequences and financial implications if incorrect or poorly drafted. Able to source information from multiple locations through research and apply professional judgment as to how the material should be interpreted; the impact of which is likely to be longer term in nature.
Responsibility for Resources	Responsible for the safe and legal use and keeping of specialised equipment used out in the field. Will have delegated budgetary responsibility which is likely to be part of a much larger budget and will have responsibility in relation to supply chain/procurement activity linked to contracts in line with procedures.

Benefits of working for us

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

Agile and flexible working
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

Before completing your application, please read our Guidance on completing a job application form

Application closing date 26 February 2023

Interviews will take place face-to-face at either Llandovery or Resolven Office

If you have any queries about the role, please contact Philip Morgan at philip.morgan@naturalresourceswales.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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