Senior Commercial Development Advisor

Closing date: 19 February 2023 | Salary: £37,308-£40,806 (Grade 6) | Location: Flexible

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: 37 hours a week, Monday to Friday

Post number: 203354

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 nearest NRW office to your home, 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

Are you looking for a job that delivers social, cultural and financial benefits without costing the earth? We are looking for someone with project management, communication and negotiation skills to join our dynamic and highly skilled Commercial Development Team to help deliver innovative and sustainable commercial projects across Wales.  As part of this team, you will play a key role in the planning and delivery of a range of exciting projects across NRW’s Commercial portfolio including renewable energy, tourism and recreation and innovation.  Working with and influencing a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders, you will make a significant contribution to Wales’ environmental, social, economic and cultural well-being in this role.  If this sounds like the right role for you, then we’d love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

  • Lead and supervise project teams including specialist suppliers and Project Support Officers.
  • Forge and maintain positive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders in the delivery of commercial activities to ensure ongoing support from key stakeholders throughout the project life cycle.
  • Provide mentoring and staff development support to team members and support the implementation of health, safety and wellbeing working practices and risk assessments.
  • Project Manage the delivery of commercial Projects in line with current NRW policy and governance procedures. Maintain project documentation, organise Project Board meetings and escalate issues and seek guidance as appropriate.
  • Engage directly with developers to map out and ensure compliance with all relevant procedures in the planning and delivery of projects.
  • Oversee the negotiation and completion of commercial agreements, working closely with specialist Land Agent suppliers.
  • Deliver internal NRW consultation processes (such as Land and Property Consultations).
  • Review Developers’ Risk Assessments and Method Statements and monitor site-based activities to ensure developer compliance.
  • Set up and manage contracts for specialist supply services including land-based activities such as tree clearance, structural surveys and feasibility studies.
  • Assist Developers in achieving mutual goals in compliance with NRW policy and governance and ensuring NRW’s wider interests are fully considered.
  • Develop and ensure implementation of systems for managing commercial agreements during their operational life.

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

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

  1. Experience of Project Management.
  2. Flexible and adaptable, willing to take on a variety of projects in multiple locations.
  3. Well organised, self-motivated and with good resource management skills.
  4. Excellent communication, interpersonal and problem-solving skills.
  5. Excellent presentation and influencing skills.
  6. Ability to make sound, evidence-based decisions in the exercise of duties and knowing when to escalate decisions to more senior staff.
  7. Strong IT skills including MS 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

  • Post holders will have significant experience, specialist knowledge and expertise in their subject matter and be able to undertake a higher level of practical or technical tasks.  
  • The post holder will provide objective advice to others, based on knowledge and experience. They will keep up to date with changes within their technical/specialist field.
  • Experience will have been gained from working in a number of different organisations or in different roles or functions within a single organisation.
  • Post holders will demonstrate good communication, mentoring, influencing skills and diplomacy and will maintain an awareness of the wider agenda and business environment. 

Evaluation of Information

  • Ability to interpret the function’s operational delivery plans and understands its context in the wider NRW strategy.
  • Able to analyse and interpret a range of complex information relating to their field of expertise, extracting key points and communicating this to individuals. They may need to provide specialist advice to less experienced colleagues.

Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements

  • Work is generally guided by expected results, but the post holder is able to decide how best to achieve these.  Guidance may be provided by peers but there will likely be need for some degree of judgment or creativity. They will need to be able to alter priorities as a result of conflicting demands. Objectives and targets etc will be reviewed on an intermediate basis.
  • Responsible for making independent, management level decisions with input from line management and peers.  They will have an understanding of NRW policy and their potential implications for the business. Post holders will be involved in the development of organisation policy and will have a level of autonomy in the implementation of organisational policy.
  • Decisions may lead to changes in established procedure/practice within the post holder’s area of work. The consequence of making wrong decisions will have an adverse effect on the organisation in relation to its external stakeholders, such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. 
  • Decisions may concern a broad range of matters and the outcomes of some decisions may not always be immediately clear or apparent. Problems encountered may also relate to the work of other parts of the organisation and could be variable and diverse. The impact of decisions is likely to be wider than the immediate function or department and is likely to be medium term.

Impact

  • Post holders have a moderate level of impact and influence, which is generally medium term. 
  • The post holder's decisions and actions will influence others.
  • The post holder's decision making/action will have a medium impact internally or externally.

Communication and Relationships with Others

  • Ability to engage across the business, delivering polices and work plans in the most efficient way. Post holders will liaise with external organisations, often attending multi agency forums. They will act as a point of contact for specialist advice for more junior colleagues.
  • The post holder will have good verbal and written communication with persuasive skills. They may need facilitate or present at internal or external meetings, giving advice and input as required.  They will need to foster and maintain good relationships and networks.
  • Post holders will produce less complex documents, reports, accounts, contracts etc. Documentation will contain a lower level of advice, guidance or opinion which the recipient will act upon or use. This is likely to have detrimental consequences 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 medium term in nature.

Responsibility for Resources

  • Post holders may have a delegated budget.
  • Responsibility for checking the validity of forms and documents as part of a process or the procurement of goods and services with approval.

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 as you choose

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 19 February 2023

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams

If you have any queries about the role, please contact James Laing on James.laing@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk or 07967 037 004

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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