Nature for Climate Fund - Head of Budgets and Data
19 hours ago
London
Birmingham, Bristol, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York Job Summary In Defra, we deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly impact on people’s lives. We are responsible for England’s environment, our countryside and rural economy, the food and farming sectors and have lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards. The Bio-Diversity, Land Use and Investment Directorate (BLI) delivers on the ambition for the environment to be a healthy and a beautiful place to live, work and enjoy. We are a diverse, multi-site team leading the delivery and policy thinking across a wide range of issues. Our teams deal with a huge range of issues affecting this country’s natural environment. Key work areas are focused on Environmental Governance, the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, a new Nature Strategy, Trees and Forestry, Land Use and Environmental Analysis and Evidence. BLI has an inclusive approach to work that recognises the skills, endeavour, needs and wellbeing of all our staff. The Trees and Forestry Division of the Biodiversity, Land-use and Investment Directorate is looking for a dynamic and committed Head of Budgets and Data with good experience in the environment sphere. You will help deliver big ambitions to ramp up woodland creation and management in England, getting more of the right trees in the right places. We are wrestling with tricky policy issues, including woodland creation balancing land-use trade-offs, and the tensions between short- and long-term priorities. Job Description You will lead the Budget and Data team and support the wider Trees and Forestry policy and delivery work. We have a statutory target to reach, a new green finance mechanism to create and an ambitious Government agenda to support including the creation of new national forests. The role would suit a candidate who is keen to work on a high-profile area with significant political complexity and interest. The role will give you the chance to work at the heart of delivering a government priority and to use your delivery & analytical skills to directly shape environmental policy and delivery. The role holder will be responsible for leading the budget for the Nature for Climate Programme, a Government Major Programme delivering a government priority. You will be part of the Programme Management Office within the wider Trees & Forestry team. This is a multi-disciplinary team, and you will need to work closely with project, policy, finance, analytical and commercial professionals. You will lead the Budget and Data team and support the wider Trees and Forestry policy and delivery work. We have a statutory target to reach, a new green finance mechanism to create and an ambitious Government agenda to support including the creation of new national forests. The role would suit a candidate who is keen to work on a high-profile area with significant political complexity and interest. The role will give you the chance to work at the heart of delivering a government priority and to use your delivery & analytical skills to directly shape environmental policy and delivery. The role holder will be responsible for leading the budget for the Nature for Climate Programme, a Government Major Programme delivering a government priority. You will be part of the Programme Management Office within the wider Trees & Forestry team. This is a multi-disciplinary team, and you will need to work closely with project, policy, finance, analytical and commercial professionals. Person specification Responsibilities • Work with project managers and the Programme Director to set and forecast budgets at a programme level and advice on forecasting best practice at project level, across ~10 projects and multiple workstreams., • Lead the process for reporting spend and delivery against budgets at a Programme level supporting reporting at the project level., • Lead processes within the programme for ensuring that budgets continue to be aligned to demand and performance through regular reprioritisation of spend across the programme in line with KPIs., • Monitor resourcing across the programme and make recommendations for reallocation of resource spend in line with demand and performance., • Ensure that delivery is in line with the Finance Case for the programme and lead on the change control process for financial changes outside of the programme’s baselines., • Be an integral part of a multi-disciplinary team supporting future Business Planning and Spending Review bids for Trees & Forestry, including close working with Defra ALBs., • Offer financial expertise through training and developing templates that supports project leads with delivering using best practice methods Essential Criteria • Experience of project budget management, ideally on a major government project or programme., • Strong analytical skills., • Strong problem-solving skills., • Ability to communicate complex budget and resource information in an accessible and impactful way to different audiences. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: • Making Effective Decisions, • Seeing the Big Picture, • Communicating and Influencing, • Working Together We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form: • Making Effective Decisions Alongside your salary of £56,375, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £16,331 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. ___ • Learning and development tailored to your role, • An environment with flexible working options, • A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity, • A ___ with an employer contribution of 28.97% Selection process details This vacancy is using ___, and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience. After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numerical Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application. Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 23:55 on 15th December 2025. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website. Our online test supplier will be performing scheduled maintenance between 4:00pm and 7:00pm on 29th November and 14th December 2025. All online tests will be affected. Impact for candidates Candidates who are taking a test when the downtime starts will have their test paused. They will be able to pick up where they left off after the downtime. They can do this by accessing the test again from their application centre. Candidates will not be able to launch new tests during the downtime. Candidates reporting issues should be advised to return to take the test after 7:00pm on 29th November and 14th December 2025. To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application: • A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). CVs will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined in the Person Specification section of this advert., • A Personal Statement (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience evidence of your suitability for this role in reference to the essential criteria., • You will also be asked to provide Behaviour Statements (250 words maximum per statement) for the Success Profiles Behaviour listed below:, • Making Effective Decisions (Lead) Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. For guidance on how to construct your personal statement, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links – ___For guidance on how to construct your behaviour examples, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers. Links – ___Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and based on your own personal experience. Submitting content that has been generated by AI or copied from others and presented as your own may be considered plagiarism. Applications found to contain such content may be withdrawn, and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please refer to our ___ for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Sift Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be undertaken using the lead Behaviour, Making Effective Decisions and the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift will progress to a full sift, or progress straight to interview. Sifting and Interview dates to be confirmed. Interview Candidates successful at sift stage will be invited to a video assessment/interview that will consist of a blended interview of Behaviour and Experience questions. Please note that interviews via video use Microsoft Teams and you will need to use your device to access the video link. You will receive a link to join the interview at the appointed time through the email account you provide us with on your application. Salary New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest. Location As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s) Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. Successful applicants currently employed by the hiring Defra organisation for this post may choose to remain in their current contractual location or may choose to change contractual location to one of those listed above. This should be discussed and agreed prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes. The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations. Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee. The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD. Reserve List A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Merit Lists Where more than one location is advertised, candidates will be posted in merit order by location. You will be asked to prove your preference. Childcare Vouchers Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information ___. Criminal Record Check If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing stating the job reference number in the subject heading. NSV All these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made based on merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page ___Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please ___Internal Fraud Database Check Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Reasonable Adjustment If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: Contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. Accessibility If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. Visa Sponsorship Statement Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This vacancy is using ___, and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete ___ checks. Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete ___ checks. Nationality requirements This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups • UK nationals, • nationals of the Republic of Ireland, • nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK, • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the ___, • nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS), • individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020, • Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service ___Working for the Civil Service The ___ sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's ___. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. The ___ sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's ___. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the ___ and the ___. This vacancy is part of the ___ initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. ___. 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 : Daisy Ellis Recruitment team 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: If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: ___