Environmental Economist (Marine)

Team: Marine Ecosystems 
Ref No: 202341
Grade: S (SEO)
Type of appointment: Permanent
Location: Peterborough or Aberdeen
Salary: £36669

This post will have a base in either Peterborough or Aberdeen.

JNCC has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. Employees are expected to work from our office base for 1 – 2 days a month as a minimum, this will vary by team and the exact balance will depend on the nature of your role. We can provide more details at the interview and offer stages.

Who are JNCC?

Established in 1991, we’re the UK’s statutory advisor on issues affecting the natural environment across the UK and internationally. Our primary role is advising all four Governments of the UK. We also work with private sector organisations to support decision making on the sustainable use of marine waters and natural resources around the UK. JNCC is led by the Joint Committee, which brings together members from the nature conservation bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and independent members appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under an independent Chair. Support is provided to the Committee by approx. 270 people who bring together scientific and technical expertise, extensive knowledge of policy at global, European and national levels, and skills in working with other organisations. Staff are based in two main offices in Peterborough and Aberdeen.

Why JNCC?

We’re small enough (c.270 staff) that your voice is heard by everyone including the CEO, but big enough that we have all the skills, resources and people you’ll need to get the job done. All our staff are passionate about conservation and making a difference to the world we live in. We have a very flexible, inclusive and welcoming organisational culture. Our Executive Management provides employees with the freedom and tools you will need, and our friendly team will assist you in your role.

JNCC is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities as well as an exciting job in a unique environment.

Hours of work: Full-time
Normal minimum hours of attendance for the post are 36 hours per week over a 5-day period, Monday to Friday.

Flexi time is available. This post may also be suitable for job share.

Annual Leave:

The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years’ service. There are also 12 days public and privilege leave. Part-time staff will receive this on a pro rata basis.

Short Summary:

JNCC’s new strategy commits us to work collaboratively to support the transition to a sustainable blue/green economy, linking nature recovery to societal prosperity and wellbeing, and to seek opportunities to integrate the value of nature into decision-making, mainstreaming nature recovery into social and economic policy areas.  We are increasing our capacity in the field of economics and this post, which builds on progress we have made in understanding Sustainable Blue Economies and evidence to support blue-green finance, is an exciting opportunity to be part of our new direction.

The post-holder will work in the team leading for JNCC on the Marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme, an ambitious and pioneering programme of work for Defra, that looks to accelerate nature recovery, growth and delivery of nature’s benefits by transforming marine monitoring, evidence and decision making.  They will also have an important role across JNCC, supporting our new leader of Economics to build a community of practice to drive our new strategy, and may find themselves working on concepts and projects across the UK or overseas, covering solely marine issues or linking up to cover interdependencies between marine and terrestrial systems.

Job Description:

Post Duties

Develop and deliver work on ecological/environmental economics, especially regarding natural capital and ecosystem services, including:

• Work closely with ecologists to understand the working of natural, especially marine, systems and identify and value the benefits that the natural environment provides the economy and society.
• Maintain strategic relationships and up-to-date knowledge of policy drivers related to marine natural capital and customers across the four UK countries and internationally.
• Assess the social and environmental costs, benefits and trade-offs of nature use and conservation and suggest ways in which this information could be incorporated into existing economic models and assessments to support investment in the natural environment.
• Work with the MNC team and others to identify solutions for more sustainable decision-making in the marine environment, taking an integrated approach that combines knowledge of ecosystem services and socio-economic evidence.
• Lead on and contribute to the development and delivery of project proposals, including bids for additional income to maintain and expand our work in relevant areas.
• Lead on new and existing projects, such as case studies or proofs of concept, working collaboratively with various teams.
• Support in monitoring and evaluation of projects and programmes in the UK and abroad, including advising on theories of change, logframe and indicators, as well as data collection and reporting.
• Develop our evidence base in line with strategic needs, to reduce uncertainty and improve assessments and advice regarding nature conservation.
• Participate in meetings with other agencies, academics, businesses and stakeholders regarding environmental economics, ecosystem services, natural capital, blue and green finance or blue economy.
• Lead for JNCC as an advocate for marine Natural Capital within JNCC and with partners and customers, including:
  • articulate the evidence and narratives to explain the benefits
  • drive dialogue to deepen our understanding of the opportunities and barriers
  • transmit the messages via meetings, groups, talks, training courses, presentations, reports, web material and other media
• Support the JNCC Team Leaders and Senior Environmental Economist, for example, in responding to requests for evidence and advice, collating and synthesising information, publishing and disseminating outputs (including online).

Technical

To be a successful candidate you will be:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent in economics, preferably ecological economics, environmental economics, or natural resource economics.

Experience (Responsibilities)

To be a successful candidate you will have:

• Broad understanding of marine policy in the UK, and good understanding of the drivers of policy and the needs of stakeholders.
• Good understanding of the principles and application of ecological and environmental economics, including ecosystem services, natural capital, natural capital accounting and valuation of non-market goods & services.
• Excellent writing skills, including experience of fact-finding and synthesis of complex information, identification of key messages, use of graphic presentation, able to communicate complex concepts to non-technical audiences in simple, succinct, and easily accessible terms.
• Proven ability to engage in constructive dialogue to influence people’s ideas and form working partnerships.
• Willingness to adapt and learn, specifically to achieve broad understanding of ecology, as applicable in ecological/environmental economic analysis.
• Willingness to learn and apply project evaluation methods, including logical frameworks, theories of change, monitoring and learning.
• Sound computer literacy skills, including use of spreadsheets, word processors, computer presentations and the internet.
• Understanding of how to work successfully in interdisciplinary teams.
• Understanding of the concepts of ‘blue’ and ‘green’ finance; value chain analysis; ‘net gain’; nature-based solutions; climate change mitigation and adaptation; carbon accounting; behavioural economics; GIS mapping and economic modelling.

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on the Lead Behaviour of Communicating and Influencing

Please see the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

Nationality requirements 

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Closing date and interview date 

The closing date for this post is 23:55 on Wednesday, 14 June 2023
The anticipated interview date is Thursday, 29 June 2023

How to apply: https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi

Click here to view the vacancy on the Civil Service website.