Senior Industry Environmental Permitting Officer

Team / Directorate: Installations and RSR Permitting Team / Evidence, Policy and Permitting

Starting salary:  £36,246 rising to £39,942 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: 22 July 2025

Post number: 201568

The role

You will be required to work both independently and collaboratively to determine the outcome of complex environmental permit applications for wide range of large industry sectors in Wales; including refineries, waste incineration, treatment and landfilling, paper and pulp, food and drink, metals processing, intensive farming, combustion, chemicals, and activities that use radioactive substances.

By carrying out appropriate technical assessments in accordance with the relevant legislation, technical guidance, NRW policies and procedures where available, you will fulfil NRW’s duties to make sound decisions to issue, refuse or vary environmental permits, to time and budget; protecting human health and the environment, and encourage best practice in the operation of regulated facilities.

You will need to have a strong scientific background in relevant subjects (i.e. with chemistry and maths content), experience in environmental risk assessment, and some industry expertise from either regulatory or operational experience. You do not need to have expertise in all industry sectors, but depending on your previous experience and qualifications, you will be appointed subject areas to lead on.

You will work with the wider industry regulation community, nurturing strong connections to resolve issues that arise within your specialist area, and co-ordinate responses to permitting queries from both internal and external customers.

The role sits within a small closely working team of specialists that share knowledge, experience, and best practice. You will be responsible for supporting, mentoring and training of your peers to facilitate risk based decisions to produce robust enforceable permits. 

In addition to the core permitting responsibilities, you will contribute to work planning, risk and resource management, instigate process improvements, and participate in industrial cluster groups to deliver outcomes and embed SMNR within current regulatory frameworks. 

The role suits hybrid working and as an organisation, we support flexible working. As with many roles, there is great benefit from face to face team meetings and desk-side training and support, so you will be required to attend the office regularly to participate in certain activities and fulfil specific tasks. 

You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Holly Noble at Holly.Noble@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk   

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams 

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you will do

• Lead on complex permit determination and decision under Installation permitting legislation by carrying out appropriate technical assessment in accordance with NRW policies and procedures where available, and issue, refuse or vary permits within timescales.
• Lead on influencing and implementing mentoring and coaching frameworks to aid technical development of other permitting officers within the Installation Permitting Team and where applicable throughout the permitting service, ensuring consistency in approach.
• Extensive experience of permitting decision making using a range of technical guidance and technical software and modelling programmes as required by the Installation regime.
• Lead on supporting operational teams by providing specialist expertise in pre-application discussions and post permit work for a range of application types within the various sectors of the installation regime.
• Identify and deliver opportunities for process and procedural changes.
• Deliver an efficient and effective service by co-ordinating change that leads to improved internal and external stakeholder experience of the Permitting Service.
• Co-ordinate and lead in preparing defence in relation to legal challenges against permit decisions for your assigned area of work.  
• Represent the Permitting Service on relevant internal technical groups and relevant external stakeholder events.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Education to degree level or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline.
2. An in-depth understanding of the relevant legislation and how it relates to the installation permitting process.
3. Extensive experience of assessing complex installation permit applications or significant practical work experience of regulated process industry.
4. Proven coaching and mentoring skills.
5. Strong customer focussed approach to delivery.
6. Track record of delivering timely optimal solutions by effective information analysis and risk-based decisions.
7. Effective planning and organisation skills.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential:  Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 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.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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