Compensatory Measures and Nature Positive Science Lead

Do you want to play an important role in the management of the marine environment and the sustainable delivery of marine renewables?

OCTOBER START DATE

The Scottish Government is preparing for the implementation of a new HR and Finance platform and, as a result, some job offers will be subject to an October 2024 start date at the earliest. This will be confirmed as your application progresses.

We are looking for someone who:
• Is excited to lead a team playing a key role in support of the sustainable delivery of offshore wind farm developments.
• Wants to work closely with policy, planning and consenting colleagues to drive forward the enhancement of the marine environment and delivery of our biodiversity targets.
• Has technical and scientific knowledge of the marine environment that they apply to the real world.

If you are the above, then this exciting opportunity to join the Marine Directorate could be for you.

In January 2022, Crown Estate Scotland announced the successful applicants to the ScotWind offshore wind leasing round to commence a new phase of offshore wind farm construction in Scottish waters helping Scotland meet its Net Zero targets, become carbon neutral by 2045 and tackle the climate emergency. The Scottish Government is responsible for identifying where the ScotWind projects will be located, administering the related offshore planning consents, and ensuring that projects are delivered in an environmentally sustainable manner. The Renewables and Ecology Team (R&E) in the Marine Directorate provides specialist scientific advice to regulators and policy makers to support this.

The R&E team currently has around 25 staff who provide advice within government on the potential environmental impacts of marine energy on key receptors including birds, marine mammals, fish and fisheries, benthic habitats, and diadromous fish. Our specialists also provide advice on other Scottish Government policy priorities, such as marine protected area management and regulation of other marine activities.

The Compensatory Measures and Nature Positive Science Lead post will be pivotal in ensuring that strategic compensation and nature positive outcomes that may be required for offshore wind and other marine renewables are informed by the best available scientific evidence.

This role will involve close liaison with policy and consenting colleagues across the Marine (MD) and Offshore Wind (OWD) Directorates, and a collaborative approach with both internal and external stakeholders, and potential delivery partners. The post will maintain and enhance relationships with statutory nature conservation bodies, industry, academia and environmental Non-Governmental Organisations. Of particular focus will be working closely with the MD’s Licensing Operations Team, Marine Enhancement Programme and specialist scientists from multiple delivery areas, and with the OWD’s Sectoral Marine Planning Team. An important component of the post is ensuring that high quality science advice to inform policy development, project level and strategic compensation measures in relation to derogations under the habitats regulations, and the delivery of nature positive outcomes.

The post holder will maintain a thorough understanding of the policy and regulatory requirements relating to compensatory measures and nature positive outcomes proactively engaging with receptor experts (marine mammals, seabirds, benthic, marine fish, fisheries, diadromous fish, oceanography) and other initiatives such as the Scottish Seabird Conservation Strategy, the Marine Recovery Fund, and Scottish Government’s Joint Environmental Acceleration Programme to identify opportunities and risks to the efficient and effective delivery of compensatory measures and marine enhancement. They will take the science lead on driving forward understanding of delivery of compensatory measures and nature positive outcomes in response to marine renewable developments.

Whilst we anticipate the role will be focussed on issues related to offshore wind, we operate a flexible resourcing policy within the Marine Directorate and as such the post-holder may be required to work on other areas of high priority work as required.

• Be the science lead within Scottish Government for project and plan (strategic) level compensatory measures that might be required for offshore wind farm development under habitats regulations derogation.
• Lead the science input from Scottish Government to help ensure that any Marine Recovery Fund that is established can effectively offset the adverse environmental effects of offshore wind farm developments through delivering strategic compensation from an agreed library of measures.
• Working with colleagues from policy and consenting, support the sustainable delivery of ScotWind and INTOG and the enhancement of the marine environment and delivery of our biodiversity targets.
• Be the lead point of contact between scientists in the Marine Directorate and policy, planning and consenting colleagues in Marine Directorate and the Offshore Wind Directorate for matters relating to strategic compensatory measures.
• Maintain and further develop constructive collaborative relationships with key external stakeholders including statutory nature conservation bodies, industry, academia, asset managers, and environmental Non-Governmental Organisations.
• The position may include people and delivery management.

Competencies:

(Provide evidence at assessment / interview)

• People Management
• Leading Others
• Improving Performance
• Use of Evidence

You will be assessed via the Science framework, please find out more below:

Science specialist competency framework

(Provide evidence in application form)

• A thorough understanding of the marine environment, the potential impacts of anthropogenic activities upon key marine ecological receptors, and the associated environmental regulations.
• Experience of working closely with policy or licensing, ensuring that scientific and technical advice and outputs are communicated in an accessible manner and have real world and applied relevance.
• Proven ability of leading across multiple areas of specialism, stimulating collaborative approaches with internal and external partners to address complex technical or scientific challenges.
• The ability to work independently with excellent organisational and communication skills 

The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles.

Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.

We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.

As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.

WORKING PATTERN

Our standard hours are 37 hours per week, reducing to 35 hours per week for all staff on 1 October 2024. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options depending on the needs of the role. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.

EQUALITY STATEMENT

We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation. 

Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.

Find out more about Net Zero recruitment at: Net Zero roles at Scottish Government - Scottish Government Jobs

Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.

CONTACT

For further information about this role contact: Jared.wilson@gov.scot