Environment Specialist

About the job At National Highways we are very proud of the diverse habitats and associated species within our soft estate. Our linear habitats along the road network help integrate the Strategic Road Network into the landscape and provide invaluable habitat corridors for a range of protected species. As the custodian of these important habitats, we are passionate about the management of these areas and are looking for an environmental professional to work within our Environment Team to support the safe running of our road network while maintaining these assets.  Please note that you will be required to drive as part of your role, and you will need to have no more than 3 points to be considered for this position and during employment. * Undertake inspections of roadside assets such as woodland and grasslands in line with the defined inspections regime and statutory requirements * Identify and evaluate environmental needs relating to the development of maintenance solutions for the environmental asset, in line with agreed methodologies and prioritisation criteria * Undertake the post-completion inspections of soft estate works * Monitor the delivery of agreed solutions and plans, liaising with the relevant wider teams within National Highways to identify and/or rectify issues * Ensure that environmental inventory and condition information is captured and maintained in the relevant database(s). About you * Qualification in a land-based discipline or equivalent work-based experience. Previous Environmental Clerk of Works experience would also be advantageous. * An understanding of a broad range of habitat types. * A good understanding of practical landscaping operations required to deliver works to natural assets and the ability to interpret plans and specifications against on-site delivery. * Experience dealing with internal and external stakeholders, including responding to customer enquiries. * Knowledge of asset condition assessment, such as landscape and ecology condition assessments, would be beneficial. * A broad understanding of environmental and wildlife legislation. Knowledge of highways, land and property legislation would also be advantageous. * Willingness to work independently on site for significant periods. About us Here at National Highways, we manage and improve England’s motorways and major A-roads, helping our customers have safer, smoother and more reliable journeys. Our priorities are safety, customers and delivery, and at the core of this, are our values of passion, integrity, safety, teamwork and ownership. The Operations Directorate is at the heart of keeping the strategic road network moving and ensuring our customers get the best possible experience when using our roads. We address over 39,000 customer enquiries every month, plan and deliver all maintenance activities on the network, drive efficiencies and improvements across our systems and roads, and respond to incidents across 4,500 miles of motorways and major A-roads that we manage. External candidates will be offered a starting salary at the lower end of the pay scale, while current employees will be appointed in accordance with our established pay policy. We are committed to creating a diverse environment and welcome applicants from all backgrounds Why you should join us At National Highways we believe in a connected country. We are passionate about creating a culture where colleagues feel connected, included and enjoy greater wellbeing to achieve this. We’re proud that as an organisation we are continually striving to do better and actively encourage and support our colleagues to do the same with their careers.  So, if you put safety first, take ownership of your work, show passion for what you do, work effectively in a team, and demonstrate integrity in how you do it – then you’ll be a great fit for our organisation. A connected and sustainable working approach has been adopted across National Highways. For some roles, this means being able to work in a hybrid way spending up to 60% of time working from a remote location such as home. We offer many different ways to work flexibly and we’re open to discuss part-time working, job shares, and flexible start and finish times.  Please wait until the interview stage before asking us about flexibility, and we will explore what is possible.   Our benefits package * Our total reward package includes basic salary, the potential for a performance related bonus * Contributory pension scheme with employer contribution of up to 10% * Annual Leave starting at 26 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising by 1 day each year up to 31 days (plus Bank Holidays) * Flexible hours and an approach driven by connected and sustainable working which includes hybrid working * Life assurance of 4 times annual salary * Health and wellbeing support, including an Employee Assistance Programme, available 24/7 365 days and network of mental health first aiders. Plus access to a wellbeing app to enhance your self-care 24/7, Occupational health service and flu vaccines * A cycle to work scheme for the purchase of a bicycle and equipment for healthy, low carbon travel * Significant investment in your career development, through learning and development, talent management, coaching, mentoring and on job experience   And we are * Family friendly with enhanced maternity leave and pay, paternity leave (15 days), shared parental leave, adoption leave. Plus access to financial support for holiday play schemes and paid special leave (up to 5 days pa), eg for caring responsibilities * Money friendly with access to a discounts platform including over 3000 discounts for supermarkets, eating out, leisure, holidays. Alongside a financial wellbeing programme * Community friendly – offering paid leave to volunteer, 3 days basic/year If you are successful, it is key to know all offers of employment are subject to satisfactory completion of our pre-employment checks which include:        * Right to work check * 3 year employment history references * DBS criminal record check * Social media and adverse journalism check * Driving licence check (if applicable) * Fit to work questionnaire (for all), followed by a medical check (if applicable) * Qualifications and/or professional membership check (if applicable)   And finally  We reserve the right to close before the advertisement expires.