The role
Natural Resources Wales is seeking a skilled and motivated environmental professional to join us as an Environment Team Leader. This is a fantastic opportunity to lead a dedicated team, drive meaningful environmental outcomes, and play a central role in protecting and enhancing Wales’ natural resources.
Reporting to the Operations Manager, you’ll oversee the team’s delivery across a broad remit — from regulation and incident management to partnership working with a diverse range of stakeholders. With a mix of planned and reactive work, no two days will be the same, offering variety and challenge in equal measure.
This role sits within North East Wales as part of the Operations Directorate. The post is one of two Environment Team Leaders within North East Operations and is one of five team leader roles reporting to the North East Operations Manager
As Team Leader, you will guide and support your team across areas including water and agriculture, Protected Sites, Fisheries, and Biodiversity. You will also set and manage priorities, ensuring regulatory responses are evidence‑based and effective.
In your role you will also be expected to champion specific areas of work locally or at directorate level, bringing initiative and leadership to the role. Building and nurturing an extensive stakeholder network, fostering strong partnerships to deliver the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) and wider wellbeing outcomes will also be part of your remit.
This is a leadership role where your decisions will shape environmental resilience and community wellbeing. If you’re ready to take the next step in your career and lead a high‑performing team making a real difference for Wales, we’d love to hear from you.
To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Rhys Ellis at rhys.ellis@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk
Interviews will be face to face the week commencing 5th January 2026 at our offices in Buckley.
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
- Develop and implement local work plans to deliver our regulatory and SMNR aspirations.
- Engage and collaborate with relevant stakeholders.
- Responsible for regulatory decisions at place level, ensuring adherence to the Regulators Code and our Regulatory Principles.
- Responsible for authorising regulatory and enforcement decisions within the team remit, including protected sites assents and consents.
- Ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of team members by implementing and monitoring safe working practices and risk assessments.
- Budgetary control of team spending.
- Would be expected to also lead a virtual technical team to support place based delivery.
- Play a senior role in a resilient NRW non-Flood Incident Management Service that follows NRW process.
- 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 *and that of your staff* through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
- Required to take part in incident response activities. (For roles with exact or strong link only)
- 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.
- Experience of line management.
- Coaching and mentoring skills.
- Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities.
- Strong organisational, time management and interpersonal skills.
- Good understanding of the local environment and pressures relevant to the team remit.
- Ability to communicate effectively with regulated business and the public, explaining issues and gaining support by influencing.
- Extensive knowledge and experience of regulatory and enforcement processes.
- Hold a current full UK valid licence to drive NRW fleet vehicles.
Welsh Language level requirements
- Essential: Level A1 - Entry level
Welsh language levels
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 age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
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.
