Senior Industry Environmental Permitting Officer

Are you ready to make a real difference? Join us in a pivotal role where your scientific expertise will help protect Wales’ environment and public health, while supporting sustainable industrial growth.

As a Senior Permitting Officer, you will be required to work both independently and collaboratively to assess complex environmental permit applications across a diverse range of large industry sectors in Wales; from refineries and large combustion plant to landfills, paper and food production, metals processing, and activities involving radioactive substances.

Using your strong scientific background (particularly in chemistry and maths), you’ll carry out robust and complex technical assessments in line with legislation, technical guidance, NRW policies and procedures. Your decisions, to issue, refuse, or vary permits, will directly influence how major industries operate, ensuring they meet environmental standards and adopt best practices.

You don’t need to be an expert in every industry sector. Based on your experience, you’ll lead on specific areas, becoming a trusted specialist within our team. Whether your background is regulatory or operational, your insights will be key to shaping smarter, more resilient environmental regulation.

As a Senior Permitting Officer, you will play a key role in developing the capability of the team by using your technical expertise and experience to mentor and support less experienced colleagues. You will help build their confidence in decision-making and support them in meeting deadlines, contributing to a high-performing and resilient permitting team.

Beyond permitting, you’ll play an active role in engaging with internal and external stakeholders to resolve technical queries, contribute to work planning and drive process improvements. You’ll also participate in industrial cluster groups and help embed the principles of Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR) into our regulatory frameworks — ensuring our approach remains forward-thinking, integrated, and impactful.

This is your chance to be part of a progressive organisation, working at the intersection of science, policy, and industry — all while helping to safeguard Wales’ natural resources for future generations

As an organisation we support flexible working. 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 [email protected]  

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. 

About us

The role sits within a small closely working team of permitting specialist scientists 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. 

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

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.