Evidence Specialist

Post Title: Evidence specialist
Team: Ecosystems Analysis
Ref No: 202566
Grade: H (HEO)
Type of appointment: 2 year Fixed-term
Location: Peterborough or Aberdeen
Salary: £33,130

JNCC has adopted a hybrid working approach, allowing colleagues to benefit from time in the office, with the flexibility also to work from home. Employees are expected to work from our office base for 1 – 2 days a month as a minimum; this will vary by team and the exact balance will depend on the nature of your role. We can provide more details at the interview and offer stages.

Who are JNCC?

Established in 1991, we’re the UK’s statutory advisor on issues affecting the natural environment across the UK and internationally. Our primary role is advising all four Governments of the UK. We also work with private sector organisations to support decision making on the sustainable use of marine waters and natural resources around the UK. We work at the science-policy interface, meaning our evidence-based advice, data and tools can have substantial nature positive impacts across the UK and beyond.

JNCC is led by the Joint Committee, which brings together members from the nature conservation bodies for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and independent members appointed by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under an independent Chair. Support is provided to the Committee by approx. 300 people who bring together scientific and technical expertise, extensive knowledge of policy at global, European and national levels, and skills in working with other organisations. Staff are based in two main offices in Peterborough and Aberdeen.

Why JNCC?

We’re small enough (c.300 staff) that your voice is heard by everyone including the CEO, but big enough that we have all the skills, resources and people you’ll need to get the job done. All our staff are passionate about conservation and making a difference to the world we live in. We have a very flexible, inclusive and welcoming organisational culture. Our Executive Management provides employees with the freedom and tools you will need, and our friendly team will assist you in your role.

One of our great strengths is the deep and extensive expertise of our staff – several of our people are national and international experts in their fields. As an organisation we strongly support discussion, mutual learning and professional development.

JNCC is committed to maintaining employee health and wellbeing, whether it is physically, emotionally, financially or socially, and offers a range of benefits to support employees in this. Such benefits include the option to join the Civil Service Pension Scheme, professional and personal development opportunities as well as an exciting job in a unique environment.

Hours of work: Full-time
Normal minimum hours of attendance for the post are 36 hours per week over a 5-day period, Monday to Friday.
Flexi time is available. This post may also be suitable for job share.

Annual Leave:

The annual leave allowance is 25 days per year, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years’ service. There are also 12 days public and privilege leave. Part-time staff will receive this on a pro rata basis.

Post background

The Ecosystems Analysis Team helps JNCC’s stakeholders meet the challenges of managing our environment and the benefits it provides.

This dynamic, multi-disciplinary team brings together three elements:

• A set of long-term partnerships with organisations undertaking species surveys in terrestrial, coastal and freshwater ecosystems using networks of volunteers.
• An analysis and modelling capability producing rapidly deployable models. These include a range of models focussed on predicting outcomes from changing land uses and environmental pressures.
• An Earth observation (EO) data processing and analytical capability with expertise in using EO to provide high-quality evidence on biodiversity and ecosystems to inform environmental decision making.

As an Evidence Specialist, you will help JNCC to run and develop our species surveys, to refresh our long-term partnerships, and to work on providing standard protocols to allow locally focussed citizen science to monitor outcomes. The post would also contribute to projects across the work of the team, and to projects led by other teams in JNCC, helping to integrate our products and services.

Recent examples of projects undertaken by Evidence Specialists within the team include scoping out the potential to improve habitat data collection through citizen science, developing indicators of soil health, investigating the benefits and challenges of co-locating ecological data collection across taxa, and increasing the diversity, equality and inclusion of participation in our citizen science-based species surveys.

Post Duties

The post will be managed by a Senior Evidence Specialist and will work with other Evidence Specialists, as well as modellers, analysts, EO specialists, and surveillance experts. The main duties of the post are to:

• Lead on a set of species surveillance contracts within the overall portfolio, with strategic oversight from the Senior Biodiversity Evidence Specialist. This will include steering survey development with the partners in line with JNCC’s strategy, enabling the production of Official Statistics, ensuring regular news items and communications updates, tracking delivery of contractual elements and renegotiating contracts as they end.
• To act as project manager for selected projects, managing external research providers, ensuring corporate reporting and planning activities are provided to time and follow JNCC quality assurance procedures.
• To work with other team members to develop emerging work areas, such as development of a framework of metrics for assessing species and community condition and developing new analytical products, novel ways of interpreting EO products, or ways of interpreting and using modelled outputs.
• To assist or lead on projects depending on their scale, across the team, providing technical input, undertaking research synthesis, and devising communications activities to gain input from our users and stakeholders or to stimulate uptake of outputs.

The post-holder may be required to attend meetings and other fora at various localities in the UK and potentially internationally, involving overnight stays away from home.

Technical

To be a successful candidate you will have:

• A strong understanding of the main ways in which terrestrial species and habitats can be sampled, the sampling strategies used to meet different requirements (e.g. representative, stratified, risk based) and of the statistics used to measure change.
• An ability to assure quality and interpret statistical methods (Desirable).

Experience (Responsibilities)

To be a successful candidate you will have:

• Experience of communicating technical detail through a variety of media, including an ability to synthesise complex information and communicate concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• An ability to engage with stakeholders and partners, determine their priorities and work collaboratively with them.

Behaviours

• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Managing a Quality Service

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on the Lead Behaviour of Communicating and Influencing

Please see the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade:

Artificial Intelligence Guidance

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application. However, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism is identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own), applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Artificial intelligence and Recruitment /Civil Service Careers

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

JNCC do not provide sponsorship.

Closing date and interview date

The closing date for this post is 23:55 on Tuesday 3rd March 2026
The anticipated Interview date is week commencing Monday 23rd of March 2026