Senior Biodiversity Economist

Post Title: Senior Biodiversity Economist
Team: Economics team
Ref No: 2026031
Grade: S (SEO)
Type of appointment: 2 Year Fixed-term
Location: Peterborough or Aberdeen
Salary: £41,525

This post will have a base in either Peterborough or Aberdeen.

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 one of our office bases for a few days a month as a minimum with attendance expected at regular face to face team meetings. Arrangements 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. 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.

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

To address the twin climate and biodiversity crises we need innovative inter-disciplinary thinking to integrate the value of nature into policymaking. Economists work with experts across JNCC on a variety of cross-cutting, high-profile projects to support our mission of turning science into action for nature.

A formal degree in economics is not essential and we encourage applications from candidates with diverse academic backgrounds. However, you will need a firm grounding the principles of economics a willingness to engage with economic ideas, and experience of applying economics. You should also be familiar with related concepts such as natural capital.

You will need to:

• Build good working relationships with teams across JNCC and with external stakeholders.
• Be enthusiastic about taking on new learning opportunities and experiences. While you don’t need a PhD in economics or the natural sciences you will work with experts across a range of fields related to biodiversity.
• Be proactive in spotting opportunities to use economics to solve problems.
• Synthesise and communicate evidence clearly and effectively to a non-technical audience.
• Be able to manage projects and deliver projects, ensuring effective planning management, monitoring and evaluation.
• Potentially line manage other economists, providing leadership, guidance and support.

Post Duties

This role sits within a small, flexible team with a defined core remit, where responsibilities may adjust in line with organisational priorities. The post holder will be expected to apply their expertise across a varied range of work and respond effectively to changing demands. Economists work across the organisation and must adapt quickly to new challenges and priorities. The successful candidate may have the opportunity to evolve the role to their own interests and abilities.

Key areas where you may be working include:

• Blue and Green Finance. We need innovative thinking to explore how existing markets can be adapted to better promote nature-based solutions, support the development of new markets, and develop idea new ideas for financing nature recovery in the UK and overseas.
• Advising UK Overseas Territories and developing nations on how to transition to sustainable blue and green economies that balance poverty reduction with preserving natural capital.
• Natural capital assessment. Economists work with terrestrial and marine scientists to help develop better measures the economic value of natural assets, and contributing to ecological models which better understand how human activities impact the delivery of ecosystem services.
• Helping to measure the benefits of biodiverse and resilient ecosystems. Including supporting our work on global sustainable consumption.
• Supporting the UK in international negotiations such as IPBES
• Working closely with policymakers in all four UK nations to incorporate the value of nature into decision-making.
• Working with terrestrial and international pollution teams to develop a better understanding of the impact of pollution on nature and ecosystem service delivery.

As part of your role you may occasionally be required to travel including internationally.

Technical

Every member of the economics team brings a different set of skills and unique perspectives to the role. As well as being passionate about delivering evidence for nature, the successful candidate needs to think innovatively.

Candidates should demonstrate the skills necessary for:

• Delivering high quality economic analysis
• Effective people and project management in economics, social science, or the natural sciences.

In addition, the successful candidate should demonstrate excellence in at least one of those two areas.

Behaviours

We will assess candidates against the following civil service behaviours:

• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace

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 Working Together.

Please see the CS Behaviours framework for more details at this grade: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles/success-profiles-civil-service-behaviours

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 Monday, 29 June 2026.

The anticipated interview date is week commencing Monday, 13 July 2026.