Learning and Development Specialist

Post Title: Learning and Development Specialist
Team: HR
Ref No: 2026041
Grade: H (HEO)
Type of appointment: Fixed-term (2 years)
This post will have a base in 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 or Part-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 part time working of no less than 30 hours per week.

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:

As our Learning and Development Specialist, you will play a key role in delivering JNCC’s learning and development offer, helping to design, coordinate and promote a wide range of development opportunities for staff and managers. Working with colleagues across the organisation and external suppliers, you will identify learning needs, support leadership and management development, oversee learning-related procurement, and manage initiatives such as coaching, mentoring and shadowing. The role also includes delivering in-house training, monitoring participation and evaluation data, and helping to ensure fair and inclusive access to development opportunities.

You will join a small, friendly and supportive HR team where collaboration, continuous improvement and learning are central to how we work. We value sharing knowledge, supporting one another and creating opportunities for everyone to grow. The team meets in person each month, providing opportunities to build relationships, learn from colleagues and take part in development activities.

Alongside your core responsibilities, you will contribute to a range of wider HR projects and initiatives that support our people agenda. This may include developing learning resources, supporting employee engagement activities, reviewing people policies, analysing workforce data, improving HR processes and helping to deliver our People Strategy. These opportunities will allow you to broaden your experience, develop new skills and make a meaningful contribution to both the employee experience and JNCC’s organisational priorities.

As part of our commitment to professional development, there may also be opportunities for us to support you in achieving a CIPD qualification or undertaking other work-related learning.

Post Duties:

The key responsibilities of the role are outlined below. However, this is an overview of the role and is not exhaustive.

Procurement and Delivery of L&D activity

• Support the Senior HR Manager in delivering agreed training to meet corporate development priorities, where necessary identifying external providers / resources to meet development needs.
• Support the development and delivery of our talent, leadership and management offer through working with senior stakeholders and external suppliers to identify learning needs and shaping learning interventions to address these, which may include delivery of in-house training sessions.
• Support and lead bitesize learning sessions for managers and team leaders to develop core management skills and the rollout of HR policies.
• Lead on learning related procurement, including preparing necessary documents such as quote or tender specifications, JNCC or Government Commercial Services Frameworks procurement forms, sending invites for quotes and contract tenders and managing and reviewing responses to quotes and tenders.
• Support the Senior HR Manager by monitoring and updating budget expenditure and flagging variances.
• Manage the Coaching, Mentoring and Shadowing (CoMeSh) scheme

Learner and Stakeholder Support

• Act as a first point of contact for routine learning and development enquiries and requests, providing clear and timely information and ensuring correct processes are followed.
• Attend cross-government Learning Framework calls, providing feedback on actions or updates
• Represent HR on relevant organisational forums to support agreed equity and inclusion-related HR and L&D actions.

Communications, Evaluation and Continuous Improvement

• Promote and communicate L&D opportunities through a range of channels, including all staff meetings, newsletters, sharing updates with CPD Champions on monthly calls or via email, targeted emails and Teams channels.
• Support fair and consistent access to learning opportunities, escalating issues or risks where appropriate and monitoring equality of access to training opportunities.
• Collect and collate learning feedback and evaluation data to evaluate impact and identify trends to continuously improve delivery.
• Monitor completion and compliance with mandatory training requirements.

Wider HR Support

• Support other HR activities or project work as required.

Technical:

To be a successful candidate you will be:

• CIPD Level 5 or equivalent experience, with demonstrable HR and/or L&D knowledge gained through roles, projects or wider organisational responsibilities. Experience delivering training is essential; Civil Service or similar sector experience is desirable.
• Highly competent in using Microsoft 365 tools. In particular Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams and use of collaborative tools for training, such as Whiteboards and experience of maintaining accurate records using digital systems.

Experience:

To be a successful candidate you will have:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills and be able to clearly and confidently present information, conveying complex issues clearly and succinctly, tailored to the audience.
• Excellent administration and organisational skills, with excellent attention to detail, a proven ability to work independently and manage multiple tasks with varying deadlines and priorities in a busy work environment.
• Experience of procuring training from external providers and managing associated finance processes, ideally within the Civil Service or a similar structured environment. Experience monitoring budgets and maintaining accurate financial records, trackers or spreadsheets.
• A strong commitment to Diversity, Inclusion and Equity, with experience of designing inclusive processes or activities and using participation and feedback data to identify and remove barriers to engagement.

Behaviours:

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

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on the technical skills alone.

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 Thursday, 30 July 2026
The anticipated interview date is week commencing Monday, 10 August 2026