Principal Biodiversity Economist

We are advertising this vacancy through Civil Service Jobs.

For more information on the role, please go to the Civil Service Jobs website.

For information on how to apply through Civil Service Jobs, go to Guidance and advice for candidates using the Civil Service website.

Apply before 23:55 on Sunday 15 October 2023.

Post background

Economists in JNCC work in a small, collaborative team, undertaking a variety of cross-cutting, high-profile projects. We work closely with UK government departments, country conservation bodies (such as Natural England and NatureScot) and advise governments overseas.

The key areas of work for the post holder will include:

• Natural Capital Accounting: Advising and supporting on Natural Capital Ecosystem Accounting (NCEA) approaches that assess the provision of ecosystem services (ES). The post holder will help develop ecological models and other tools assessing the impacts of human activities on the flow of ES services and their values.  They will work with JNCC marine and terrestrial natural capital teams in assisting our government partners (UK and abroad) to develop tools for managing, supporting, and implementing NCEA approaches.
• Transitioning to Sustainable blue and green economy. This will encompass advising on a range of policy areas, including:
1. working with colleagues in UK governments to develop market frameworks aimed at increasing the flow of private investments into restoration and protection of marine/terrestrial habitats;
2. working with land-use policy colleagues to assess demand of land-use decisions and identifying solutions that embed value of nature in these decisions;
3. investigating emerging approaches to carrying out marine spatial prioritisation in UK seas, where economics, social and environmental dimensions are considered appropriately;
4. analysing sustainable and innovative financing options in the Overseas Territories (OTs), including the preparation of natural capital investment plans; and
5. investigate the scale and impact of existing UK subsidies in sectors, such as agriculture and fishing, and advise on options to help incentivise outcomes that mitigates environmental damage and increases overall societal well-being.
• Nature-proofing our international policy: There is the opportunity for UK trade and Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending decisions to integrate biodiversity to influence more nature-positive policies both through global footprint and in direct spend internationally. The post holder will be working with relevant teams in JNCC to help provide evidence on how the value nature can provide for achieving international trade, climate implementation plans, security (including food, water, and energy security) targets abroad.
• Enhancing JNCC impact and evaluating effectiveness: Increasing JNCC impact through appropriate deployment of cost-benefit analysis and cost-effective analysis techniques across terrestrial, marine and international projects.
• Generating new knowledge: Building partnerships with the economic research, development and innovation (RDI) community to explore and apply novel economic approaches that have the potential to further nature recovery. Capitalising on JNCC’s rich data assets to develop new models and analyses.

For more information on the role, please go to the Civil Service Jobs website. Apply before 23:55 on Sunday 15 October 2023.