As a Lead Specialist Permitting Officer, you’ll be one of the most senior members of NRW’s Marine Licensing Team, responsible for assessing some of the most complex and high-profile marine license applications. You’ll carry out detailed technical assessments, consult with experts, and ensure decisions are robust, defensible, and well-documented. You may also act as an expert witness in public inquiries, supporting evidence-based, transparent regulation. This is a busy, desk-based role where you’ll manage multiple cases simultaneously—balancing deadlines, problem-solving, and applying risk-based decision making under tight statutory timescales. You’ll also play a key role in mentoring and supporting the wider team, helping to maintain high technical standards in marine permitting.
What you will do
- Determination of applications for Marine Licences of high public and / or political interest, managing effective communication with all interested parties, including government and national stakeholder groups.
- Analyses highly complex data and information to inform and assist policy and legal colleagues within your area of expertise.
- Build effective working relationships with key individuals within NRW and other UK Competent Authorities to ensure that the value of Permitting to our regulatory role is maximized.
- Take responsibility to ensure that the work of the Marine Licensing Team is clearly documented and that decisions taken on license applications are transparent and consistent.
- Ensure that the Marine Licensing Team have the required tools and skills to ensure fair and consistent approach to decision making in line with our legal remit.
- Ensure that the Marine Licensing Team delivers appropriate decisions on license applications within the statutory timelines by monitoring progress against targets, identifying risks to delivery and managing those risks
- Lead or support the Permitting Service technical leads group to ensure consistent ways of working and that we have the correct tools and processes in place to identify skill gaps and develop our people so that we can effectively deliver for our customers in a timely manner.
- Specifically lead on the development of the technical development framework and the mentoring and coaching of Marine Licensing Officers to ensure that the team has sufficient technical and legislative resilience to be able to advise on and assess the full range of marine licensing requirements.
- 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).
- Required to take part in incident response activities.
- 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.
- Experience of managing the assessment of highly complex, politically sensitive marine license applications, including interaction with government organizations and members of the public.
- Education to degree level or equivalent in a relevant scientific discipline.
- Track record of delivering timely optimal solutions by effective information analysis and risk-based decisions with a customer focus.
- Substantial working knowledge of the marine industry and the environmental protection methodologies relevant to the marine licensing process.
- Advanced and specialist understanding of specific marine licensing legislation and associated Directives and how they relate to the marine licensing process.
- Proven coaching and mentoring skills.
- Effective communication, planning and organization skills.
- You will be expected to keep up to date with changing regulatory policy and proposed changes to legislation via membership of a relevant professional body or other equivalent means.
Welsh Language level requirements: Essential Level A1 – Entry level
Salary range: £47,055 – £52,770
Application deadline: February 9, 2026
