Senior Agricultural Consents Officer

At Dalcour Maclaren, we're key players in the Utilities and Infrastructure industry, bringing the UK and Ireland closer to Net Zero every day. Our land, environmental and geospatial experts work together to unlock the consents needed by our clients to deliver key projects. Our services include land access and assembly, agricultural liaison, planning, environmental impact assessments and geospatial mapping. Join us, and play your part in helping us to achieve our vision; to be the professional services team of choice, leading the Utilities and Infrastructure industry to a sustainable future.

Are you interested in a career developing key infrastructure for the UK, while safeguarding agricultural business and the rural landscape?

We have an opportunity for a Senior Consents Officer to deliver specialist and technical advice and services to utilities and infrastructure clients, ensuring yours and your team’s delivery of tasks and/or schemes to a high standard and ensuring team, sector and client objectives are met. To contribute to the delivery of company business plan goals whilst engendering a positive attitude within the workplace and providing strong leadership and support to junior colleagues.

The successful candidate must have their own car as the role involves travelling to sites visiting clients, landowners and farmers, whilst maintaining a flexible base from the office.

As a Senior Consents & Liaison Officer you will:

• Obtain relevant specialist technical consents and provide technical advice and support to clients in a timely and professional manner.

• Providing professional advice on law and statute within the context of the project / legislation.

• Manage communication activities with clients, statutory authorities, contractors, landowners, farmers, occupiers and other stakeholders in support of client objectives. Activities likely to include, drafting and issuing consent orders, advising on the technicality of the consent, managing the consenting process, managing a consenting programme in line with other project deliverables, coordinating access to private land, serving notices, obtain agreements/consents, evidencing condition of land before and after entry, advise and agree reinstatement of land and deal with agricultural loss claims.

• Managing teams of consenting officers, training and developing others, imparting knowledge and proactively ensuring CPD. Proactively engaging with statutory authorities, clients, contractors, as well as affected parties such as landowners and occupiers, local community groups as required, showing a high level of technical knowledge empathy and employing tact, diplomacy and negotiating skills to meet objectives whilst maintaining positive relationships and projecting a professional image of the client and DM.

• Lead on collaborative working with project team(s), often operating from project / client (site) offices. Demonstrating collaborative working across internal teams in order to manage the client’s expectations.

• Ensure relevant stakeholders are kept updated and report on requirements ensuring KPI’s are met across clients, and internal teams are managed to a high delivery standard. Working closely with key stakeholders and their subcontractors, providing client updates through IT systems, meetings and continuous improvement of systems, processes and innovation

• Proactively undertake and support with project budgeting and commercial management in line with programme, with a continuous focus on financial and gross margin targets

• Ensure good record keeping in the team, including accurate submissions, meeting notes and comprehensive file updates and records of activities to monitor and review progress, provide regular client updates and ensure accurate billing, demonstrating continuous improvement in the immediate and wider team.

• Support the development of employees in own area of responsibility and provide constructive support to own direct reports, engaging in regular progress review and feedback meetings and delegating tasks effectively.

• Mentor and supporting Liaison Officers.

• Provide the wider sector team with ad hoc assistance on other projects and schemes and support team and wider business development, reinforce company protocols and processes, assist in identifying areas of new work and look for opportunities to cross-sell wider company services.

The successful candidate will:

• Have a full UK driving licence

• Have a strong knowledge of agriculture and rural affairs

• Be an excellent communicator with the willingness to learn and develop

• Are self-motivated and organised

• Be a great team player and have a can-do attitude

Benefits:

• Annual bonus scheme

• 25 days annual leave plus 1 day to celebrate your birthday

• Vitality Health Membership (including Private healthcare, subsidised gym membership and other discounts)

• Flexible working through our ‘Flexible Advantage’ supporting working families & your work/life balance

• Pension Scheme via The Peoples Pension

• Life insurance (4x Base Salary)

• Cycle to work scheme

• 26 Weeks paid Maternity Leave

• 4 Weeks paid Paternity Leave

• BHN Extras – provides discounted gift cards for hundreds of popular retailers

• Electric Vehicle Salary Sacrifice Scheme (provided by Octopus Electric Vehicles) effective at 1 years’ service

• Sabbatical Policy effective at 3 years’ service

• Professional development – paid study leave

• Military service paid leave (7.5 days per year)

• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) plus wider Mental Health & Wellbeing support

• 2 x Company-wide events every year, in addition to multiple office socials throughout the year

Dalcour Maclaren is an equal opportunities employer.