Grade 6 Heads of Function - Operations (2 x posts) - ( Ref : 6721 )

This position can be based at Bristol , Newcastle , Preston or York

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Driven by government’s aim for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas, MMO’s purpose is to protect and enhance our precious marine environment and support UK economic growth by enabling sustainable marine activities and development.

We are the independent regulator for England’s seas, professionally delivering service-focussed outcomes for our customers.

MMO manages 230,000 square kilometres of hugely diverse seas, almost double that of England’s land mass. Our seas are among the busiest in the world. The extensive benefits we draw from them are not always recognised, whether for leisure, transport, commerce, fisheries, construction, energy and communications. Critically, our seas provide significant environmental benefits.

We deliver professional, expert, valued services and support for our marine environment and for those who use it.

We are a team of around 500 people and combine our Newcastle upon Tyne and London operations with a local presence around the English coastline in Brixham, Beverley, Harwich, Hastings, Lowestoft, North Shields, Hayle, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Preston, Scarborough, Shoreham, Whitehaven.

More information about our work is on the GOV.UK website and you can read the MMO’s Story here.

Job description

The two Head of Function posts are based in our Operations Directorate.

• Head of Sustainable Fisheries – Grade 6
• Head of Marine Protection and Seafood Traceability – Grade 6

Head of Sustainable Fisheries

• Providing overall leadership and accountability for the activities and services delivered by the Sustainable Fisheries function within the MMO;
• Playing a lead role in helping to shape and deliver the future strategic direction for fisheries management in English waters;
• Leading and articulating the necessary strategic changes to ensure that MMO activities and services are delivered in a modern, efficient and effective way
• Leading and visibly demonstrating the move to increased partnership working and improved engagement with the commercial and recreational fishing industry and other bodies with an interest in fisheries management.

Main Activities:

• Providing visible and strategic leadership to the development and delivery of all activities delivered by fisheries management functions including existing customer facing services such as licensing and quota management and the development of new management approaches to realise UK Government ambitions of being world class in its approach to sustainable fisheries
• Working closely with Defra, its arms-length bodies (ALBs), Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA) and senior commercial and recreational fishing sector representatives to develop new approaches to the way that we engage and deliver fisheries management.
• Ensuring effective collaboration with Defra and other UK Fisheries Administrations (UKFAs) to influence policy and implement delivery of the UK’s international fisheries management obligations.
• Playing a senior leadership role in the delivery of the Government’s priorities for fisheries including acting as the senior responsible owner (SRO) for MMO led delivery and implementation of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs), and playing an active role in other senior governance bodies such as Defra’s REM Programme Board.
• Representing the MMO at a senior level, ensuring regular engagement with the Executive Leadership Team and MMO Board, senior leaders in Defra, its ALBs, the UKFAs, the European Union (EU) and well as senior representatives in the fishing industry, recreational fishing sector and environmental non-government organisations (eNGOs).
• Leading and visibly demonstrating the move to increased partnership working and improved engagement with the commercial and recreational fishing industry and other bodies with an interest in fisheries management.
• Line management of 4 x Grade 7 colleagues, with oversight and responsibility for approximately 50 staff.
• Playing a key role as part of the MMO’s Directorate Leadership Team in supporting the Executive Leadership Team in the delivery of corporate plan objectives and performance reporting, owning and cascading corporate messages, and visibly role modelling MMO values and behaviours to set and embed the desired culture within the MMO.

Head of Marine Protection and Seafood Traceability

• Providing overall leadership and accountability for the activities and services delivered by the Marine Conservation function within the MMO;
• Leading the delivery of measures to protect the features of England’s network of marine protected areas
• Building a new digitally enabled end to end service to assure the traceability of England’s seafood from ‘net to plate’
• Service ownership of the Fish Export Service
• Leading and visibly demonstrating the move to increased partnership working and improved engagement with the commercial fishing industry and other bodies with an interest in fisheries management.

Main Activities:

• Providing visible and strategic leadership to the development and delivery of all activities delivered by the marine conservation function including pollution response, scientific dispensation, wildlife licensing, quality assurance of byelaws.
• Working closely with Defra, its arms-length bodies (ALBs), Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCA), relevant industry sectors and environmental NGOs to deliver robust protections from fishing activity in England’s offshore marine protected areas (MPAs) and from other activities, including recreational pursuits and anchoring in its inshore MPAs.
• Service ownership of the UK’s Fish Export Service generating and validating export documents to facilitate the trade of UK seafood with partners.
• Design and delivery of a digitally enabled end to end service to assure the traceability of fish from catch to landing to sale, protecting the supply chain from Illegal, Unreported or Unregulated Fishing (IUU).
• Representing the MMO at a senior level, ensuring regular engagement with the Executive Leadership Team and MMO Board, senior leaders in Defra, its ALBs, the UKFAs, the European Union (EU) and well as senior representatives in the fishing industry, recreational fishing sector and environmental non-government organisations (eNGOs).
• Line management of 3 x Grade 7 colleagues, with oversight and responsibility for approximately 50 staff.
• Playing a key role as part of the MMO’s Directorate Leadership Team in supporting the Executive Leadership Team in the delivery of corporate plan objectives and performance reporting, owning and cascading corporate messages, and visibly role modelling MMO values and behaviours to set and embed the desired culture within the MMO.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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Please refer to Job Description

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