Programme Lead on Ecosystem Assessment and Resilience

In Defra, we deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly affect people’s lives. We are responsible for England’s environment, countryside and rural economy, the food and farming sectors and have a lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards. Defra is also an important international Department, and we leverage our domestic expertise and learning to drive transformational and systemic change globally. Over the next five years, the International Biodiversity and Climate Directorate will work to deliver the Global Biodiversity Framework and its vision to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

Defra is establishing a new programme and team to design, pilot, and evaluate innovative approaches for assessing ecosystems. The programme will use novel metrics of ecosystem function, process and resilience to underpin a new generation of environmental assessments. A series of ‘policy sandboxes’ will be developed and delivered in close collaboration with academics, Defra Arms’ Length Bodies (ALBs) and other stakeholders. These will enable government to test alternative approaches in a controlled, evidence driven environment.

The Programme Lead will establish and lead this new programme. They will coordinate scientific, analytical, and policy workstreams; manage relationships with academic partners, Public Sector Research Establishments (PSREs), and Defra group ALBs; and ensure the programme delivers robust, credible, and policy relevant outputs that support planning reform, nature recovery, and long-term environmental resilience both domestically and internationally.

This post sits within the International Science, Evidence and Analysis Division in the International Biodiversity and Climate Directorate (IBC) but will work across Defra. The postholder will work alongside other Grade 7 scientists in Defra’s International and Domestic Biodiversity science teams. They will report to the Grade 6 head of International Research Programmes.

Background

Recent developments in functional ecology research, data science, multi-variate modelling, environmental monitoring and AI are opening up new opportunities for the ways we monitor, measure, set targets for and manage ecosystems.

Whereas traditional conservation approaches have focused on protecting species and habitats, approaches based on functional ecology and ecosystem science place emphasis on the dynamic processes that keep ecosystems together. These functions and processes allow them to adapt to changing conditions, providing resilience against shocks. They also underpin the ecosystem services upon which humans depend.

Such approaches show promise for applications to assess UK and international ecosystems, supporting policy across a wide range of areas. This includes international applications, for example, mapping international risk of ecosystem collapse, targeting Official Development Assistance funding through aid programmes and evaluating nature finance investments. It also includes important domestic priorities, such as informing better spatial planning decisions, targeting agri-environment funding and informing the management of protected areas for biodiversity.

The postholder will work with policy and science teams across Defra (domestic and international) and external researchers to design and lead the programme, which will include workstreams on:

Method development

This workstream will drive innovation, research and knowledge generation for methods for policy-relevant methods for ecosystem assessment. The workstream includes objectives on:

• • Evaluating the state of the science for ecosystem-based metrics, tools and frameworks via a literature review and expert elicitation. This will identify promising emerging approaches, which could be applied to policy use cases, and will review frameworks, tools and metrics that can be applied to assess the resilience of ecosystems for specific policy purposes.
  • Designing a toolkit for ecosystem assessment . Working with Defra science and policy teams, Defra ALBs and external researchers to develop a modular, demand-driven toolkit that can deploy a suite of tools to service a range of domestic and international policy use cases.
  • Research and development . Working with research institutions (initially Imperial College, ZSL, RBG Kew and the Natural History Museum), Defra evidence and policy teams, and ALBs, to develop a programme of R&D that produces metrics and tools for the ecosystem assessment toolkit.

Policy sandboxes

This workstream will generate an innovative and evidence-led learning platform to test novel approaches to ecosystem assessment developed in workstream one. The workstream includes objectives on:

• • Defining and developing policy use cases . Building a multidisciplinary team from Defra and ALBs to produce detailed definitions of possible international and domestic policy use cases with which to test the ecosystem assessment toolkit.
  • Testing an ecosystem assessment toolkit against pre-defined use cases and scenarios. Working with evidence and policy colleagues from Defra, ALBs, and academic partners, conduct rigorous, quantitative and qualitative tests of the ecosystem assessment toolkit, following international best practice, to explore the validity and efficacy of the toolkit.

Key responsibilities

• Programme Leadership & Strategy
  • Lead the design, delivery, and governance of the Policy Sandbox for novel approaches to ecosystem assessment.
  • Translate strategic objectives into a three-year workplan aligned with Defra priorities. Ensure the programme supports planning reform, environmental target delivery, and international policy objectives.
  • Provide oversight of two core workstreams: (1) Method development, (2) Policy sandboxes
• Oversee design of scientific/analytical protocols
  • Work with IBC’s non-ODA R&D team to ensure a coherent programme of research and development.
  • Oversee the development and testing of a novel, adaptive toolkit for ecosystem assessment, working with technical specialists in Natural England, JNCC and elsewhere. This includes frameworks and metrics that can be piloted on domestic and international case studies.
  • Ensure scientific and analytical outputs meet quality assurance standards and are suitable for informing regulatory and policy decisions.
  • Support the integration of ecological modelling, systems thinking, and scenario analysis into policy testing.
• Policy sandbox design and evaluation
  • Lead the development of policy use cases, scenarios, and problem statements in collaboration with policy teams across Defra, Natural England, JNCC and others.
  • Oversee the design and delivery of an approach for policy ‘sandboxing’ (including modelling, simulations, workshops, policy evaluations etc.), where new approaches and toolkits are comprehensively tested against policy use cases.
  • Evaluate the downstream impacts of new approaches on planning decisions, regulatory processes, business costs, and environmental outcomes.
  • Assess upstream implications for statutory targets, reporting frameworks, and international commitments (e.g., CBD, GBF).
• Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration
  • Build and maintain strong relationships with academic partners and Defra Arm’s Length Bodies (particularly Natural England and JNCC), and other external experts.
  • Coordinate engagement with local authorities, developers, environmental NGOs, and private finance stakeholders as appropriate.
  • Ensure transparent communication of programme aims, progress, and findings across Defra and wider government.
  • Ensure strong working relationships and partnerships with other technical teams across international and domestic teams in Defra.
• Programme Delivery & Governance
  • Establish programme governance structures, risk management processes, and reporting mechanisms.
  • Manage programme budget (£1.1m over three years), commissioning/procurement of external research, and research project management.
  • Ensure timely delivery of milestones, including workshops, model prototypes, test cases, and evaluation reports.
  • Provide regular updates to senior officials, Ministers, and HMT.
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Recruit, lead, and develop a multidisciplinary team of scientists, analysts, and policy specialists.
  • Line manage a team of 3-4.
  • Foster a collaborative, innovative, and inclusive team culture.
  • Support staff development in systems thinking, ecological modelling, and policy experimentation.

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