Vacancy -- Deputy Chair - National Infrastructure Commission for Wales

National Infrastructure Commission for Wales

Terms of Reference

 

Remit and Purpose

 

The National Infrastructure Commission for Wales (NICW) is a non-statutory, advisory panel. Its remit is to assess the economic and environmental infrastructure needs of Wales over the next 5 – 80 years

 

The NICW will conduct studies into Wales’ most pressing infrastructure challenges make recommendations to the Welsh Government. The advice provided by the NICW will be impartial, strategic and forward looking in nature. The Nature and Climate Emergencies have been identified as the key drivers informing the work of the NICW. 

 

The NICW needs to be able to take into account current and upcoming infrastructure projects when identifying future needs. However, its remit does not include reviewing programmes and work that have already been decided or are near decision.  The NICW’s remit extends to devolved, cross-border and non-devolved infrastructure and will evolve in line with the devolution settlement.

 

The NICW may consider cross-cutting delivery issues, such as governance, costs, financing and programme/project management, if it considers them a barrier to delivering infrastructure needs. The NICW will not override statutory processes but may advise and recommend improvements to such processes should significant barriers to delivery be found.

 

The NICW must conduct itself in line with the principles and goals of the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. This includes:

• Welsh Government’s Well-Being Objectives;

• Five Ways of Working; and,

• Sustainable Development Principle.

 

The NICW must take account of Welsh Ministers’ duties under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016; including the sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR) and the section 6 Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty.

 

NICW must also consider the obligations of Welsh Minister’s in respect of other legislative obligations when providing advice.

Role and responsibilities

Capable of leading a diverse group of Commissioners, the Deputy Chair will be a strategic thinker and an independent voice on infrastructure, and will play a crucial and high-profile role in supporting and deputising for the Chair. We are particularly keen to receive applications from under-represented groups for this post.

 

The Deputy Chair will recognise the need for future infrastructure decisions to contribute to Wales’ decarbonisation objectives; to tackle the Nature and Climate Emergencies; and to deliver multiple co-benefits across the Future Generations Goals. The Deputy Chair will support the Chair in representing NICW to the Welsh Government, Senedd Cymru and the public as well as engaging business, academia and other stakeholders.

 

The Deputy Chair will act as Chair where conflicts of interest or other issues prevent the Chair from exercising their duties.

 

Duties

• Supporting the Chair in their strategic leadership for NICW; setting priorities and ensuring the independence of its recommendations;
• Ensuring the work of the commission is focused on Wales’ most pressing infrastructure challenges including the need to address climate change and meet Wales’ decarbonisation targets;
• Helping direct Commissioners’ input, harnessing their skills, experience and expertise;
• Leading on work looking at particular areas / sectors to deliver recommendations to the Welsh Government on Wales’ future infrastructure needs;
• Ensuring the work of the commission is focused on Wales’ most pressing infrastructure challenges including the need to address the Nature and Climate Emergencies; deliver on Future Generations Goals; and meet Wales’ decarbonisation targets;
• Overseeing delivery of NICW’s work, including monitoring delivery by the Welsh Government and contractors
• Representing NICW externally and fostering good working relationships with key stakeholders, including government, industry, academia, interest groups and the public.

The Welsh Government acknowledges the importance of developing and growing bilingual capabilities in public appointments in Wales, and welcomes applications from candidates who demonstrate their capability to work in both English and Welsh.  The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the recruiting body of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Capabilities

• A track record of achieving results through leadership of boards and organisations;
• An exceptional ability to communicate and build relationships including the capability to provide independent and pragmatic advice to Ministers
• Ability to process and interpret complex information, make evidence-based judgements and demonstrate a creative proactive approach to problem solving;
• Understanding of the Welsh Government’s infrastructure objectives, its wider policy, delivery and finance framework, including the duties and commitments under the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and the devolution settlement;
• Willingness to step out of their comfort zone to challenge and be challenged and to not avoid risk;
• A commitment to the principles of public life and the values of equality and diversity.

 

Skills

• Able to demonstrate an understanding of strategic leadership at senior levels of government, academia or business;
• the ability to communicate and influence  at the highest levels;
• the ability to represent organisations in public, including in the media and with a range of stakeholders;
• knowledge and /or understanding of one or more sectors of economic and/or environment infrastructure (desirable)
•  A clear understanding of, and a commitment to equality issues

 

 

Welsh Language

Welsh is desirable for each of the following skills:

Understanding:  Can understand parts of a basic conversation

Reading: Can read some basic words and phrases with understanding 

Speaking: Can hold a basic conversation in Welsh

Writing: Can write basic messages on everyday topics

14/04/2022, 16:00

Contacts

For further information regarding the role of the NICW and the role of Commissioners, please contact:

Stuart Ingram
Head of National Infrastructure Commission for Wales Secretariat 
Tel: 03000 255 040
Email: stuart.ingram@gov.wales

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Corporate Shared Service Centre Helpdesk on 03000 255 454 or PublicAppointments@gov.wales. 

Candidates are requested to note, no interviews are to be held, as the Deputy Minister for Climate Change will appoint suitable candidates based on the advisory panel’s assessments at the shortlisting stage.   This process follows the public appointments process for unregulated appointments.

To apply for this role, click on the ‘Apply’ button below. The first time you apply for a post, you will need to complete a registration form for the Welsh Government’s online application system.  You will only need to register once, and you will be able to keep yourself updated on the progress of your application, and any other applications you make, via your registered account.

Once you’ve registered, you’ll be able to access the application form.  To apply you will need to submit two supporting documents. The first, a document outlining how your knowledge, skills and experiences meet the criteria for the role as outlined in the information for candidates.  This document should be no more than 2 sides of A4.  Your application may be rejected if you exceed this limit.  The second document is a full, up to date CV.  The two documents should be uploaded to the ‘Reasons for applying’ section of the online application form.

In your application, you will also be asked to provide details of any activities which have helped you to develop skills that would be useful in a public appointment role, and list the organisations for which you undertook these activities.  We also need to know about any political activity that you’ve undertaken over the last 5 years. 

It is recommended that you register for an account and access the application form as soon as possible so that you see how the application form is structured, before starting to prepare your evidence.  You don’t have to complete the application form all in one go.  You can save your responses, and log in and out as required, until you’re ready to submit – just follow the guidance in the application form.

If you’d like to apply for this opportunity in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

If you need any further assistance in applying for this role, please contact the Welsh Government’s Public Appointments Team on  PublicAppointments@gov.wales.

For further information about Public Appointments in Wales, please visit www.gov.wales/publicappointments