Vacancy -- Commissioners (6) - National Infrastructure Commission for Wales

National Infrastructure Commissioner 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

 

Commissioners will be leaders in their field, with senior level experience in a specific infrastructure sector or a related field; or with strategic experience across a wide range of relevant sectors.

 

The Commissioners of the NICW will have a unique opportunity to look at Wales’ long-term economic and environment infrastructure needs, shaping future infrastructure networks by having a strong influence on recommendations to the Welsh Government on achieving net zero, strategic linkages, dependencies and priorities. 

 

We are looking to recruit up to 6 Commissioners from a range of backgrounds.

 

Commissioners will share a real passion for the positive impact that infrastructure can play for all of Welsh society.  Commissioners 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.

 

Commissioners will be responsible for: 

• providing expert, impartial advice to the Welsh Government on infrastructure
• 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;
• leading task-and-finish groups on specific NICW projects, and supporting associated projects such as a Young Person’s Infrastructure Board
• engaging with stakeholders including government, industry, interest groups, the media and the public to promote NICW and gather a wide range of views on future infrastructure
• using their own personal and/or social media networks to promote the work of the Commission

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.

To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment.  We do not require everyone who joins us to have previous Board experience or to work directly in the infrastructure sector. We seek applications from people who are curious, eager to build and communicate their understanding, of long-term strategic issues.

 

Essential Criteria:

Capabilities

• ability to provide robust, independent advice to the Welsh Government;
• ability to process complex information and consider the long-term development of Wales
• a problem solver that can communicate complex and challenging recommendations clearly
• willingness to step out of their comfort zone to challenge and be challenged and to not avoid risk;
• 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

 

Skills

• Able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of  an economic, social or environment infrastructure sector (such as energy, transport, waste, flood, digital communications) or a related field (such as economics, planning, regulation, project/infrastructure finance, design, engineering, systems architecture and analysis, technology and innovation).
• Ability to communicate and influence across all levels.  We are interested in hearing from individuals who can evidence success in communicating very complex, challenging information in a sensitive and effective way
• ability to represent organisations in public, including in the media and with a range of stakeholders
• A clear understanding of and 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