Vacancy -- Chair - Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership (CaSP Cymru)
Vacancy details
Function of body
Background
Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership comprises a wide range of stakeholders from across the marine and coastal sector. They are committed to working collaboratively to achieve our vision as set out in the Welsh National Marine Plan of Welsh seas that are clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse.
The Partnership is an exemplar of how embodying the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act five ways of working is able to help tackle Climate Change and address actions to improve our marine resilience. CaSP Cymru places emphasis on being outward facing, making connections and networking to enable co-design and collaborative action across interest groups.
As well as engaging and providing comment and feedback on Welsh marine policy CaSP Cymru are working to deliver three key ‘enablers’ necessary to achieve our vision for Welsh seas:
Developing ocean literacy across all parts of society - raising awareness of the significance of our coasts and seas will encourage further action across policy areas, and other administrative frameworks such as Public Service Boards.
Sustainable long term investment and developing longer term sources of public and private finance is crucial to support delivery of key objectives
Building capacity, particularly at the local level, will enable meaningful community engagement to identify local opportunities and challenges and deliver action
Current work includes:
Developing an Ocean literacy strategy for Wales and actions to connect people and work to amplify the importance of the marine environment and our impacts on it.
Shaping content for the Wales Marine and Fisheries Scheme, particularly developing a new capacity building element to establish longer term engagement and build coastal community capacity to identify and deliver local action.
Exploring a blended finance mechanisms for the marine environment in Wales.
Helping to deliver the 30x30 Biodiversity Deep Dive recommendations for capacity building, skills development, behaviour change and awareness raising in the marine environment.
In October 2022 the group, which was previously the Wales Marine Action and Advisory Group, was re-branded as the Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership (CaSP Cymru) and the Minister for Climate Change decided to make this new appointment to reflect the renewed focus on co-production, collaboration and a partnership way of working. The revised Terms of Reference and our Shared Narrative are published here: Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership (CaSP Cymru) | GOV.WALES.
Role description
Role and responsibilities
The primary function of the Chair is to lead the Wales Coasts and Seas Partnership (CaSP Cymru), championing the importance of the marine and coastal environment in Wales.
Please see Annex B below for the role and responsibilities of CaSP Cymru.
The Partnership has oversight of action across Welsh Government and Wales in relation to coasts and seas and one role of the Chair is to convene members to collaborate with the Marine and Fisheries teams on any new and emerging policy areas.
The Chair should also lead the Partnership to deliver the three themes of Ocean Literacy, Sustainable Investment and Building Capacity through existing frameworks, as well as new and innovative approaches, making connections and networking to enable co-design and collaborative action across interest groups.
However, the role is much more than chairing a stakeholder group. It is about providing an outward facing and confident ambassador, an active advocate for our coasts and seas on behalf of the Minister for Climate Change.
The Chair will also chair strategic stakeholder groups on a task and finish basis. Specifically the Clean Seas Partnership, Marine Conservation Zones Steering Group, and other ad hoc groups for example Marine Planning, and establish appropriate stakeholder linkages across Welsh Government portfolios, for example, with the Ministerial Advisory Group for Welsh Fisheries and the Biodiversity 30x30 Deep Dive group.
The Chair will meet with the Minister for Climate Change twice a year to report on actions the group is delivering on the key three themes and the relevant 30x30 Biodiversity recommendations.
It is expected the Chair will also work closely with the Future Generations Commissioner in future.
The Chair will be supported by the Marine and Fisheries Division, who provide the secretariat for the Partnership.
Welsh language skills
Person specification
Person Specification
The role will require experience of working with various stakeholder groups, facilitation and discovery work and a working knowledge of the Well-being for Future Generations Act, the Marine and Coastal Access Act, Welsh Government Programme for Government, the Welsh National Marine Plan and relevant legislative frameworks.
The Chair should be an advocate and active champion for the marine environment and have an appreciation for its importance to communities. The Chair should have experience of working with Welsh community and stakeholder groups with an interest in this area.
The Chair should have a commitment to, and passion for, tackling the challenges of the climate and nature emergencies, and pursuing and promoting the sustainable management of natural resources with a focus on the marine environment.
To be considered for appointment, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills and experience to meet all the essential criteria below.
Essential Criteria
The appointed Chair must be able to demonstrate that they
Can be an advocate and active champion for the marine environment and have a clear track record of working with Welsh stakeholders and communities in this area.
Have a proven ability to act as an effective chairperson with experience of chairing a senior committee or group that includes a wide range of external stakeholders
Take an inclusive, collaborative leadership approach with a well-developed ability to inspire trust and confidence in a diverse range of stakeholders.
Have knowledge and understanding of the political and public sector landscape in Wales including the Well-Being of Future Generations Act, the Marine and Coastal Access Act, Welsh Government Programme for Government and the Welsh National Marine Plan.
Have a sound knowledge and understanding of community engagement from a marine environment perspective, exemplifying The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act five ways of working.
Are committed to understanding and championing issues of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
Exemplify commitment to The Seven Principles of Public Life (the Nolan Principles), as an ambassador for the Welsh Government.
Interview dates
Closing date
Additional information
How to apply
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.
This vacancy is closed to applications.