Nature for Climate Fund - Head of Budgets and Data

Posting date:	01 December 2025
Salary:	£56,375 to £69,105 per year
Additional salary information:	National £56,375 - £62,830 London £62,000 - £69,105 For details of our pay on appointment policy, please see below under the heading ‘Salary’.
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	15 December 2025
Location:	Birmingham
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	438158/1

Summary

In Defra, we deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly impact on people’s lives. We are responsible for England’s environment, our countryside and rural economy, the food and farming sectors and have lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards.

The Bio-Diversity, Land Use and Investment Directorate (BLI) delivers on the ambition for the environment to be a healthy and a beautiful place to live, work and enjoy. We are a diverse, multi-site team leading the delivery and policy thinking across a wide range of issues. Our teams deal with a huge range of issues affecting this country’s natural environment. Key work areas are focused on Environmental Governance, the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, a new Nature Strategy, Trees and Forestry, Land Use and Environmental Analysis and Evidence. BLI has an inclusive approach to work that recognises the skills, endeavour, needs and wellbeing of all our staff.

The Trees and Forestry Division of the Biodiversity, Land-use and Investment Directorate is looking for a dynamic and committed Head of Budgets and Data with good experience in the environment sphere. You will help deliver big ambitions to ramp up woodland creation and management in England, getting more of the right trees in the right places. We are wrestling with tricky policy issues, including woodland creation balancing land-use trade-offs, and the tensions between short- and long-term priorities.

You will lead the Budget and Data team and support the wider Trees and Forestry policy and delivery work. We have a statutory target to reach, a new green finance mechanism to create and an ambitious Government agenda to support including the creation of new national forests.

The role would suit a candidate who is keen to work on a high-profile area with significant political complexity and interest. The role will give you the chance to work at the heart of delivering a government priority and to use your delivery & analytical skills to directly shape environmental policy and delivery.

The role holder will be responsible for leading the budget for the Nature for Climate Programme, a Government Major Programme delivering a government priority.

You will be part of the Programme Management Office within the wider Trees & Forestry team. This is a multi-disciplinary team, and you will need to work closely with project, policy, finance, analytical and commercial professionals.

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