International Environment Strategy Deputy Director

This is an important and newly configured role, to provide strategic leadership on international environment issues across Defra and Whitehall, with external partners and in key multilateral fora, and ensure a strong coherence and integration with our domestic narrative and strategies.

You must have international experience, and will be leading and deepening strategic engagement with key bilateral partners on nature issues, to then leverage in the G7 and G20 Environment track and United Nations Environment Assembly.

The role will require you to work closely with a range of domestic and international policy teams to develop negotiating positions for these meetings, and to engage international partners to support the Secretary of State’s ambition to demonstrate UK international leadership on nature issues.

Your team will ensure that we have a clear strategy underpinning our international negotiations, a clear set of priorities in our engagement across government and externally, and on behalf of the wider Directorate, will ensure that we have the governance and resources in place to underpin delivery.

You will need to work closely with ministers overseas and deploy your own political capital to build bilateral relationships internally across the UK system and externally.

As a member of the Directorate’s senior leadership team, you will play an active role in promoting and role modelling an inclusive, innovative and supportive culture.

You will also be expected to be a team player on corporate and management activities which will include leading work on Learning and Development across the Directorate. You will also be flexible and agile in response to wider changes in priorities.

• Strategy. You will confidently own and communicate Defra’s overall international environment strategy and support XWH governance and decision making across Whitehall. You will help deliver our strategy and communicate our impact. You will need to maintain networks with a wide range of contacts across HMG and externally. Defra’s international nature and climate work is captured within an integrated HMG climate, nature and energy strategy, and you will oversee Defra’s participation into formal XWH architecture and support the new Special Representative for Nature. You will also lead Defra’s overall strategic approach to the UNFCCC COPs and strategy. You will also work across the Directorate to effectively track progress towards IBC’s three overarching outcomes (habitat and species protection; sustainable agriculture and supply chains; and nature finance mobilisation);
• Group of 7 and Group of 20. The Deputy Director will lead the team to work with others across Defra and Cabinet Office to define the Environment priorities for these negotiations and shape the priorities for G7 and G20 more broadly. You will develop and maintain strong relationships with G7 and G20 negotiators, Cabinet Office Sherpa and cross government SCS, to achieve successful G7 G20 agreements. You will ensure appropriate Ministerial engagement and will support the Secretary of State during the final Ministerial Events (G20 in October and G7 in Autumn). In 2027 and 2028 the UK will have the G7 and G20 Presidencies which will create key strategic opportunities which you will be able to shape.
• Corporate Plans and People : You will be supported by a well-established corporate, people and finance team for the wider Directorate, ensuring that we have the right processes in place to ensure we have the resources to deliver; that we are creating and maintaining an inclusive performance culture across the Directorate; and supporting the Director to ensure that the SLT is providing effective leadership to the Directorate. A key immediate priority will be SR and business planning, bringing together corporate people and planning and internal strategy.
• United Nations Environment Assembly and United Nations Environment Programme. The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) meets every 2 years and provides leadership, catalyses intergovernmental action on the environment, and contributes to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNEA7 will take place in November 2025 and conversations are ongoing about whether UNEA negotiations should be within this Division alongside overseeing the UK’s relationship with UNEP (and our £3m annual contribution) and IUCN.
• The team is currently responsible for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands the main international forum devoted to the conservation and wise use of wetlands. The next Ramsar COP will be in Zimbabwe in 2025, and the team oversees delivery of the first comprehensive inventory of the UK’s wetlands. This team is expected to move following the July COP to another Division.