Land Consultant

Landowner Engagement Officer

Job Type: Contract - Fixed Term (three year fixed term contract , with possible extension or permanency)

Remote Work Option: Hybrid

Category: Stakeholder Contract Management

Location: Belfast, (nr Castlereagh & Crossnacreevy) County Antrim, United Kingdom

This is a hybrid-working role with a blend of time in our Belfast Office and off-site at project locations across Northern Ireland.

Who are our client: They are Northern Ireland’s Transmission System Operator . They are the people behind Northern Ireland’s electricity grid. They make sure that every home, business, school, hospital, factory and farm has power - when and where they need it.

And that’s just the beginning of their story. They have a critical mission. That mission is to transform the energy system to enable our society to reduce our carbon emissions and meet our climate change and net zero ambitions.

Their focus is on safety, security and reliability. Our work environment is challenging, fast-moving, collaborative and team orientated. Their culture is driven by continual development, knowledge and teamwork.

Their people are committed to reducing Northern Ireland’s reliance on fossil fuels and making decarbonisation a reality – while providing a safe and reliable electricity supply in a way that secures the future.

The Landowner Engagement Team

The Landowner Engagement Team is part of the Communications & Engagement function. We are responsible for the voice of the business and for building and maintaining trusted relationships with key stakeholder groups. One of their most challenging and rewarding functions is delivering meaningful engagement with communities and landowners in relation to Transmission Grid Investment projects.

They are growing our team and have an exciting opportunity for a collaborative and motivated individual who understands the needs of l andowners and a gricultural, urban, and residential communities to join the team.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Head of Communications and Engagement , the successful candidate will be a core part of our landowner engagement team, developing and nurturing relationships with landowners and the Agricultural, Urban , and Residential communities. Primarily a supporting role, this will include land rights processes and valuations, obtaining easements and wayleaves for projects, agency management and importantly, providing landowners access to a visible, trusted SONI representative during all phases of the grid project lifecycle, from initiation through to planning and onto handover to our colleagues at NIE Networks for the construction phase. Collaborative working with NIE Networks’ project team will be essential.

You will be responsible for:

Supporting the Senior Landowner Engagement Lead and Wayleave Officer.

Land referencing ; including finding owners and occupiers of land.

Securing land rights such as easements and wayleaves for high profile transmission infrastructure projects across Northern Ireland.

Organising and attending site visits; meeting with project stakeholders to record and update land ownership data.

Organising and attending site visit meetings with landowners, their agents, legal teams and other stakeholders and provide meeting records to upload to our landowner and stakeholder communication database.

Regular communication with landowners and their agents to manage and build positive working relationships for the successful delivery of projects.

Agreeing and documenting access with landowners for non-intrusive and intrusive surveys.

Negotiating land related agreements such as Option Agreements.

Providing expertise and support on Agricultural and Land Management to facilitate access, way leaving and possession of land.

Utilising statutory powers and other available mechanisms to acquire land (Necessary Wayleave or Vesting Order) to assist with the maintenance of existing electricity infrastructure and installation of new electricity infrastructure when consensual agreement cannot be obtained.

Working collaboratively within the Landowner Engagement Team and offering advice/support with engineering, environmental, and planning teams when required.

Understanding and implementing the Landowner Engagement Strategy for each specific project

Ensure and maintain quality assurance on all documentation relating to project specific information to lands rights which is being issued to landowners.

Supporting the wider team with community engagement and pre-application community consultation programmes.

Undertaking key administrative and data management functions to support the wider landowner engagement team.

Increase knowledge and understanding of Northern Ireland and UK Land Management legislation to provide landowner, and agricultural best-practice advice to project staff, planners, legal advisors and consultants.

Utilising and operation of GIS software such as ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro to assist with project data capture and digitation.

About You - Skills and Experience

Essential. You will have: 1 year+ experience in a similar role with proven ability in negotiation and compensation.

Good knowledge of agriculture a nd rural affairs , including an understanding of Land and Property Rights Management, wayleaves and easement processes and associated legislation.

Strong communication and organisational skills.

Self-motivated and organised.

Good Map Reading and Cartographic skills.

Advanced Microsoft Excel skills to accumulate statistics and clean data.

Full clean drivers’ license and comfortable visiting sites.

Most importantly, you will need to be able to work collaboratively with colleagues, and external stakeholders.

Desirable

A relevant degree or 3 years+ experience in Agriculture, Property Management, Land Valuation or Surveying.

Knowledge and experience using mapping software such as ArcGIS , ArcGIS Pro or Google Earth.

Specific experience in Landowner Engagement in the energy sector .

Strong landowner and public engagement skills

Please note that in addition to this position, offers of a similar role may be made from a candidate Reserve List held for a period of twelve months.

What You Will Get

This is an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of a critical component of the energy infrastructure.

The rewards package includes a competitive salary commensurate with experience, eligibility for an annual performance related payment, private medical provision, competitive pension with employer matching arrangements, a variety of salary sacrifice schemes (e.g. pension and cycle to work) together with hybrid working arrangements (3 days office: 2 days working at home), competitive holidays and complimentary car parking with electric charging point on site.

If you are a passionate, organised landowner engagement professional seeking an impactful role within the electricity sector, we invite you to apply. Join us in shaping the future of their organisation and the wider industry.

They have a duty to prevent illegal working and applicants must demonstrate they have a legal right to work in the UK. They do not provide sponsorship for this vacancy.