Capel St Andrew, East of England, IP12 3NF
Job Summary
What you’ll do…
You will manage a specific beat and team in one of our Forestry England districts. You will be responsible for forestry operations meeting industry best practices and health and safety regulations. Implement work programmes meeting the district’s strategic plan for the economy, society, and the environmental collaborating with other beat teams.
This is a full-time operational role, with line management responsibilities for a works supervisor and two craftsmen and will need to work as a team with the wildlife and recreation staff members based at the Tangham operations hub. The hub will be supported by an administration or business support officer.
The role is demanding and is required to fulfil a substantial harvesting, restocking and maintenance programme. Whilst the major woodlands in the Sandlings beat are in close reach of the Tangham operations hub, the travel time to the further woodlands in the Lavenham beat can take up to two hours. The operations hub is based one and a half hours drive from the District office at Santon Downham.
The Sandlings Beat (3026ha) is located in East Suffolk, and is dominated by Rendlesham, Tunstall and Dunwich Forests. These are productive woodlands, dominated by conifer stands, with almost the entirety of Rendlesham and Tunstall designated SSSI (SPA) for their support of Woodlark and Nightjar populations. The management of open space and connectivity are an important part of their structure. Dunwich forest is not designated, however much of the land surrounding is, and open ground created is managed through agreement with the RSPB for ground nesting species and heathland restoration.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
You will be based in the East of England, working out of the Tangham operations hub in Rendlesham Forest, The Sandlings Beat (3026ha) is located in East Suffolk, and the Lavenham Beat (790ha) is set across Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire.
You will be required to travel periodically for training and events across the District, and other areas of England. Periodic overnight stays will be required.
Job Description
- manage a team and volunteers meeting Forestry England’s organisational values and behaviours.
- champion improvements in Forestry England’s health & safety culture.
- deliver a positive and inclusive culture, fostering cross-functional collaboration and support.
- promote learning and development opportunities amongst the team.
- maintain professional and productive relationships with stakeholders across several beats and work collaboratively with colleagues across the wider district.
- create, manage, and execute operations in the beat in line with the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS), UK Forestry Standard (UKFS).
- manage operations in a specific beat, including tree harvesting, regeneration and conservation programmes, outdoor recreation, and public engagement provision, collaborating with district foresters and specialist district leads.
- plan, procure, and manage contracts to effectively meet forest management and timber harvesting objectives, whilst meeting all relevant guidelines and legislation.
- engage proactively and respond constructively to existing and prospective customers and show the highest standards of professionalism when representing Forestry England in the marketplace.
- manage aspects of wildlife, woodland, and heritage conservation, and have awareness of legal and financial implications.
- make sure work you are responsible for complies with health and safety guidance, and communicate the importance of working safely, to manage risks across operations for staff, contractors, customers, and the environment.
- liaise with the local mechanical engineering services team on vehicles, machinery and equipment.
- help maintain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation.
- be responsible for the beat’s budget.
- efficiently manage resources so beat projects, programmes, and business as usual operations are delivered effectively and efficiently.
- prepare the annual beat business plan. M monitor, reforecast and report on budgets and key performance indicators throughout the year.
- This post will require occasional out-of-hours and weekend working including for emergency call outs, council meetings, etc. And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
- manage a team and volunteers meeting Forestry England’s organisational values and behaviours.
- champion improvements in Forestry England’s health & safety culture.
- deliver a positive and inclusive culture, fostering cross-functional collaboration and support.
- promote learning and development opportunities amongst the team.
- maintain professional and productive relationships with stakeholders across several beats and work collaboratively with colleagues across the wider district.
- create, manage, and execute operations in the beat in line with the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS), UK Forestry Standard (UKFS).
- manage operations in a specific beat, including tree harvesting, regeneration and conservation programmes, outdoor recreation, and public engagement provision, collaborating with district foresters and specialist district leads.
- plan, procure, and manage contracts to effectively meet forest management and timber harvesting objectives, whilst meeting all relevant guidelines and legislation.
- engage proactively and respond constructively to existing and prospective customers and show the highest standards of professionalism when representing Forestry England in the marketplace.
- manage aspects of wildlife, woodland, and heritage conservation, and have awareness of legal and financial implications.
- make sure work you are responsible for complies with health and safety guidance, and communicate the importance of working safely, to manage risks across operations for staff, contractors, customers, and the environment.
- liaise with the local mechanical engineering services team on vehicles, machinery and equipment.
- help maintain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation.
- be responsible for the beat’s budget.
- efficiently manage resources so beat projects, programmes, and business as usual operations are delivered effectively and efficiently.
- prepare the annual beat business plan. M monitor, reforecast and report on budgets and key performance indicators throughout the year.
- This post will require occasional out-of-hours and weekend working including for emergency call outs, council meetings, etc. And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
Person specification
Essential Professional And Technical Experience
- experience of managing a team, as well as demonstrating successful team working.
- experience of planning and supervising forestry operations, and ability to demonstrate a significant understanding of health and safety in forestry.
- experience of managing a budget, and a sound understanding of and experience of managing contracts.
- competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
Desirable Professional And Technical Experience
- experience of using (forestry) Geographic Information System.
Qualifications
Essential
- degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) in Forestry or significant equivalent experience in forestry or land management.
Desirable
- membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) or a commitment to achieve membership
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Alongside your salary of £37,537, Forestry Commission contributes £10,874 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Benefits…
Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
- 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
- STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
- free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
- a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
How To Apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on experience, a technical skill and strength based questions during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact
- Name : FC Recruitment Team
- Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Further information
Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.
