Wildlife Ranger

Dunchideock, South West England, EX6 7XR : Parkend, South West England, GL15 4HH : Badger Street, South West England, TA3 5BN : Plainsfield, South West England, TA5 1HJ

Job Summary

What you’ll do…

You will work as part of the district's wildlife management team, protecting forests and supporting conservation priorities, including mammal management. You will be a champion for our health and safety culture by demonstrating our value of ‘look out and look after’.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

West Forest District is responsible for the sustainable management of over 37,000ha of the nation’s forests and woodlands in the West and South West of England.

The district team extends to some 170 employees, with frontline delivery through our 17 remotely located delivery teams (5 forest centre and 12 forest beats) which are supported by our network of highly valued volunteers and contractors.

We have 5 positions available at the following locations:

• Exmoor &Quantocks –Somerset Beat Office, Cockercombe, Nr Taunton, TA5 1HJ.
• South Devon & Dartmoor–Bullers Hill Office, Bullers Hill, Kennford, Exeter EX6 7XR
• East Devon–Neroche Forest Office, Staple Fitzpaine, Nr Taunton TA3 5BN
• Herefordshire– Castlemain Depot, Parkend, Nr Lydney GL15 4HH
• Forest of Dean- Castlemain Depot, Parkend, Nr Lydney GL15 4HH
  
  

Please stipulate your preferred location(s) as part of your application

Hours of work: The position is a full-time post to work 44 hours per week. Due to the nature of the Wildlife Ranger role the hours are worked flexibly according to the season.

Travel: The postholder will be expected to travel to remotely located woods & forests to undertake the role of Wildlife Ranger. A bespoke Forestry England vehicle will be provided for work purposes; therefore a current driving licence is essential requirement of the role.

The postholder will be part of the Wildlife team led by one of two Wildlife Managers

Job Description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Promote a positive and inclusive culture, and actively promote collaboration and support across the district and with stakeholders.
• Champion our health & safety culture, using Forestry England’s systems and protocols.
• Achieve a personal, variable cull of deer and other mammals to protect our forest crop and biodiversity led by District management plans and wider organisational objectives.
• Make sure the deer larder, deer carcasses and paperwork meet Forestry England standards, game dealer specification and the requirements of the British Quality Wild Venison scheme (BQWV).
• Contribute to district conservation projects and schemes.
• Build and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders.
• Liaise regularly with district colleagues and help with beat planning, monitoring and delivery including restocking plans, species choice, tree protection and infrastructure requirements.
• Do ecological and pre-operation site surveys, advising colleagues of protected species and features of ecological interest.
• Liaise with sporting tenants and sporting rights holders.
• Support district colleagues engaging with woodland users and promote positive behaviour for protecting forest habitats and infrastructure.
• Produce hazard and constraints maps and risk assessments for deer management.
• Maintain and be responsible for all equipment issued to you by Forestry England.
• Supervise wildlife management and conservation contracts to Forestry England’s policy, procedure and guidance (PGs), deer management-related policies and industry best practice.
  
  

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Promote a positive and inclusive culture, and actively promote collaboration and support across the district and with stakeholders.

Champion our health & safety culture, using Forestry England’s systems and protocols.

Achieve a personal, variable cull of deer and other mammals to protect our forest crop and biodiversity led by District management plans and wider organisational objectives.

Make sure the deer larder, deer carcasses and paperwork meet Forestry England standards, game dealer specification and the requirements of the British Quality Wild Venison scheme (BQWV).

Contribute to district conservation projects and schemes.

Build and maintain productive relationships with stakeholders.

Liaise regularly with district colleagues and help with beat planning, monitoring and delivery including restocking plans, species choice, tree protection and infrastructure requirements.

Do ecological and pre-operation site surveys, advising colleagues of protected species and features of ecological interest.

Liaise with sporting tenants and sporting rights holders.

Support district colleagues engaging with woodland users and promote positive behaviour for protecting forest habitats and infrastructure.

Produce hazard and constraints maps and risk assessments for deer management.

Maintain and be responsible for all equipment issued to you by Forestry England.

Supervise wildlife management and conservation contracts to Forestry England’s policy, procedure and guidance (PGs), deer management-related policies and industry best practice.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience in wildlife (deer) management and wildlife conservation.
• Experience in land management and conservation.
• Good understanding of woodland management and woodland ecology.
• Experience of using effective communication skills to convey messages to a variety of audiences.

Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.

Be able to manage a deer dog to Forestry England’s standard.

Desirable Professional And Technical Experience

• Experience of building management.
  
  

Qualifications

Essential

• DMQ deer stalker’s certificates levels 1 and 2 including ‘trained hunter’ status and/or industry equivalent qualification.
• Current police firearms certificate.
• Full UK driving license.
  
  

Desirable

• Qualification in wildlife or conservation land management such as a BTEC National Diploma.
• European protected species (EPS) handling licences.
• Driving license category B E or be willing to obtain this during your probation.
• Appropriately trained in the safe use of Sit-Astride ATVs (Quad Bikes) or be willing to obtain this within the probationary period.
• Forestry First Aid F+.
  
  

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
  
  

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Candidates will be asked to undertake a skills test as part of the interview process. A rifle can be provided if required.
  
  

Alongside your salary of £34,793, Forestry Commission contributes £10,079 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
  
  

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.

How To Apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

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.

At interview you will be assessed on your experience and technical knowledge along with behavioural questions, please see below.

Candidates will be asked to undertake a skills test as part of the interview process an rifle can be provided if required.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are – 

• Making effective decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working together
• Managing a quality service
  
  

“If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.”

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 and Technical skills.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) 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.