Lyndhurst, South East England, SO43 7NH
Job Summary
What you’ll do…
The successful candidate will join the HLS Team based in the New Forest. As works supervisor you will support the restoration officers to plan and manage the delivery of our landscape-scale habitat restoration programme with funding from the New Forest Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme. The work programmes focus on restoring and enhancing internationally important heathlands, species-rich grasslands, woodlands and wetlands in the New Forest.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
We are Forestry England. We are the country’s largest land manager, caring for the nation’s forests for people, nature and the economy. The foundation of our organisation is our world-class sustainable management of the nation’s forests.
Our South England Forest District team is made up of around 170 people with a diverse range of roles - from foresters and wildlife rangers to civil engineers, and ecologists to marketing professionals. We all contribute towards the management of 46,000 hectares of public forest estate that stretch from Sussex to Dorset, and from Berkshire to the Isle of Wight. Nearly all of our forests are within either a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Much of this forest is of high national importance for nature conservation and wildlife, and of international importance for biodiversity. South England Forest District is therefore responsible for land that includes Special Areas of Conservation (for habitats), Special Protection Areas (for birds) and Ramsar sites (for wetlands). We also provide public access and recreation in our forests, with nearly 50 million visits every year to South England Forest District.
If the post you are applying for is PB5 or above, you will be asked to join the District duty roster, after a suitable period of time.
Job Description
- assist restoration officers in planning work programmes and setting up and managing operational contracts to deliver habitat restoration in the New Forest, such as wetland restoration including bed level raising, drain infill, repairing previous restorations, harvesting, tree felling and rhododendron clearance
- carry out day to day supervision of staff and contractors engaged on habitat restoration works, maintaining high standards of delivery this may include contractors delivering the works above as well as ecological and archaeological specialists
- monitor health and safety practices of contractors and Forestry England staff to ensure high standards of safety
- build and maintain excellent professional relationships and communications with Forestry England staff, contractors, stakeholders and members of the public, to maximise effective delivery of the works
The duties of this post require the applicant to travel to remote locations that are not accessible by public transport. You will therefore need to hold a full current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means. A Forestry England vehicle can be made available for business use only.
And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
- assist restoration officers in planning work programmes and setting up and managing operational contracts to deliver habitat restoration in the New Forest, such as wetland restoration including bed level raising, drain infill, repairing previous restorations, harvesting, tree felling and rhododendron clearance
- carry out day to day supervision of staff and contractors engaged on habitat restoration works, maintaining high standards of delivery this may include contractors delivering the works above as well as ecological and archaeological specialists
- monitor health and safety practices of contractors and Forestry England staff to ensure high standards of safety
- build and maintain excellent professional relationships and communications with Forestry England staff, contractors, stakeholders and members of the public, to maximise effective delivery of the works
The duties of this post require the applicant to travel to remote locations that are not accessible by public transport. You will therefore need to hold a full current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means. A Forestry England vehicle can be made available for business use only.
And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
Person specification
Essential Professional And Technical Experience
- relevant experience in countryside management, conservation especially wetland restoration or forestry
- experience supervising operational contracts and resources
- good understanding of and experience in the application of health and safety in land management or forest operations
- able to work in a team environment that includes working collaboratively with teams from other departments
- competent IT user with experience of MS Office
Desirable Professional And Technical Experience
- have a practical experience of habitat restoration and land management techniques to support the supervision of contractors
- an understanding of habitat restoration techniques and issues
- have a familiarity with the use of GIS mapping systems
- sound understanding and experience in the application of contract management
Qualifications
Desirable
- hold a recognised land management or forestry qualification to at least national diploma level
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
Alongside your salary of £30,105, Forestry Commission contributes £8,721 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, 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 based questions and a technical skill during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Making Effective Decisions
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
- Working Together
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, 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.