Assistant Species Recovery Officer - White Tailed Eagle

Job summary

What you’ll do…

Forestry England’s Biodiversity Plan sets out a bold ambition of nature recovery in the Nation’s Forests. Working across five principal focus areas, Forestry England aims to restore resilient biodiversity in the nation’s forests, delivering our vision to ensure that these forests provide the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England.

The White-tailed Eagle project commenced in 2019, and is led in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, looking to re-establish this species on the south coast of England following an absence of 240 years. Our Assistant Species Recovery Officer will use their broad range of skills and ongoing training to directly support the project, working closely with an established team. The work is varied and would suit a person who is self-motivated, well organised and able to demonstrate initiative to undertake tasks in a safe and efficient manner.

The Assistant Species Recovery Officer role will be based in Somerset from our Cockercombe office, working both within Forestry England land and in the wider countryside. The post holder will work across southern England, and their primary task will be monitoring the birds that have already released from the Isle of Wight as well as those that have fledged from nests now established across southern England. The Assistant Species Recovery Officer will be assisting the Project Officer in all areas of their work, from engagement with groups and stakeholders about the project, to potentially being involved in releases in the future (subject to appropriate licencing).

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

Where you’ll work…

The post holder will be initially local to our reporting office in Cockercombe but expected to travel across the south of England to support the project.

Job description

Key work areas

The post holder may be expected to focus on the following key work areas.

• The post holder will help to deliver the reintroduction process including feeding of the birds and monitoring pre and post release with the South Forest District Project Officer on the south coast of England.

• Support the project with field monitoring of white-tailed eagles, under guidance from the Project Officer.

• They will support the Project Officer with information dissemination via a community events, guided walks and talks.

• Liaise with stakeholders to ensure the success of the project.

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

Person specification

Essential professional and technical experience

• A good understanding of raptor ecology.

• Experience or knowledge of monitoring birds in the field.

• Ability to work independently and in a team while maintaining good relationships and knowledge exchange with wider teams.

• Competent in IT including core Microsoft Office applications.

• A good understanding of Health & Safety in the workplace.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Direct experience working in similar species reintroduction projects.

• Experience with stakeholder and community engagement

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualification in ecology or similar discipline and/or experience in conservation and/or land management

• A full driving licence.

Licences

A full driving licence.

Qualifications

Qualification in ecology or similar discipline and/or experience in conservation and/or land management

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

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.

• 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%

Things you need to know

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, Strengths and Experience.

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 behaviours and strength based questions during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and influencing
• Working Together

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.

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.

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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

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.

Attachments

Forestry England Job Description - Assistant Species Recovery Officer - White Tailed Eagle (PB6a) (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 175kB)