Change & Improvement Support Officer

Job summary

Never has there been a more important time for trees and forests to help tackle the climate emergency and provide a much-needed sanctuary for people and wildlife.

We aim to at least treble tree planting rates in England, reflecting England’s contribution to meeting the UK’s overall target of planting 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament. This acceleration in current planting rates in England will contribute to meeting the net-zero by 2050 ambitions, and to government’s wider environmental targets.

If you are passionate about the role of forestry in creating a better future for England, and want to play a key part in that, we want to hear from you.

By joining the Forestry Commission, you will become part of a team of passionate, committed colleagues and be able to build on a wealth of expertise to take this ambitious work forward. You will be able to make your mark by helping the Forestry Commission to transform how we work together and reach new stakeholders.

The Change and Improvement Team leads three core functions that drive organisational success: building leadership and capability, delivering change and improvement, and supporting a culture of engagement, performance and recognition.

Job description

The purpose of this role is to provide high-quality administrative and project support to the Change & Improvement Team, enabling the efficient and effective delivery of team outcomes.

Key work areas:

General responsibilities
These responsibilities apply primarily to the Change & Improvement Team, but from time to time, support for these activities may be required across the Commissioners’ Office to manage peak workloads and ensure contingency.

• Organise meetings and act as secretariat for designated project groups and team-led meetings, including preparing agendas, notes/actions, and follow-up.
• Monitor shared mailboxes and liaise with senior managers, colleagues and external providers.
• Draft, proofread and edit internal communications, reports, and intranet content that follow brand guidelines and align with strategic objectives and audience needs.
• Provide support for in-person and online events, including preparing meeting packs and materials.
• Support the use of digital tools (e.g., MS 365) to improve team efficiency, record-keeping and reporting.
• Build effective working relationships with internal stakeholders, including HR, Communications teams and the wider Commissioners’ Office.
• Provide ad-hoc administrative support to the Commissioners’ Office to ensure resilience and contingency across the office.

Specialist support
These specialist responsibilities reflect the unique remit of the Change & Improvement Team and its leadership development and continuous improvement activities.

• Change & Improvement activities
  • Provide administrative support to the Change & Improvement Team, primarily to leadership development programmes and continuous improvement and change initiatives.
  • Provide project and programme office support for organisational change initiatives under direction, including problem-solving and research tasks, tracking milestones, and preparing progress updates as required.
• Training and leadership development delivery
  • Assist with research, booking and logistics for leadership and behavioural skills training events, including venue/platform setup, trainer liaison, and travel where needed.
  • Issue joining instructions, manage delegate lists, and track attendance and completion, maintaining accurate records.
  • Support invoice processing and record-keeping for training activity, ensuring accuracy and value for money in line with guidance.
  • Assist in the development and upload of online training materials and pages (e.g., intranet/SharePoint) under direction, ensuring content aligns with FC policies and brand guidelines.
  • Collate feedback from training sessions and produce summary reports and basic MI for review by L&D leads and senior managers.
  • Respond to training-related enquiries via shared mailboxes, providing accurate advice under guidance and escalating where appropriate.

Person specification

Essential criteria

• Proven ability to deliver high-quality administrative support across multiple functions.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and meet deadlines.
• Ability to coordinate multiple tasks and work streams.
• Proactive and adaptable, able to respond to changing priorities.
• Attention to detail.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications (Outlook, Word, Excel, MS Teams, MS Forms and Planner).
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Collaborative approach to working within a multifunctional team.
• Level 3 qualification in Administration, or two A-levels (grade C or above), or equivalent experience in a wide range of administrative tasks, including the ability to take detailed notes and actions at meetings.

Desirable criteria

• Experience in planning and organising training, meetings, and events.
• Knowledge of organisational culture and performance, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, wellbeing, or human resources.

Please clearly demonstrate how the above applies to you throughout your application. Failure to do so will mean that your application is automatically sifted out.

Behaviours

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Planning and organising

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.

• A range of family friendly benefits.
• Learning and development tailored to your role. The Forestry Commission 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.
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment.
• A range of wellbeing benefits including discounted Civil Service Healthcare, access to an Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, Bike to Work Scheme, plus many more.
• 25 days annual leave, with 1 additional day for each year's service up to 5 years (pro rata), plus 10.5 bank holidays/privilege days (pro rata).
• Ability to buy or sell 5 days annual leave.
• 3 days volunteering per year (pro rata).

We aim to provide a great place to work, whichever location you work from. Blended working forms part of our flexible and inclusive approach to future ways of working. It is an informal arrangement which gives you the option to work some of the week from home, and some of the week from our Forestry Commission workplaces, subject to role requirements, business needs, and regular review. Informal blended working arrangements will be available as agreed with the line manager.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a personal statement. Further details regarding these requirements are provided in the application form.

1. A CV. Outline your career history and key responsibilities. Please explain any employment gaps within the past two years.
2. A personal statement. In no more than 500 words, please provide details of your relevant experience and explain how you meet the essential criteria as set out in the person specification section.

If a large number of applications are received, an initial sift may be conducted using the personal statement. Successful candidates may then proceed to a full sift or directly to interview.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Sift dates to be confirmed.

Interview Stage:

Interviews will be held on week commencing 20 April. This date is subject to change. We will confirm the final date with the shortlisted candidates.

Candidates invited to interview will be assessed on Behaviours, Experience and Technical Skills. You will be asked to complete a practical exercise as part of the process.

We will assess the following behaviours:

• Managing a quality service: Deliver service objectives with professional excellence, expertise and efficiency, taking account of diverse customer needs.
• Delivering at pace: Plan, organise and manage your own time to deliver timely and quality results with focus and drive.
• Working Together: Proactively contribute to the work of the whole team. Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.

We will conduct interviews at our National Office in Bristol, so please keep this in mind when applying.

Further information:

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Forestry from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website. .

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Where a role has been identified as one which falls under the scope of the Public Sector English Language Requirements, within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English. Applicants will be assessed in the selection process in accordance with the requirements.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable adjustment:

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need support so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via fcerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
• Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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 : Aimee Bennett
• Email : aimee.bennett@forestryengland.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : fcerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.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.