Estates Administration Officer

Job summary

You will deliver a range of high-quality administrative support services and processing activity to Forestry England’s National Estates Team. This includes working as part of a team to:

• Provide administrative support to the National Estates team; and

• Maintain the effective day-to-day operation of the national office;

at all times ensuring core administrative, financial, and compliance responsibilities are delivered to the required standard.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

Provide administrative support to the Estates Business Support Manager, National Office Manager and other members of the National Estates team applying Forestry England’s software and processes and procedures across the following areas:

A. Compliance & building administration

• Maintain office compliance records and logs (e.g. H&S file, statutory inspection schedules, risk assessments, contractor RAMS receipt) and ensure evidence is filed to audit standards.
• Carry out routine building checks and assist with statutory tasks (e.g. weekly fire alarm tests, first‑aid kit checks, display screen equipment administration, visitor/contractor sign‑in oversight).
• Track remedial actions from inspections; liaise with the Office Manager, Facilities/Estates colleagues and suppliers to close actions promptly.
• Support compliance communications (e.g. noticeboards, SharePoint pages, briefings) and coordinate mandatory training/induction steps for visitors and new starters using the office.

B. Financial processing & contract administration

• Accurately and on time, process purchase orders, goods receipting and invoices, maintain a tidy audit trail and meet month‑end cut‑offs.
• Assist with contract management including logging and prioritising issues, maintaining records and producing basic reports

C. Office operations & Reception & front‑of‑house (cover)

• Act as first‑line support for users when the Office Manager is unavailable; triage requests and keep tasks moving.
• Undertake occasional manual handling tasks associated with room set‑ups or supplies (training provided).
• Provide reliable reception cover for annual leave and other absences: answer calls, greet visitors/contractors, and manage access passes professionally and securely.
• Coordinate meeting rooms (bookings, layouts, tech checks, hospitality orders) to support events and workshops.
• Maintain a welcoming, safe reception area and escalate any security, safeguarding, or H&S concerns immediately.
• Any other duties reasonably required to support a safe, compliant and effective National Office

D. General administration and business support

• Organise meetings, travel and accommodation, prepare agendas, notes and simple action trackers where required.
• Keep document repositories (e.g., SharePoint/Teams) structured, searchable and up to date; uphold information governance and data‑quality standards.
• Support with preparation of documents, presentations, reports, letters etc.
• Any other general administrative duties as may be required by the National Estates team.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager

Location-specific information

Based at the National Office, Bristol, with blended working in line with organisational policy and the needs of the role. Some tasks require on site presence to complete statutory checks and front of house cover.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Strong administrative skills and excellent attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines methodically
• Clear, professional communication skills (written and verbal) with a helpful, customer-focused approach
• Competent IT user across MS Office (Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint) and confident working with databases/spreadsheets for data entry and updates.
• Experience processing financial transactions (e.g., POs, receipting, invoices) and maintaining tidy, auditable records.
• Practical problem solving using standard procedures and sound judgement; knowing when to escalate.
• A conscientious approach to health, safety and compliance, with the discipline to follow set routines and keep evidence organised.
• Ability to handle occasional manual tasks (with training and equipment provided)

Desirable

• Experience in reception or front-of-house environment
• Familiarity with facilities or building management processes
• Experience supporting audits or quality assurance checks

Qualifications

Essential

• A GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent.

Behaviours

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

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 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%

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.

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 –

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

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.

Interviews will be held at our National Office, Bristol on Wednesday 5 August 2026

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.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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 : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
• 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 - Estates Administration Officer Opens in new window (pdf, 223kB)