Operations Manager

Job summary

What you’ll do…

This role is based within the East England Forest District, which manages more than 35,000 hectares of woodland stretching from Norfolk to Buckinghamshire and across Kent to East Sussex.

Wendover Woods is one of Forestry England’s flagship destinations: a 300‑hectare ancient woodland site set within the stunning Chilterns National Landscape.

Each year, over 400,000 visitors come to Wendover Woods to enjoy its landscape, far‑reaching views and the sense of escape it provides. The site offers miles of dedicated trails, a range of children’s play areas, the popular Wendover Woods Café, Go Ape and a busy calendar of events that draw visitors from across the region.

As Operations Manager, you will be responsible for the safe, compliant and efficient management of visitor facilities and services at Wendover Woods and at our smaller sites across the Chilterns National Landscape. You will lead and manage staff and volunteers, oversee Health and Safety compliance, take ownership of planned and reactive facilities management, manage budgets and contracts, and ensure the effective maintenance and long-term performance of site assets. Working closely with internal and external stakeholders, you will play a key role in driving operational improvements, enhancing the visitor experience, and contributing to the commercial and environmental success of the wider business.

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

Where you’ll work…

Wendover Woods, HP22 5NQ

Job description

You will take a leading role in shaping, managing and continuously improving high-quality visitor facilities at Wendover Woods and across the Chilterns National Landscape. This is an operational leadership position, responsible for delivering safe, compliant and efficient day-to-day operations across a busy, high-profile visitor site.

Leadership and Visitor Experience

• Lead, develop, and manage a committed team of staff and volunteers
• Set clear expectations and drive performance to maintain high standards
• Shape and influence the overall visitor experience
• Ensure every visit is safe, well managed, and memorable
• Deliver operations in line with the expectations of a flagship rural leisure destination

Health and Safety Management

• Act as the lead for Health and Safety across all operations
• Ensure full compliance with statutory requirements and recognised best practice
• Own, maintain, and continuously improve systems and processes
• Embed a proactive and accountable safety culture
• Ensure risks are identified, assessed, and effectively controlled
• Oversee incident management and prevention with confidence
• Provide clear, authoritative guidance to staff and contractors
• Maintain full legal compliance across all activities, facilities, and services

Facilities Management

• ake full responsibility for planned and reactive facilities management
• Ensure all infrastructure and assets are safe, compliant and fit for purpose
• Implement robust inspection regimes and maintenance programmes
• Manage contractors and service providers with clarity and control
• Hold suppliers accountable to defined standards and expectations
• Ensure works are delivered efficiently, safely, and with minimal disruption
• Protect the long-term performance and sustainability of the estate
• Balance operational demands with asset longevity

Commercial and Operational Delivery

• Contribute to the wider business with strong commercial awareness
• Apply operational discipline across all areas of responsibility
• Manage budgets responsibly as a budget holder
• Ensure value for money in all expenditure
• Identify and deliver opportunities to improve financial performance
• Drive efficiencies through improved working practices
• Strengthen service delivery standards
• Support income generation and maintain control of costs

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

Person specification

Skills, Knowledge and Experience:

Essential professional and technical experience

• evidence of managing buildings and facilities.
• managing or supervising staff, volunteers, contracts, and contractors.
• experience of managing health, safety and wellbeing including accident investigation and reporting.
• understanding of budget management.
• competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• understanding of Forestry England recreation management practices.
• knowledge of managing volunteers.
• Knowledge of CDM / Building regulations.
• managing tenants and/or partnership businesses.

Qualifications:

Essential

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

Desirable

• A degree or equivalent in relevant discipline.

Behaviours

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

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,854, Forestry Commission contributes £9,807 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 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 experience during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Leadership
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

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 - Operations Manager (PB5) Opens in new window (pdf, 139kB)