Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) Project Officer

Job summary

Our vision is that the nation’s forests will provide the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England. We believe in the positive, long-term impact that forests can have on people’s lives, England’s biodiversity, a thriving green economy and our response to the climate emergency. West Forest District is responsible for the sustainable management of over 37,000ha of the nation’s forests and woodlands in the west and south-west of England and extends from the Shropshire Hills south to the majestic oak and beech woods of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire and south-west to Idless Woods near Truro in Cornwall.

The district team extends to some 170 employees, with frontline delivery through our 17 remotely located delivery teams (5 forest centre and 12 forest beats) which are supported by our network of highly valued volunteers and contractors.You will work closely with the planning and operational teams to build a programme of work that will accelerate our PAWS restoration program focusing on the most challenging sites which are unlikely to achieve our policy targets without additional support. The district-wide programme of PAWS restoration will be strategically led by the Nature Recovery Manager to ensure coordinated delivery across all priority nature recovery sites and enabled by our operational delivery teams, including Foresters and Civil Engineers.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Lead delivery of our PAWS restoration programme by establishing a program of works that deliver impact over the 3-year project period focusing on;
• Restoration thinning, to increase the “nativeness” of our PAWS
• Veteran trees and trees of special interest; protection, haloing and survey work.
• Invasive weed species to build a prioritised programme for eradication / long-term control.
• Coppicing, protect cut coppice and get ride network back into a condition where it can be cost effectively maintained going forward.
• Removal of redundant materials, such as old fences and pheasant pens
• Foster a positive team working relationship with colleagues to inspire and engage everyone in the project, deriving knowledge, harnessing expertise and building insight and trust. Be open and realistic as to the challenges inherent in the business, promoting transparency and constructive dialogue.
• Engage with district and national colleagues to enable effective delivery of projects.
• Work proactively with the Forest Planning team to ensure that all regulatory requirements are met ahead of work being undertaken e.g. approval of Felling License’s etc.
• Deliver a positive and inclusive culture, fostering cross-functional collaboration and support.
• Positively collaborate with finance and business support to maintain clarity on approved expenditure plans and monitoring of spending against delivery.
• Undertake realistic project planning and adherence to existing Forestry England systems and processes to manage the project delivery on time and to budget.
• Feed into monitoring and reporting on progress of the Nature Recovery Programme in a timely, transparent and accurate manner.
• And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience planning and managing operational programmes in a land management, forestry, conservation or environmental setting.
• Proven ability to work positively and collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.
• Strong networking, communication and influencing skills.
• Ability and competence in use of IT packages including MS Office and GIS mapping software.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Experience of managing a budget, and a sound understanding of and experience of managing contracts Qualifications

Essential

• Degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) in Forestry or significant equivalent experience in forestry, land management, or the environment.
• Full UK driving license.

Desirable

• Membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) or a commitment to achieve membership.

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

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 and behaviours during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Making effective decisions
• Communicating and Influencing

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.

“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.”

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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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 - Plantation on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) Project Officer Opens in new window (pdf, 175kB)