Recreation Craftsperson - Forest of Dean

Job Introduction

We are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Recreation Craftsperson (Forest of Dean)

Salary- £26,959 per annum

Contract type – Permanent

Hours – Full time (37 hours per week, including regular weekends)

Vacancy closes - 31st July 2026, 23:58

Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.

Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.

What you’ll do…

The Recreation Craftsperson role provides vital support to the wider recreation team across the Forest of Dean being responsible primarily for keeping visitor sites and carparks clean, tidy and well maintained. This will involve collection and disposal of rubbish from bins on a daily basis, litter picking and general maintenance tasks. The other core duty for the Craftsperson team is the unlocking of site gates and barriers each morning, on a varying schedule through the year.

Working as part of a seven-day rota to include alternate weekends, regular public holidays and occasional out-of-hours events, the post holder will support the recreation team to ensure visitors receive a high-quality experience and that the facilities remain fit for purpose and safe.

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

Where you’ll work…

Based at Beechenhurst, GL16 7EL - working across the Forest of Dean.

Benefits…

Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England 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.

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

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 also be assessed on a technical skill during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

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

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.

Nationality requirements…

Read more about nationality requirements here.

Working for the Civil Service…

Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.

Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.

Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.