Silviculturist

Job summary

Part of the Forestry Commission family, Forest Research is a world leader in applied forest science, providing evidence and practical solutions to policy makers, forestry professionals, land managers and anyone with green space, across Great Britain. With climate and biodiversity in crisis, and an increasing number of pests and diseases, our research is more vital than ever before. We advise on how woodlands can help combat climate change. We’re identifying tree species that will thrive in the future and seeking ways to safeguard those species at risk. Our research supports UK timber production because fewer imports reduce carbon emissions. We provide robust data on forests in Scotland, Wales and England, and provide evidence of the societal benefits of woodland. We do all this utilising the latest technology while working collaboratively with academia, partners and industry, nationally and internationally.

The post is based in the Silviculture, Wood Properties and Genetics Science Group of Forest Research. The main aims of the team are to improve the scientific understanding of:

• Silvicultural practice with the objective of increasing the resilience of forests to climate change and biotic threats
• The effects of silvicultural and environmental factors on wood properties, with the objective of enhancing the value of timber
• Undertake research to increase the quality of commercially grown species and to ensure that stock of the most appropriate genetic origin is used in forest establishment.

We achieve our aims using a range of scientific methods including field experiments, surveys, modelling, laboratory studies and literature reviews. The team has a strong track record of producing respected practical guidance on the management of forests and how to improve wood quality, supporting this with evidence published in peer-reviewed scientific papers. There are 22 people in the team based at Alice Holt Lodge on the Surrey / Hampshire border and the Northern Research Station in Midlothian.

Please note that this post requires periods of frequent travel throughout Britain including overnight and sometimes multi-night stays away from home, so flexibility is essential.

Job description

The purpose of the job is to help deliver a four-year Defra funded project titled ‘Multi-Criteria Assessment for Tree Species Prioritisation’. The key aim is to produce a shortlist of priority tree species for future planting in England. This will involve identifying knowledge gaps in our understanding of the species’ silvicultural and ecological impacts and gathering evidence from field trials and published literature to address these gaps. The results will feed into an updated Forest Research Tree Species Database, that will help provide foresters and land managers with the information needed to grow these novel species more successfully. This will involve collaborating with teams across Forest Research.
The role will also involve general support across the Silvicultural team working with project leaders to deliver the wider objectives of the Science Group.

Key Work Areas:

Researching:
Assisting with identifying sites to assess for species performance. This will involve reviewing data held within the Silviculture Experiment Database, compartment databases for the public forest estate and accessible private estate records. Reporting back in an agreed format, and consulting with colleagues to produce a shortlist of sites to visit within an agreed budget and timeline.

Organising and assessing the shortlist of sites using an agreed assessment protocol. The postholder will have to travel to visit sites located throughout Britain, and this will require frequent overnight and multi-night stays away from home, so flexibility is essential. Liaising with landowners for access will be essential, as will taking responsibility for personal health and safety following FR procedures including the Forest Research PeopleSafe lone working system.

Data collection, management and collation:
Undertaking fieldwork, reviewing shortlisted trials and planted woodlands. Surveying various stand parameters, health, natural regeneration etc and recording accurately for later analysis. Checking and collating data in an agreed format. When required, liaising with statisticians to ensure appropriate analysis is carried out. Sourcing and reviewing other data from outside Forest Research that may add value. Collaborating with colleagues to review and summarise any data. Working with the project lead using summarised results to update the Forest Research tree species database.

Communicating:
Contributing to any written publications resulting from the project and if required, assist with presenting results to a wider audience.

Supporting:
The work of the Science Group is diverse and offers opportunities for a variety of experiences and the role will include assisting and supporting other teams with delivering projects.

Person specification

The post holder should have strong interpersonal skills to allow them to liaise effectively with team members within FR and any external stakeholders. They will also need to be able to work autonomously and be well organised, to allow them to balance competing demands on their time.

Production of clear, accurate written work to describe field visits, outcomes of meetings and general correspondence will be required. There will be a requirement to contribute to reports and publications, and the opportunity of being involved in joint authorship of external publications.

Essential Criteria:

• A degree in forestry or another plant based biological science or equivalent experience
• A strong interest in, or experience of, forest management or forest ecology
• Experience of involvement with data checking and handling
• Strong interpersonal skills and some experience of working in a team
• Good self-organisation and time management skills
• Willingness to travel regularly throughout Briain (including overnight stays) and confidently access often physically demanding sites in remote locations
• *Due to the remote nature of some of our fieldwork, a full current driving licence which allows you to drive in the UK is required

Desirable Criteria:

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates.

• Experience in collecting field data
• Experience in writing reports
• Authorship of published reports / scientific papers
• Experience of scientific research.
• Membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters or a similar professional body

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £33,854, Forestry Commission - Forest Research 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.

Your career

Excellent professional development opportunities which are tailored to your role, with paid professional membership subscriptions, mentoring, and Civil Service Learning available to all, access to world class laboratory facilities, as well as state of the art buildings within forest or science park settings

Your work/life balance

flexible working options such as: up to two days flexi leave per month, blended working, part-time working, paid special leave, career breaks, and unpaid leave. Parents and carers will be supported to enable you to manage work and family responsibilities
A generous annual leave allowance of 25 days on entry increasing by 1 day each year to a maximum of 30 days (pro-rata for part-timers). Plus 2.5 days of additional leave and 8 days’ paid bank/public holidays

Your wellbeing

A culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment
A range of wellbeing benefits including Employee Assistance Programme 24/7
We want you to feel part of something bigger and we encourage a community feel in our workplaces, with everything from cookery competitions to Pilates and fell running, plus topical talks at Wellbeing Wednesdays and Feelgood Fridays
Paid volunteering leave of 3 days per year so you can give back to your community and charitable causes by sharing your skills and time

Your benefits

a highly competitive Civil Service Pension of 28.97% of your salary
an employee benefits scheme offering discounts on groceries, gym memberships, holidays, days out, online retailers and high street shops
Cycle to Work scheme and Interest free loans
Free parking is offered on-site, alongside electric car charging ports
With maternity, adoption, and/or shared parental leave there’s the flexibility to have up to 26 weeks full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid leave. Paternity leave of up to two weeks is available with full pay.

Any move to Forest Research 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. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

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.

Please apply at Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK. You will be asked to:

• Complete a CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years
• Submit a Personal Statement – (limited to 500 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria as outlined in the person specification
• Provide a 250 word statement for the following Behaviours: Working Together, Delivering at Pace and Making Effective Decisions.

We will use this information to assess your application against the essential criteria in the person specification.

Shortlist

The panel will select a shortlist of candidates whose applications best demonstrate suitability for the role, by considering the evidence provided against the Essential Criteria set out in the Person Specification. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Sift is planned to take place on 29th June 2026

Interviews will take place in person at Alice Holt Research Station on 8th July 2026

If we receive a large volume of applications, then we will sift on CV (Experience) and the Lead Behaviour, Working Together. However, candidates will be expected to answer questions on the following behaviours at the interview stage, Working Together, Delivering at Pace and Making Effective Decisions.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Forest Research which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

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.

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 interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Visa Sponsorship

FR holds a licence to sponsor Skilled Workers under the Home Office points-based immigration system. Candidates wishing to apply should note that the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship would depend on an assessment of this role against defined criteria, which include:

o Whether the Job role has been identified as being a Critical Role in FR, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan, and / or
o Whether the Job role is a known Capability gap, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan for the relevant Centre, and
o Evidence of significant recruitment challenges in filling the Job role previously

Skilled Worker sponsorship may be available, subject to an application and assessment process and the Home Office points-based system.

For further details, please refer to the Sponsorship for Skilled Workers – guidance for applicants and managers on our 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 : hr.services@forestresearch.gov.uk
• Email : hr.services@forestresearch.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.services@forestresearch.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 FR HR Services by email: hr.services@forestresearch.gov.uk you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.