Westonbirt Woodland Manager

Job summary

What you’ll do…

The Westonbirt Woodland Management Project strengthens the management of ancient woodland in Silk Wood while creating opportunities for community groups to take part in hands-on woodland management. The project will include activities to support the establishment of recently planted trees, strengthen the resilience of Westonbirt’s coppicing programme and further develop woodland management in line with existing plans and legislation. It will also support community engagement opportunities in practical woodland management, monitor habitat quality and raise awareness of the importance of ancient woodlands. The Westonbirt Woodland Manager will lead these activities with delivery supported by an Engagement Officer to enable access to community groups. The project will build on a strong foundation for woodland management in Silk Wood with scope to expand the project and activities as additional funding becomes available.

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

Where you’ll work…

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS

We have an exciting opportunity for a Woodland Manager to join the team at Westonbirt Arboretum. The arboretum is one of the largest pay-to-enter visitor attractions in the Southwest, welcoming over 550,000 visitors per year. The onsite businesses generate a turnover of more than £14m in which events contributes a large part.

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum is one of the most beautiful and important plant collections in the world. First laid out in the 1800s following Picturesque landscape principles, the collection contains more than 15,000 specimens representing 2,500 taxa from all over the temperate world. The arboretum plays an important role in research and conservation, and the collection currently includes more than 100 species of global conservation concern.

Along with one of the most complete examples of a picturesque landscape, Westonbirt's Silk Wood is designated ancient woodland and areas of managed coppice here are among the finest examples of this practice in the country. Silk Wood is also home to one of Westonbirt’s most significant trees and an internationally important ancient woodland feature.

The Arboretum hosts a wide range of established and well-loved events and we have ambitious plans to expand and diversify the programme in the coming years. The arboretum is headed by Andrew Smith, as director, and has 45 Forestry England staff and 300 volunteers.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

Woodland Management:

• Support establishment of trees planted as part of Silk Wood Community Planting Project
• Ensure successful delivery of Westonbirt’s coppice management plan in alignment with Forestry
• England’s Forest Design Plan
• Ensure management practices are undertaken in compliance with relevant legislation including UKWAS and PEFC
• Manage coppicers and contracts on behalf of Forestry England
• Oversee expansion of the area of active coppice management at Westonbirt
• Liaise with Forest Research colleagues on existing and future research projects in Silk Wood
• Assess and record woodland habitat quality by carrying out regular surveys to monitor biodiversity

Community engagement:

• Engage with Learning and Participation team to enable community involvement in woodland management practices
• Ensure continuity in capability to undertake coppicing at Westonbirt via community engagement
• Develop activity programme for community groups appropriate to woodland operations
• Upskill volunteer workforce in traditional woodland management techniques

Stakeholder engagement:

• Communicate and raise awareness of the importance of ancient woodland management to professionals and the wider public
• Represent the arboretum at meetings and conferences both internally and externally
• Provide expert advice on woodland management extending engagement to professionals internally and externally
• Contribute to publications for a range of audiences
• Work closely with Forestry England and Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum senior leadership teams to deliver project objectives and develop and expand the project scope

Line management and supervisory:

• Line management of project staff as required
• Supervise volunteer groups as required

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

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Strong knowledge and experience of woodland management practices, including coppicing
• Organisational, communication and independent working skills
• Supervisory experience
• Ability to manage own time and workload efficiently, prioritise and meet tight deadlines
• Stakeholder management skills including consultation, advocacy and relationship building with a range of different groups
• Ability to work outdoors in all seasons

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Managing externally funded projects, managing budgets and supporting funding applications
• Experience working within ancient woodland settings
• Understanding and/or experience/interest in working with school groups, volunteers and community groups
• Report writing

Qualifications

Essential

• Relevant degree or diploma (or equivalent) in woodland conservation, arboriculture or another relevant discipline

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• A presentation will be required at interview. Instructions will be given to candidates selected for interview.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

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 your experience, technical skills and behaviours during your interview. Your interview will include a presentation assessment; instructions will be given to candidates selected for interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

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 - Woodland Manager Westonbirt (PB5) Opens in new window (pdf, 169kB)