Wildlife Ranger

Job summary

What you’ll do…

You will work as part of the East District's Wildlife Ranger team, to deliver forest protection and habitat conservation objectives.

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

Where you’ll work…

East District are seeking two new Wildlife Rangers.

One post will cover Kent and Sussex. (Please see attached map).

One post will cover in the Chilterns Beat. (Please see attached map).

The successful applicant for the Kent and Sussex post will be based within sensible travelling distance of our Abbots Wood deer larder near Hailsham. BN26 6SL

The successful applicant for the Chilterns post will be based within sensible travelling distance of our Wendover deer larder and office. HP22 5NF

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Control and management of deer and other mammals to protect forest crop, regeneration, and biodiversity in line with district management plans.
• Delivery of carcasses to the highest standard in line with BQWVS
• Participate in and manage beat and wider district conservation projects and schemes.
• To build and maintain relationships with FC and external contacts, where this benefits collaborative wildlife management and the functioning of the district.
• Undertake regular liaison with forest district staff and assist with beat planning, monitoring and delivery.
• Undertake ecological and pre forest operation site surveys and advise district colleagues of protected species.
• Liaise and work closely with sporting rights holders and tenants.
• Advise and support Forest District staff in restock design, appropriate protection methods (including deer fencing) and tree species choice to aid reduction of deer damage.
• Support district colleagues to engage woodland users and promote positive behaviour for the protection of forest habitat and infrastructure.
• And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience of using effective communication skills to convey messages to a variety of audiences in a variety of settings
• Competent user of IT including Microsoft Office applications.
• Able to source and train a suitable dog to assist in deer management. The dog will be required to pass a skills test consisting of basic field obedience and have the ability to track wounded deer.
• Full UK Driving Licence.
• Experience of wildlife management in areas of high public access
• Experience of managing fallow, muntjac and Chinese Water deer
• Experience of effective time management focussing on efficient delivery while maintaining
  personal welfare

Desirable professional and technical experience

• A good understanding of woodland management and woodland ecology.
• Experience in wildlife conservation.
• Delivery of large scale trapping programmes
• Training delivery to a wide range of audiences.
• Building Management. Experience
• Experience of leading large scale collaborative and team culling events

Qualifications

Essential

• DMQ Deer Stalkers Certificates Levels 1 and 2 or relevant industry equivalent
• A current Police firearms certificate.
• A qualification in wildlife or conservation land management such as a BTEC National Diploma, or significant experience in a wildlife or conservation land management role.
• Full UK Driving Licence

Desirable

• ATV certification

Licences

Full UK Driving Licence
A current Police firearms certificate

Qualifications

DMQ Deer Stalkers Certificates Levels 1 and 2 or relevant industry equivalent

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

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

• Firearms handling and safety - candidates will be asked to complete a skills test as part of the interview process.
• Deer management and wildlife knowledge - candidates will be asked to complete a skills test as part of the interview process.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £34,793, Forestry Commission contributes £10,079 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 a technical skill, experience and behaviour-based questions during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
• Managing a quality service

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

Firearms handling and safety - candidates will be asked to complete a skills test as part of the interview process.

Deer management and wildlife knowledge - candidates will be asked to complete a skills test as part of the interview process.

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.

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.

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 - Wildlife Ranger (PB6A Ops) Opens in new window (pdf, 113kB)