About the job

Job summary

East District – Thetford East Beat Forester

Do you have the experience and enthusiasm to help shape the future of England’s largest lowland pine forest?

Job description

Forestry England East District is seeking a motivated forester to join our Land Management team as Thetford East Beat Forester, leading one of four small Beat teams in Thetford forest to deliver large-scale silvicultural and estate maintenance programmes in a complex forest environment.   

The successful applicant will play a key role in evolving forest management practices to diversify timber species and sustain production in the future climate, whilst maintaining SSSI/SPA habitat for rare Breckland fauna and flora and providing countryside access for an increasing number of visitors.

About Us

East Forest District, covers an area of 35,000 ha from North Norfolk to Brighton; including Thetford Forest and the outlying beats of Sandlings, Kent, East Sussex, Chilterns and Thames Chase Community Forest. The District has a varied landholding including the largest lowland pine forest in England at Thetford, community woodland on the outskirts of London at Thames Chase, and a range of mixed woodland, many of which are on sites of Ancient Woodland.

There are numerous sites of conservation interest designated across the District, including Special Protection Areas to conserve the breeding habitat for the Woodlark and Nightjar, Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Specific Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland, County Wildlife Sites and Scheduled Monuments.

The District offers outdoor recreation, leisure and wellbeing activities for hundreds of thousands of people each year at its recreation centres. Forestry England’s freehold estate is dedicated for open public access on foot, with numerous small carparks and informal access points.

East Forest District produces around 125,000m3 of timber each year (generating a £7million income) and has an annual planting programme of around 1million trees. 

Job Summary

Within their geographic beat, a Beat Forester represents Forestry England and ensures that the nation’s forests demonstrate exemplar standards in the sector.

Through close collaborative working with colleagues across the organisation, Beat Foresters identify local priority actions that meet our commitments to nature, society, and the economy.  They draw these into a Beat Delivery Plan, allocating staff time and budgets to achieve work programmes effectively and efficiently, and monitoring progress and outcomes. 

In addition to managing planned work, Beat Foresters frequently need to react to unexpected or unusual situations that arise; organising a response that complies with our procedures and achieves the best outcome, for example liaising with emergency services to prevent and control forest fires, dealing with hazardous trees, or clearing up fly-tipped hazardous waste.

This post is based at the Santon Downham Office near Brandon, Suffolk.  Meetings and training events may take place in other parts of the country. 

The standard working pattern is 44 hours a week 7am Monday to Friday but the operational pay and responsibilities of the role require flexible working to meet the needs of the team and out-of-hours on-call availability at times. 

Person specification

Key Responsibilities

Lead the Beat team

Effective staff and volunteer teams in the Beats are critical in our guardianship of the nation’s forests. The Beat Forester’s role is to:

• line manage a work supervisor and two craftspeople;
• lead their team by example, demonstrating Forestry England’s organisational values and embedding shared goals and mutual understanding;
• follow HR procedures, providing appropriate guidance and support to meet individual needs;
• maintain respectful open and honest communication between team members;
• take responsibility for the team’s performance, ensuring compliance with safety, environmental and financial standards;
• encourage working together to deliver excellent results, cultivating a culture of safe working and high standards of achievement;
• foster continuous improvement, promoting learning and skills development.

Manage Resources

Efficient use of resources is critical to achieving value for money in the nation’s forests.  The Beat Forester’s role is to:

• create a Beat Deliver Plan and Business Plan that are affordable and achievable;
• determine the best value resource to deliver each element of the plan (staff, contract, or volunteers);
• make good use of time and resources, controlling spending through the year, reporting on budgets and performance indicators;
• maintain buildings, tools and equipment provided for the Beat;
• liaise with Thetford colleagues to maximise productivity of the tractor and implement fleet and plan for replacements.

Manage Forest Operations

Correct implementation of estate maintenance, harvesting, restocking, underplanting, conservation, recreation and wildlife management operations is necessary to protect and enhance the nation’s forests. The Beat Forester’s role is to:

• write staff job descriptions, contract specifications and volunteer agreements that set clear standards for the work required;
• draw up site plans that take into consideration social, environmental, and financial constraints and opportunities;
• follow correct procedures for procurement and management of contracts;
• prepare and manage standing and roadside timber sales parcels, and coordinate with the DP Harvesting team to achieve their programme within the beat;
• maintain safety, quality and environmental standards during the operations, communicating the importance of managing risk;
• record and report on work progress and outturns in line with district requirements;
• review future plans in light of outcomes to improve the resilience of the forest

Manage External Relationships

Professional communication with local communities, interest groups, contractors, customers, land managers and other stakeholders is important for Forestry England’s reputation. The Beat Forester’s role is to:

• Inspire confidence in our knowledge of forest management and silviculture;
• behave inscrutably, following the Civil Service Code;
• comply with commercial and financial conduct protocols;
• consult internally and externally in line with District policy;
• communicate Forestry England’s views accurately, seeking policy and practice advice from district functional leads when appropriate;
• maintain productive relationships with members of the public and other stakeholders, engaging courteously and constructively in all forms of communication and addressing issues respectfully but without compromising Forestry England’s interests.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £32,612, Forestry Commission contributes £8,838 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

The successful candidate will be selected by application, followed by an in-person interview board incorporating a site-based practical assessment relevant to the role.

The application comprises:

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
   
   
2. Technical skills statements for specific topics
   
   
3. A Personal Statement (no longer than 1000 words) supplementing the information you provide in the technical skills section to show how your personal skills, qualities and experience demonstrate your ability to undertake the key responsibilities outlined for the role.

Please provide adequate evidence of relevant working knowledge in your CV and Personal Statement and complete each of the technical skills sections so that the panel can score your suitability for the role in each section.  Please refer to the detail in the attached Additional Applicant Information for typical Beat Forester tasks.  Do not omit a section as we will not have enough information to score your application. 

The highest scoring candidates will be asked to attend an interview at the District Office in Santon Downham, IP27 0TJ. 

The interview will include behaviour-based questions, where we will be asking for evidence from your previous roles.  We will also ask questions to see whether your strengths reflect those needed in the role.  There will be a short practical assessment as part of the interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Forestry 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

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Where a role has been identified as one which falls under the scope of the Public Sector English Language Requirements, within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English. Applicants will be assessed in the selection process in accordance with the requirements.

The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving licence that enables them to drive in the UK. However, the Forestry Commission is willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable Adjustment

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. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via fcerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

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.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

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.