About the job

Job summary

Forestry Commission - Forest Services - which the Technical Support Officer (Administrator) will be part of, are the government's forestry experts facilitating delivery of government policy to protect, improve and expand England's woods and forests. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England’s valuable woodland assets. We encourage good practice through professional advice, partnerships, advocacy and grants while discouraging damaging or inappropriate forestry practice through regulations and standards.

Job description

Our work involves engagement with an enormous range of people and organisations, from small landowners and wood business through to large corporations and other public bodies. We are seeking a dynamic individual who learns quickly to provide technical support to our team of Woodland Officers, Woodland Creation Officers and Field Managers.

Responsibilities - 

Casework facilitation - provide technical support to South East and London Field Team to help optimise the deployment of field team skills and knowledge.

• Prepare electronic case files from multiple platforms, including SharePoint, allocating cases, and providing further administrative support during processing
• Update national and local ‘trackers’. Owning and maintaining a rolling progress report using Power BI and Excel to create local reports and dashboards to provide management information on all casework for managers.
• Prepare electronic Forestry Commission case files on local network and supporting Field Managers in uploading approved case files.
• Download applications for various schemes, conduct checks & prepare template & supporting documentation for Field Team.
• Support wider team members with ad-hoc requests including reporting, data interrogation and technical and system advice.

Triaging enquiries from the South East and London TSO email inbox (and other sources) answering or forwarding to relevant team members if required.

Provide admin support including dealing with, and responding to, queries from the public, applicants, external organisations and other public bodies.

Support field team with updates to National regulations and process changes

While most of the work is administrative the post offers an opportunity to learn how trees, woods and forestry deliver a range of environmental, social and economic benefits and how Government supports this.

Person specification

Essential:

• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills demonstrating the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with internal colleagues and our customers.
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal.
• Good computer skills and competent and confident user of MS Office, especially Excel
• Willingness to learn new systems and develop IT skills particularly around reporting.
• Experience of delivering quality services to a diverse customer base.
• Demonstrate previous examples of delivering work in a specific timeframe
• Ability to pick up work quickly, prioritise and manage a varied workload.
• Experience as working as part of a team.

Desirable:

• Understanding of forestry and woodland management.
• Evidence of maintaining Continuous Professional Development.
• Experience of using Power BI

Qualifications:

A minimum of 5 GCSEs/Standard Grades or equivalent (A-C Passes) including Maths and English/English Language is required and/or significant experience working in an administrative post.

Please clearly demonstrate how the above applies to you throughout your application. Failure to do so will mean that your application is automatically sifted out.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £23,098, Forestry Commission contributes £6,260 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.

This is a Temporary Appointment until 31/03/2025 with the possibility of extension or permanency but no guarantee.

As part of the application process, you will complete the following:

1. A tailored 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. The CV will be split into 3 parts and request: Job History, Previous Skills/Experience, Full Qualification Details.

2. A personal statement – in no more than 500 words showing how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the Person Specification.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Interview

At interview candidates will be assessed on Behaviours, Experience and Strengths. Candidate will also be asked to undertake a practical computer-based assessment.

Applications will be sifted on the 14th February 2024.
Interviews will be held on the 21st  February 2024.

Please note the above dates are subject to change.

The interviews will be held in person at the Bucks Horn Oak Forest Office so please keep this in mind when applying for the role.

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 Commission 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.

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

This role is full-time. 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 

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.

The Forestry Commission is actively working to reduce the carbon emission of official travel and applicants should be aware of the broad principles which are being applied to reduce carbon emissions to less than 50gCO2/km. Travel options include:

Use of private car: some Officers chose to use their private car and receive payment for the miles they drive on official business. To register your car from 1 April 2022 it must emit less than 115gCO2/km if you wish to use it for official travel and claim mileage. These emission level requirements will reduce to 100gCO2 by 26/27, 80gCO2 by 27/87,  60gCO2by 28/29, 50gCO2by 29/30. At the point where a car already  registered reaches the CO2 limit, it can be driven for 2 more years for business mileage. 

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.

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return. 

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.