Forest Wilding Officer

To succeed in this role, you will need to be an effective project manager with knowledge and experience of delivering land management for nature recovery. You will be a strong collaborator and communicator, able to work effectively with our diverse teams and partners.

Managed by the Environment and Planning Manager, the Forest Wilding Officer will work closely with Forestry England colleagues across Yorkshire and with our national forest wilding and communications teams to help deliver nature recovery.

You can expect to spend up to one third of your time outdoors, often independently and remotely and you will usually be expected to manage your own time to maximise efficiency and effectiveness.

Main responsibilities

• Leading the development and delivery of innovative landscape-scale nature recovery projects. This will focus initially on Wild Newtondale, but you will also contribute to other landscape and species recovery projects.
• Producing long-term adaptive management plans, programmes of work, and budgets.
• Procuring and managing contracts and contractors, including graziers, forestry contractors, consultants and academic institutions.
• Building and managing successful partner relationships and co-developing long-term visions for projects.
• Embedding a natural capital approach into nature recovery projects.
• Supporting funding bids and following district and national project development procedures.
• Driving meaningful communication and consultation with stakeholders and communities.
• Supporting the integration of nature recovery projects into forest plans.
• Managing and coordinating volunteers for forest wilding projects.
• Working with the District Ecologist and external experts to produce question-led monitoring & evaluation plans, adopting novel methods where appropriate.
• Monitoring and reporting on project performance to funders and senior leadership.
• Supporting the ecology team’s wider work as required. This may include activities such as operational site assessments, contract management and supervision, and protected site management.

 General responsibilities

• Display Forest England’s values & behaviours across all aspects of work.
• Minimise filing backlogs and prioritise workload to meet targets.
• Present a friendly and professional appearance.
• Be familiar with and appropriately adhere to Forestry England policies and procedures.
• Keep Health and Safety matters as the overriding determinant at all times and in all circumstances.
• Undertake any other duties, reasonably requested by the Planning and Environment Manager or Forest Management Director.

The duties of this post require the applicant to sometimes travel to remote locations that are not accessible by public transport. You will therefore need to hold a full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.

Location-specific information

The Yorkshire District covers an area from Hartlepool to Spurn Head, stretching over the North York Moors National Park, to the Yorkshire Dales and Huddersfield in the west. The district is responsible for the sustainable management of a 21,000-hectare estate, and the team currently consists of over 70 employees supported by dedicated volunteers. 

The post will be based at Forestry England’s Pickering office, with regular travel around the district. There will be occasional travel outside of the district, including overnight stays.

Knowledge and experience

Essential

• A track record of successfully developing, managing or coordinating nature recovery projects.
• Broad knowledge and practical experience of a range of nature recovery interventions, including the restoration of natural processes like grazing.
• Good general ecological knowledge.
• Experience of working with a wide range of stakeholder groups, including public sector, private sector, and non-governmental organisations.
• Experience of managing contractors.

Desirable

• Knowledge of species reintroduction good practices.
• Reasonable knowledge of environmental legislation and designations, including their practical application.
• An understanding of natural capital.
• Experience of working with volunteers.

Skills

Essential

• A skilled project manager, able to manage and prioritise workloads, meet deadlines and solve problems.
• A great team and partnership worker, with a strong track record of collaboration and relationship management.
• An excellent communicator, both written and verbally, able to adapt to a range of audiences.
• Able to evaluate and summarise information into succinct reports.
• Competent using IT and Microsoft Office.

Desirable

• Competence in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
• Reasonable wildlife identification skills, ideally including plants.

Qualifications

Essential

• Ecology or environmental degree, or equivalent professional experience in nature-focussed land management.
• A full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK.

Desirable

• A recognised project management qualification.

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

• 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%