Forest Planning Skills and Capability Lead

Job summary

This role will play a key part in shaping the future of forest planning across Forestry England. You will:

Lead a new Trainee Forest Planner programme, recruiting and developing the next generation of Forest Planners. Support and develop our existing team of Forest Planners, providing technical expertise and training, and helping them navigate complex challenges. Identify opportunities to improve processes, capability and approaches across the forest planning function. Support the national forest planning team in providing strategic leadership, direction and continuous improvement.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

Lead the Trainee Forest Planner programme

• Plan and deliver a comprehensive programme of work for annual cohorts of up to six trainees, including structured training, practical experience and supervision of their work.
• Mentor, coach and support trainees throughout their development, helping them build the skills, knowledge and professional confidence required to become successful Forest Planners.
• Work closely with district teams acting as hosts for trainees to ensure a high-quality and consistent development experience.
• Lead the annual recruitment of trainees, including advertising, sifting and an assessment centre, working with a recruitment agency and HR colleagues as appropriate.
• Review and update the trainee prospectus and development programme to ensure it stays fit for purpose and aligned with the future needs of Forestry England.

Build organisational capability and skills in forest planning

• Act as a source of expertise in forest planning, supporting the professional development of colleagues across Forestry England.
• Design and deliver training, guidance and learning resources relating to forest planning and associated disciplines where appropriate.
• Build effective relationships and networks across Forestry England to identify knowledge gaps, capability needs and opportunities for professional development.
• Foster a collaborative community of practice, encouraging knowledge sharing, continuous learning and the dissemination of best practice.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, guidance, systems and approaches to forest planning, contributing to continuous improvement and organisational learning.
• Support the translation of forest planning requirements into practical tools, guidance and resources for operational teams.
• Work closely with other Skills and Capability Leads in the National Operations team, to ensure that work is coordinated and maximises collective impact.

Support district forest planning teams

• Provide technical expertise across all aspects of forest planning to support Forest Planners and help deliver efficient, high-quality outcomes.
• Support districts and Forest Planners in challenging or complex cases, such as difficult stakeholder engagement and regulatory requirements like Habitat Regulations Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments. Support the implementation and dissemination of new forest planning processes, tools and approaches across Forestry England.
• Help identify opportunities to make greater use of innovation, technology and data to improve forest planning practice.

Support the national forest planning team

• Collate, analyse and interpret forest planning information to support monitoring, reporting and continuous improvement of the function. This will include maintaining oversight of Forest Plan status, renewal schedules and delivery across Forestry England.
• Prepare and present reports, briefings and papers on forest planning matters for a range of audiences.
• Contribute to the development of future approaches to forest planning, helping ensure the function

remains effective, resilient and aligned with organisational priorities.

• Represent the forest planning team in meetings, working groups and stakeholder forums.
• Support internal and external audits relating to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard.

Stakeholder engagement and influencing

• Develop and maintain effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders to support delivery of forest planning objectives.
• Work closely with key roles across Forestry England, Forest Services, and Forest Research.
• Support clear and consistent communication of Forestry England's approach to forest planning, helping stakeholders understand its importance and practical application.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience of woodland or forest management, with a strong understanding of forest planning.
• Experience of supporting learning and development through training, coaching, mentoring, or knowledge-sharing activities.
• Experience of using GIS and spatial data.
• Working knowledge of the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS) and UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).
• Ability to communicate complex technical information clearly and effectively to a range of audiences.
• Competent user of Microsoft Office, including Excel, PowerPoint, Word and Teams.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Experience of delivering structured training programmes, workshops or professional development activities.
• Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate activities, manage competing priorities and deliver work to agreed timescales and resources.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to collate, interpret and present data and evidence to support decision-making, monitoring and reporting.

Qualifications

Essential

• Educated to degree level in forestry, ecology or similar discipline, or equivalent professional experience.
• A full current driving license

Desirable

• Professional membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (or equivalent) or can demonstrate working towards chartered status.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,388, Forestry Commission contributes

£11,700 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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 is a Temporary Appointment for [till 31/10/2030] with the possibility of extension or permanency but no guarantee.

How to apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

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.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving

You may also be assessed on Experience, Strength based questions, and/or the Technical Success Profile at the interview. The technical element could include a presentation, practical or written task.

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 basic (or equivalent) 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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.

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 the

Civil 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 : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
• 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.

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