Address
SalaryDetails
Reference number
Salary
Job grade
Contract type
Business area
Type of role
Operational Delivery
Working pattern
Number of jobs available
Contents
Location
About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
East DistrictWork Supervisor – Sandlings & Lavenham
Do you have the skills and enthusiasm required to join a busy Beat team undertaking all aspects of forestry and woodland management in the nation’s forests within East Anglia?
East England 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.
Forestry England is seeking someone keen to develop their forest operations management experience to join our Forestry and Land Management team working across a multi –purpose forest environment at our Sandlings & Lavenham Beat in East England Forest District.
The Beat comprises approximately 3000ha across the Sandlings predominantly pine plantations in East Suffolk and the Lavenham sensitive PAWs woods in Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. This diverse portfolio offers a strong opportunity to progress management skills in lowland mixed broadleaved woodlands, as well as productive conifer blocks.
The role involves working closely with the Beat team colleagues to achieve establishment and harvesting programmes, woodland regeneration, conservation work and undertake estate and recreation site maintenance. Within the Beat tree harvesting is approximately 30,000 tonnes a year with an increased re-planting programme of around 60,000 trees a year. The Beat has large scale open habitat creation and woodland management conservation programmes and ongoing estate maintenance responsibilities.
This post is based at the Tangham Outstation in Rendlesham Forest near Woodbridge, Suffolk, with a requirement to travel to work across woodlands in other Beats and - on occasion - elsewhere in the district. Meetings and training events may take place in other parts of the country. The new Tangham Forest Operation Facility was built in 2023 offering a modern, warm, friendly and professional working environment set in the middle of Rendlesham Forest and the AONB.
The Sandlings & Lavenham Beat lies in the southern part of East Anglia (see map in attached information document).
Job description
The Beat Team comprise a Beat Forester, Work Supervisor, two Craftspersons, Wildlife Ranger, Recreation Ranger and an Admin Officer.
The main responsibilities of the Work Supervisor are to:
- support the Beat Forester in all aspects of the day-to-day management of the beat and in planning, organising and supervising forest operations by staff and contractors to ensure agreed work is delivered safely, effectively and efficiently, following the UKWAS standards for woodland management.
- accurately collect site measurements and observations and use these in monitoring outcomes, assessing site conditions, updating records and informing decisions
- communicate appropriately with colleagues and all stakeholders including landowners, neighbours, contractors, customers and members of the public
The role involves a mixture of office work and time spent in the forest. The job is varied and wide ranging, requiring close team working to continually rebalance priorities as unplanned situations arise that need dealing with, whilst maintaining momentum to deliver planned programmes.
Please refer to the attached information document for examples of typical Work Supervisor tasks.
The normal start time is 7.30 am and a standard working week is 37 hours, but the duties of the post require you to work flexibly at times, including participating in the rota for out of hours emergency cover.
Person specification
You will be interested in developing your existing technical skills and experience further and be willing to take on new and different tasks.
You will need personal resilience, and a deep commitment to achieving results with a small remote-working Beat Team.
Due to some recent staff changes, the Sandlings and Lavenham Beat Team includes several people relatively new to their role so it is important that you work supportively and flexibly. Collaborative working and an ability to learn on-the-job with the team will be important to this role. Short to long-term work programmes will need to be developed for the Beat, with a particular need in the Lavenham woodlands which have undergone PAWs restoration, and are now impacted by Ash dieback.
The woodlands are valued by neighbours, volunteers, various wildlife, recreation and other interest groups. You will be required to work and engage positively with a diverse range of stakeholders such as these, ensuring that our strategic priorities continue to be met.
Your application form will provide evidence of the technical skills you hold, and your CV and Statement of Suitability will demonstrate your relevant experience in each of the areas of responsibility.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
Benefits
- An environment with flexible working options
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
- A Civil Service pension
- Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers
- 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays
- 3 days volunteering a year
- Continual Professional Development: Support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies (such as the Institute of Chartered Foresters)
- Free parking at Forestry Commission sites and free entry to forestry arboreta
- Up to 15% discount at Forest Live Events, 5% discount on Forest Holidays, 15% at Go Ape, 10% discount at Forestry England shops
Things you need to know
Selection process details
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete -
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. A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience are suitable for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the person specification.
Failure to submit both documents (CV and Statement of Suitability) will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification and reduce your overall score.
The selection panel will be looking for applications that demonstrate the best fit with the role by considering the evidence you have provided against the criteria set out in the Job Description and Responsibilities. Refer to the attached Additional Information document for guidance on the type of information we expect you to include. Failure to address any or all of these criteria may affect your application.
Applicants will only be invited for interview if they achieve a “pass” for each section of their application form.
If we receive more applications that meet the criteria than interview slots available we will invite applicants on the basis of the highest score in the experience section - the pass mark may be raised. This will be the initial sift. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.
Candidates who are successful at sift will be asked to attend an interview and a site-based assessment at the Tangham Outstation IP12 3NF.
Sift dates are TBC but likely to be week commencing 8th January 2024.
Interviews are provisionally arranged for week commencing 29th January 2024.
The interview will include behaviour-based questions, where we will be asking for evidence from your previous roles, and questions to see whether your strengths reflect those needed in the role. After the questions you will be asked to complete a short assessment where you will be presented with a worksite scenario and asked to respond to what you see as if you were the site supervisor.
Please bring appropriate outdoor clothing for the weather on the day and steel toe capped boots. Other PPE will be provided if required.
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 circumstance 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.
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
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
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
