Lead Ranger - Dorking

Company	The National TrustSee more
Address	Dorking, Surrey
Form of work	Full Time, Part Time
Salary	32,136 pa
Category	Customer Service

Job description

Lead Ranger - Dorking
Summary

Would you like to join the Surrey Hills Central team at a pivotal time, full of exciting challenges?

This is an opportunity to lead for change in countryside, nature conservation, and visitor satisfaction.

You’ll enjoy the challenge of balancing large visitor numbers, with managing the places we care for. You’ll share your innovative ideas for protecting incredibly sensitive nationally important woodland, chalk grassland and Lowland Heathland habitats, for the next fifty years and beyond.

What it's like to work here

Spread over four amazing properties in the Surrey Hills National landscape ranging from ancient woodland at Bookham, through amazing chalk grassland at Denbies Hillside to Heathland at Leith Hill and wet woodland at Holmwood Common, this is your chance to join a small, highly motivated and enthusiastic team, in a truly rural location.

Reporting to the countryside manager you'll be part of the portfolio leadership team, representing the Surrey Hills Central countryside team and working with our visitor operations and enterprise teams to deliver the property business plan.

Due to the remote locations, you’re likely to need your own transport to get here.

What you'll be doing

Whilst undertaking practical conservation and land management, you’ll manage a team of 4 Area Rangers and 1 Ranger (plus lots of very keen volunteers) split across 4 main properties Bookham, Landbarn farm/Denbies, Leith Hill and Holmwood.

You’ll lead on tree safety and woodland management across the properties which have very significant woodland holdings, with exciting plans to make them much more self-sustainable in the future.

You’ll be responsible for managing the conservation grazing across Surrey Hills Central properties and working with our farming tenants, graziers, partners and neighbours to deliver more for Land and Nature

You’ll also take responsibility for compliance, including the health and safety of your team, visitors, tree safety, and environmental management, as well as setting and leading standard relating to environmental practice.

You'll have delegated responsibility for managing the budgets - operational and project - that are required to deliver this work and for protecting and enhancing the Trust’s assets and reputation.

Uniquely within the Surrey Hills you will oversee and manage the volunteer carpentry team and workshop at Landbarn farm. From generating timber, milling, storing through to project delivery and pricing. This fantastic team of skilled volunteers take on a huge array of carpentry work for the National Trust and other local groups.

Who we're looking for

Comfortable balancing large numbers of visitors whilst protecting the portfolio’s significant nature conservation needs.
Able to lead and inspire and support your team to strive for high standards and achieve exciting results for nature conservation.
Enthusiastic about ensuring visitors have a great experience, whenever they come.
Able to communicate and collaborate with colleagues and external partners at all levels.
Have innovative ideas and thoughts to take the Surrey Hills Central properties forward into the future.
Passionate about conservation in a working rural setting.

The package

The National Trust has the motto ‘For everyone, for ever’ at its heart. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. It’s important that our people reflect and represent the diversity of the communities and audiences we serve. We welcome and value difference, so when we say we’re for everyone, we want everyone to be welcome in our teams too.