You will manage a specific beat and team in one of our Forestry England districts. You will be responsible for forestry operations meeting industry best practices and health and safety regulations. Implement work programmes meeting the district’s strategic plan for the economy, society, and the environmental collaborating with other beat teams.

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• manage a team and volunteers meeting Forestry England’s organisational values and behaviours
• champion improvements in Forestry England’s health & safety culture
• deliver a positive and inclusive culture, fostering cross-functional collaboration and support
• promote learning and development opportunities amongst the team
• maintain professional and productive relationships with stakeholders across several beats and work collaboratively with colleagues across the wider district
• create, manage, and execute operations in the beat in line with the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS), UK Forestry Standard (UKFS)
• manage operations in a specific beat, including tree harvesting, regeneration and conservation programmes, outdoor recreation, and public engagement provision, collaborating with district foresters and specialist district leads
• plan, procure, and manage contracts to effectively meet forest management and timber harvesting objectives, whilst meeting all relevant guidelines and legislation
• engage proactively and respond constructively to existing and prospective customers and show the highest standards of professionalism when representing Forestry England in the marketplace
• manage aspects of wildlife, woodland, and heritage conservation, and have awareness of legal and financial implications
• make sure work you are responsible for health and safety guidance, and communicate the importance of working safely, to manage risks across operations for staff, contractors, customers, and the environment
• liaise with the local mechanical engineering services team on vehicles, machinery and equipment
• help maintain Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) accreditation
• be responsible for the beat’s budget
• efficiently manage resources so beat projects, programmes, and business as usual operations are delivered effectively and efficiently
• prepare the annual beat business plan – monitor, reforecast and report on budgets and key performance indicators throughout the year

This post will require occasional out-of-hours and weekend working including for emergency call outs, council meetings, etc.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Location-specific information (optional)

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• experience of managing a team, as well as demonstrating successful team working
• experience of planning and supervising forestry operations, and ability to demonstrate a significant understanding of health and safety in forestry
• experience of managing a budget, and a sound understanding of and experience of managing contracts
• competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications
• silvicultural knowledge

Desirable professional and technical experience

• experience of using (forestry) Geographic Information System.

Qualifications

Essential

• degree or Higher National Diploma (HND) in Forestry or significant equivalent experience in forestry or land management.

Desirable

• membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) or a commitment to achieve membership