• Forest Regulations and Tree Health Team Leader
• Role ID: 200610
• Location: Flexible
• Grade/Salary range: 7: £45,367 – £50,877
• Working pattern: Full time – 37 hours per week
• Contract type: Fixed-Term Appointment (FTA)
• Closing date: 14/09/2025

The role

Are you ready to lead a team that plays a vital role in protecting Wales’ forests and woodlands? This is a fantastic opportunity to join Natural Resources Wales as a Team Leader for Forest Regulations and Tree Health, where you’ll head up a national team delivering essential regulatory and tree health services across the country.

In this dynamic leadership role, you’ll oversee the delivery of forest regulation compliance, enforcement, and incident response, while guiding woodland creation and permit applications. You’ll also lead efforts to monitor and protect our woodlands from pests and diseases, helping to safeguard biodiversity and support nature’s recovery.

You’ll be managing a skilled, all-Wales team that works collaboratively across regions, with the flexibility to work from home and attend face-to-face meetings or training as needed. This is your chance to make a real impact—supporting sustainable forestry, influencing environmental outcomes, and contributing to the wellbeing of communities and ecosystems across Wales.

If you’re passionate about forestry, regulation, and leading people to deliver meaningful environmental change, we’d love to hear from you.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the NRW office at the above location and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact iwan.williams@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

The team is part of the Operations Directorate managed from the North West place it provides an All Wales delivery for forest regulations and tree health. To deliver an effective service, the team members are geographically spread across Wales while supporting each other as appropriate. Forest Regulations and Tree Health delivery is a key contributor in meeting our wellbeing goal, nature is recovering.

What you will do

• Prepare and present your teams’ annual work plan and the production of associated performance and assurance reports
• Be responsible for regulatory decisions at place level, ensuring adherence to the Regulators Code and our Regulatory Principles
• Manage and develop a large team of Regulatory Officers and be fully accountable for their performance, contribution, development and well-being
• Develop and maintain effective and influential customer relationships (internal and external) at senior management level
• Contribute your technical knowledge and stakeholder management experience to risk-based decision making by the team and the wider business
• Be responsible for team and project budgets
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs)
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role
• Required to take part in incident response activities.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Professional membership or working towards professional membership of the Institute of Chartered Foresters or another relevant professional body within an agreed timescale
2. Experience of line management
3. Experience of forestry sector
4. Coaching and mentoring skills
5. Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities
6. Strong organisational, time management and interpersonal skills
7. Good understanding of commercial business processes and pressures
8. Ability to communicate effectively with regulated business and the public, explaining issues and gaining support by influencing
9. Extensive knowledge and experience of regulatory and enforcement processes

Welsh Language Level requirements:

• Essential: A1 – Entry level

Welsh language levels

Please note if you do not meet the level A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.

We are a bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.

You are welcome to apply for any vacancy in Welsh or English and any application submitted will be treated equally. Applications are welcome from individuals who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time.