What you’ll do…
We’re looking for a Forest Resilience and Planning Manager to lead Yorkshire District’s forest planning work and drive our delivery of Forestry England’s Forest Resilience Strategy. You’ll ensure full, up‑to‑date Forest Plan coverage, embedding resilience and natural capital approaches into forest management while meeting UKFS and UKWAS standards and balancing timber production, nature recovery and public benefits.
You’ll develop and manage a small team of specialists and oversee delivery of high‑profile, Defra‑funded forest resilience projects. Working closely with partners and colleagues across disciplines, you’ll provide strategic leadership, manage programmes and budgets, and help shape resilient, diverse forests for Yorkshire’s future.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
The post will initially be based at Forestry England’s Yorkshire Office in Pickering. It will move to the Dalby Forest Office in autumn / winter 2027. Regular travel around Forestry England’s estate in Yorkshire will be required. There will be occasional trips outside of Yorkshire for Forestry England-wide meetings, which may require an overnight stay.
You will be required to react to call outs to site during working hours on any day and therefore you must be a reasonable commuting distance from the office or willing to relocate.
Key responsibilities & accountabilities
Strategic and Leadership
* Lead forest planning and forest resilience delivery programmes and support the development of future projects and programmes.
* Focus on natural capital approaches; more, bigger, better, connected habitats and integrated land management approaches.
* Manage a small team of forest planning specialists and contribute to the leadership of Yorkshire’s Nature Recovery and Sustainable Forestry Teams.
* Support professional development of colleagues, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. Promote an understanding of forest resilience and associated silvicultural skills and practices.
* Work closely with other team managers in Nature Recovery, Sustainable Forestry, Public Engagement, Civil Engineering and other specialism to ensure a district aligned approach, clear communication, and H&S consistency across functions.
* Represent Forestry England with professionalism in strategic partnerships with key stakeholders such as Natural England, National Parks, and eNGOs.
* Lead the district certification audits and ensure compliance with key standards including UKFS, UKWAS and Operational Site Assessments.
Forest planning
* Maintain full coverage of Forest Plans by leading the plan renewal programme.
* Look to maximise natural capital through forest planning land management decision making in Yorkshire.
* Implement Yorkshire’s Forest Resilience Programme.
* Support the Sustainable Forestry Team to plan for and deliver a programme of ancient woodland restoration.
Project Management
* Develop project plans for Forest Resilience Programme projects and PAWS restoration projects.
* Manage delegated budgets for the delivery of projects.
* Coordinate project delivery teams, with clear responsibilities allocated and decisions/actions recorded.
* Proactively manage project risk and stakeholders.
* Work with colleagues to identify future funding opportunities for projects and programmes.
Spatial Data and GIS
* Oversee management of the district spatial data sets, taking lead responsibility for the sub compartment database and timber production forecasting driven by accurate surveys and inventory.
* Lead on new survey technology within Yorkshire district e.g. drones, LiDAR, other remote sensing.
Any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager (Yorkshire’s Head of Environment) or the Yorkshire Director. You will be required to participate in the Duty Officer rota, being on call out‑of‑hours for three to four weeks of the year.
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