Creating new woody habitats, whether woodlands, scrub, wood pasture, wet woodlands can play a vital role in reversing biodiversity loss and building climate resilience across England’s landscapes. The Tree Action Plan Delivery (TAP-D) team in Natural England comprises 23 officers spread across our Area Teams and our National Operations. This role will be based in Natural England’s Cheshire to Lancashire Area Team and will help to deliver Natural England’s vision for Nature Recovery through leading on our Tree Action Plan Delivery and Woodland work.
The Area Team covers four counties of Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and Lancashire. It includes the uplands of Forest of Bowland and West Pennines through the diverse lowlands of Cheshire to the rich coastal habitats of the Irish Sea coast and its wealth of estuaries, and the large conurbations of Liverpool and Manchester.
You will be part of the Tree Action Plan Delivery Team (TAP-D), a national network focused on maximising the benefits of woodland creation for carbon sequestration, nature recovery, and public engagement. This role is critical to the delivery and support of woodland creation schemes and our work with Forestry Commission and wider woodland partners.
Flexible working options are supported, and regular travel within Cheshire to Lancashire is required for site visits and meetings. The role also includes participation in National TAP-D meetings.
Key Tasks/Principal Accountabilities
This role will lead the TAP-D work across Cheshire to Lancashire.
* Provide expert advice on woodland, wood pasture, agroforestry, and scrub, ensuring sensitive environmental areas are protected. You will also have or develop expertise in the England Woodland Creation offer.
* Strengthen collaboration with the Forestry Commission colleagues for a joined-up approach to tree establishment. The role will engage with other key forestry and woodland partners such as the Forestry England, the two Community Forests within the Area Team patch (the Mersey Forest and City of Trees), Woodland Trust, National Trust, Rivers Trusts and individual land managers.
* Support tree establishment for nature recovery, climate resilience, flood mitigation, water quality, and public benefits through the new Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
* Provide technical advice on complex casework relating to tree establishment, including assessments of impacts on protected sites, priority habitats and species, waders and sensitive ecosystems such as peatland.
* Contribute to strategic decision-making by supporting the Area Leadership Team and facilitate knowledge-sharing through meetings, networking, and best practice promotion.
Knowledge, Skills & Experience
* Essential: Strong ecological understanding and experience in identifying priority habitats. Technical understanding of landscape-scale nature recovery, specifically the benefits and risks of new woodland establishment in relation to nature recovery: key priority habitats, priority species, ecosystem services and climate change.
* Essential: Strong collaboration skills and ability to build relationships across organisations. Understand and be able to engage with stakeholders and partners from a wide variety of organisations to provide effective leadership to collaborative working.
* Essential: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively using appropriate language, tone, and techniques. Demonstrate strong speaking, listening, writing, and presentation skills to engage diverse audiences.
* Essential: The role will require travel to sites and meetings with partners. A driving licence is essential for the role.
* Desirable: Knowledge of Countryside Stewardship and Woodland Creation grants, woodland management and ecology, relevant policy frameworks, Integrated Biodiversity Advice, use of GIS/mapping tools, and environmental regulations.
This role will require frequent travel within the Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside so potential candidates are required to be within patch, or within very close proximity.
How To Apply
We welcome and encourage applications from all communities. Natural England is accredited to the Disability Confident Scheme, which denotes organisations which have a positive attitude towards disabled people. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum requirements for the role at the shortlisting stage are guaranteed an invitation to interview.
If you require a reasonable adjustment at interview, or there is anything else you would like the panel to take into consideration, you should notify us of this at application stage where possible, or well in advance of your interview. We now provide primary interview questions in advance for all formal recruitments.
This vacancy uses competency-based assessment. We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:
* Technical Skills and Knowledge
* Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas
* Personal Effectiveness
* Work Delivery
When completing the application form you should present relevant examples using the STAR format. Give us an example of how you have demonstrated the competency (which can be work related or from another area of your life) and tell us about the Situation, the specific Task you had to undertake, the specific Actions you took, and the Result (both immediate and in a wider context) of your Action.
Please note that STAR format is not required when answering the Technical Skills & Knowledge competency.
Examples should be given in no more than 250 words for each competency.
If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, you will be invited to attend an interview via MS Teams or a suitable alternative, where you will be asked to give examples for all competencies as set out in the Job Description.
As with all roles in NE, these roles require office attendance of a minimum of 20% of the working time – one day per week for those who work full time, subject to any reasonable adjustments and/or existing contractual homeworking.
Technical Skills and Knowledge
Good understanding of habitat management and ecological knowledge with an ability to translate that to the planning and delivery of nature recovery. (Essential)
Identify how a site interacts with the surrounding landscape, habitats and local communities. (Essential)
Understand and be able to successfully engage with stakeholders and partners from a wide variety of organisations to provide effective leadership to support collaborative working. (Essential)
Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas
Identify how a site interacts with the surrounding landscape, habitats and local communities. (Practitioner)
Design your local projects to have beneficial impacts at the landscape scale. (Expert)
Personal Effectiveness
Use clear and appropriate language, communication styles and techniques that engage your audience. (Practitioner)
Be ambitious, identify and adopt ways to make improvements in your team and Natural England and inspire others to act. (Practitioner)
Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together. (Practitioner)
Work Delivery
Manage and deliver your work to meet agreed targets and deadlines. (Expert)
Handle data responsibly, understand your role in good governance, and comply with delegations, policies and procedures. (Practitioner)
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