Dubwath, North West England, CA13 9YG
Job Summary
What you’ll do…
You will support the beat forester shaping the land we manage doing a range of operations and inspections in the forest, including helping with practical matters that may arise. Be a champion of our health & safety culture demonstrating our value of ‘look out and look after’ in our work.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
North England Forest District has a complement of over 130 staff who care for 61,000 hectares of forest and 25,000 hectares of open land. Annual timber production is 550,000 m3 and there is a planting programme in excess of 3 million trees a year.
The District has 45 SSSIs totalling over 10,000 ha and is a major contributor to local and national biodiversity. The District has four visitor centres at Grizedale, Whinlatter, Kielder and Hamsterley. The public forest estate in North England District attracts over one million visits per annum.
The Cumberland Beat is comprised of 12 woodland blocks ranging from 10 ha to 450 ha, stretching from High Stand Forest in the east of Cumbria, through to the West Cumbrian forests of Blengdale and Miterdale.
The majority of the 2400 ha are within the Lake District National Park and all are managed for multi-purpose objectives, determined by their individual character and location. The Beat has a restocking programme of between 25-50 ha per year and an annual timber harvesting programme of around, 45,000 m3 from clear felling, thinnings and a strong focus on low impact silvicultural systems.
The team is led by a Beat Forester who is supported by a Works Supervisor, a Wildlife Ranger, a Forest Craftsperson and an Apprentice Forest Craftsperson. There may be times where cross function working is required to support the needs of the wider team. This role is based in the Peil Wyke yard in Cumbria but working for a National organisation it is occasionally required that you need to travel for training courses and overnight accommodation will be provided.
Operational:
Job description
* restock and establishment work: hand planting, tree guard construction, repairing fences and controlling vegetation.
* clearing and maintaining trees: high pruning, cutting back and felling.
* tree safety work: surveys, putting up safety signs and safety fencing.
* tree survey work related to managing potentially hazardous trees.
* estate maintenance work such as high pruning operations to maintain access and the management or clearance of trees or other vegetation.
* make sure work programmes you are responsible for are delivered effectively and efficiently.
* surveying, including measuring/ tariffing, tree safety, stocking density and a variety of recreation trails.
* when needed, gather operational data accurately and efficiently and maintain appropriate up to date records to the standard required.
Team Working And Health And Safety:
* operate and maintain tools and resources to required standards and make sure work on site meets our health and safety standards.
* by effectively liaising with colleagues and stakeholders, plan, implement and deliver efficient work programmes that help meet Forestry England's aims and objectives.
* engage proactively and respond constructively to existing and prospective customers and present the highest standards of professionalism when representing Forestry England in the marketplace.
* carrying out risk assessments working to high health and safety standards which are guided by FISA (Forest Industry Safety Accord).
And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
Team Working And Health And Safety:
* operate and maintain tools and resources to required standards and make sure work on site meets our health and safety standards.
* by effectively liaising with colleagues and stakeholders, plan, implement and deliver efficient work programmes that help meet Forestry England's aims and objectives.
* engage proactively and respond constructively to existing and prospective customers and present the highest standards of professionalism when representing Forestry England in the marketplace.
* carrying out risk assessments working to high health and safety standards which are guided by FISA (Forest Industry Safety Accord).
And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
Person specification
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential professional and technical experience practical
* experience in forestry or countryside / environmental management.
* general understanding of forestry, arboriculture, nature conservation, outdoor recreation and countryside related issues.
* competently use a range of hand tools.
* awareness of health and safety systems relevant to practical countryside work e.g. risk assessments, Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA) guides and lone working systems.
* competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
* good interpersonal and communication skills, and ability to work effectively alone and as part of a team.
Essential Qualifications
* City and Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award or equivalent in one or more practical forestry skills such as chainsaw maintenance, cross cutting, and felling and processing trees to 380mm or equivalent qualification.
* full UK driving license, however the Forestry Commission is willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means.
* NPTC (or equivalent) in safely applying pesticides using handheld applicators.
Desirable Qualifications
* forestry or land management qualification.
* further NPTC and Lantra qualifications in Forestry based skills.
* emergency first aid at work + forestry (F).
* a GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Working Together
* Making Effective Decisions
* Managing a Quality Service
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* You will be assessed on technical skills based questions during your interview.
Alongside your salary of £26,123, Forestry Commission contributes £7,567 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
* Learning and development tailored to your role
* An environment with flexible working options
* A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
* A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
How To Apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on technical skills based questions during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
* Working together
* Making effective decisions
* Managing a quality service
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
* UK nationals
* nationals of the Republic of Ireland
* nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
* nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
* individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
* Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact :
* Name : FC Recruitment Team
* Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Recruitment team
* Email : fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Further information
Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment. #J-18808-Ljbffr