Job title: Evidence and Data Officer
Salary: £33,854
Contract type: Fixed term appointment
Hours: 37 hours per week
Vacancy closes: March 8th 2026 23:58
We are Forestry England. We live and breathe forests. Join us. We’re foresters, professionals, and experts—a passionate team that loves to share our enthusiasm and wants to make a positive difference for you and the environment.
What You’ll Do…
Forestry England manages more land and trees than any other organisation in the country. For over a century, we have shaped and cared for England’s forests for people, nature, and climate. We’ve not always been known for our conservation work but Forestry England have bold ambitions to be a leading force for nature recovery...
Explore our work to see how we’re putting nature recovery at the heart of England’s forests: Forestry England is leading a bold and innovative approach to biodiversity recovery across the nation’s forests, guided by our Biodiversity Plan. We are restoring ecological function at landscape scale — reviving Sites of Special Scientific Interest, restoring ancient woodlands, expanding dynamic open habitats, reintroducing keystone species, and embracing innovation in our wild areas. We’re also harnessing cutting‑edge technologies like environmental DNA and bioacoustic monitoring to track and enhance biodiversity. Our ambition is to make the nation’s forests the most valuable places for wildlife in England, using evidence‑led solutions to reverse biodiversity loss and build resilient ecosystems.
You will lead the development and delivery of Forestry England’s evidence and data systems to support nature recovery and heritage conservation across the nation’s forests. This national role will be central to improving how we monitor biodiversity and ecological resilience, ensuring our decisions are informed by robust, accessible, and innovative data. You will design and implement new metrics and tools—such as biodiversity scorecards, eDNA sampling, bioacoustics, and remote sensing—to track ecosystem function and species recovery. From biodiversity monitoring to heritage asset management, you will help shape how we collect, manage, and use environmental information to guide decision‑making and drive strategic outcomes.
You will champion the use of evidence in conservation decision‑making, helping to embed a culture of data‑driven practice across the organisation. You will also take responsibility for cleaning, managing, and integrating large and complex datasets, including heritage records, ecological surveys, and spatial data. Working closely with district teams, you will identify and resolve data anomalies, promote consistency, and support the development of national reporting tools such as Power BI dashboards.
This role will be instrumental in shaping Forestry England’s approach to ecological monitoring, heritage data management, and evidence‑led conservation, helping us become a leader in environmental data innovation.
Where you’ll work…
This is a flexible national role.
Benefits…
Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
* 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day each year’s service, up to 30 days (pro‑rated for part‑time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
* STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other items such as hotel stays, clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
* Free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
* A commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.
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 experience, technical skills and behaviour‑based questions during your interview.
At interview a presentation will be required and half the interview questions will be supplied beforehand.
* Making Effective Decisions: Use evidence and knowledge to support accurate, expert decisions and advice. Carefully consider alternative options, implications and risks of decisions.
* Communicating and Influencing: Communicate purpose and direction with clarity, integrity and enthusiasm. Respect the needs, responses and opinions of others.
* Changing and Improving: Seek out opportunities to create effective change and suggest innovative ideas for improvement. Review ways of working, including seeking and providing feedback.
* Working together: Form effective partnerships and relationships with people both internally and externally, from a range of diverse backgrounds, sharing information, resources and support.
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.
If you’re planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you’ve read our guidelines here first.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Nationality Requirements…
Read more about nationality requirements here.
Working for the Civil Service…
Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.
Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.
This role is funded by Defra rather than through Forestry England generated revenue, and is therefore subject to government spending reviews. While Defra has indicated long‑term support for the Biodiversity Programme and we expect funding to continue, it is possible that funding levels may change at the end of any financial year depending on Defra’s budget allocations. In the event of funding changes, we would prioritise retaining staff posts wherever possible. This approach is consistent for roles within publicly funded organisations. We are committed to keeping staff informed and supported through any changes.
Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.
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