Forest Craftsperson

Job summary

As the Forest Craftsperson, you will work as part of a beat or unit team working in the district’s woodlands, open habitats or recreation sites completing a wide range of management tasks to help meet beat and District work commitments, H&S responsibilities and ongoing routine maintenance tasks.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Undertake monitoring and data-gathering tasks such as the marking of trees for sale, tree safety inspections, fence line and boundary inspections and the assessment of tree density on restocked and newly planted sites.
• Contribute to the delivery of key programmes by providing a support service in delivering essential materials, consumables, plants etc to work sites.
• Maintain, restore and create various habitats for ecological benefit and improvement of the landscape the work will include the felling and planting of trees and shrubs and the management of vegetation, which may include fencing, chainsaw use and the application of pesticides.
• Inspect and maintain recreational facilities to a high standard, including the repair and maintenance of footpaths and cycle routes, litter picking and the installation and maintenance of signs, picnic tables, benches and play equipment etc. keeping records of inspections and repairs, as directed.
• Carry out a range of practical maintenance jobs throughout the forest estate, working effectively as part of a small team, and when requested responding quickly to unexpected work and issues raised by supervisors and foresters.
• Operate FM tractor and implements such as chemical sprayers, side arm flails, harrows and other farm attachments to complete work programmes across beat or wider District areas.
• And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• A full UK driving license

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Good understanding of health and safety issues relating to working in a forest or public access site
• Experience of woodland management, groundwork or site maintenance. Ability to use a wide range of hand tools
• Experience in marking trees for sale events, tree safety inspections and recreation site inspections
• Experience in tree felling, use of chainsaws and pesticide application

Qualifications

Desirable

• Training and certificates in chainsaw and other machine use and pesticide application
• FMOC certificates if operating a forest tractor
  

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

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, a technical skill and strength based questions during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email [email removed].

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.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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