Community Ranger Haldon

Job summary

As a Community Ranger, your primary responsibilities will include maintaining and facilitating access to recreation facilities for the community. You will engage with opportunities to generate income, answer community enquiries and strengthen community connections and communications. You will build meaningful relationships and volunteer involvement to contribute to the overall enjoyment of the visitor experience. A particular focus of this role will be to help improve the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) at Haldon through a mixture of contract management, working with the forest craftspeople and through the delivery of volunteer groups.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

In this role, you'll have the opportunity to work with communities in your area, ensuring that everyone is welcome and recreational facilities are well maintained and appropriate for the communities they serve. Here's a snapshot of your responsibilities:

• Be the face of Forestry England: you'll be a visible and welcoming presence for your local communities, working with them to ensure that the nation's forests are welcoming and meet the needs of all users.
• Maintain safe and enjoyable sites: carry out regular inspections of car parks, cycle routes, and recreational facilities, including play areas and litter management, so the forests you are responsible for are safe and enjoyable.
• Support operational programmes: help deliver projects using internal guidance and district plans to promote sustainable and responsible forestry practices.
• Ensure health and safety: Coordinate emergency procedures, provide first aid assistance, complete accident and incident reports, and adhere to health and safety guidelines.
• Promote responsible behaviour: deliver appropriate messages about responsible visitor behaviour and professionally manage and resolve potential conflicts.
• Collaborate with staff: support your colleagues to manage public access during planning and implementing land management operations.
• Manage stakeholder relationships: build strong relationships with external partners, tenants, and concession operators. Collaborate with local agencies to co-ordinate multi-agency work during peak times and reduce visitor impact and arson risks.
• Strengthen community engagement: develop community involvement and recreation opportunities that create meaningful connections between visitors and the nation's forests. Respond to feedback and queries from visitors, neighbours and stakeholders.
• Be inspiring: plan, lead, and safely manage volunteer groups and programmes connecting volunteers and local communities with the nation’s forests.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience of working in a public-facing role delivering high quality customer service requiring excellent spoken and written communication skills both in person and using a variety of digital platforms.
• Willing and able to work outdoors in all weathers and to carry out manual tasks.
• Practical experience of planning and delivering public engagement activities.
• Experience of volunteer management including administration, health and safety and practical delivery
• Excellent team-working skills and can work with dispersed team members.
• Practical understanding of health and safety best practices and committed to a positive health and safety culture in an outdoor environment.
• Map reading and navigation skills.
• Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Experience working with various social media platforms.
• Experience of project and contract management.

Qualifications

Essential

• Full UK driving licence
• A GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent.

Desirable

• HND or equivalent in land or recreation management, tourism or leisure or similar
• Emergency First Aid at work or similar
• Health and safety qualification

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,105, Forestry Commission contributes £8,721 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 and a technical skill during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

“If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.”

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