External Training Manager

Job summary

The Forestry Commission (FC) are the Government’s forestry experts. We work nationally and locally on unlocking the full potential of woodlands and the forestry sector to expand, protect, improve, and connect England’s valuable woodland assets.

Background information

Since 2021 Forestry Commission has provided over 2,000 places on its vegetation fire and incident management training courses across the United Kingdom, Rep. of Ireland and UK Overseas Territories (UKOT). The current programme is co-ordinated and administered by Forest Services’ national Policy and Advice Team for a wide range of partners, including Forest Services, Forestry England, Forest Research, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Defra Plant Health, Scottish Government, Welsh Government, land managers, Fire and Rescue Services and research bodies, universities and professional bodies.

Job description

We are looking for an experienced External Training Manager with an established track record of managing land-based training providers to deliver training programmes. You will be organizing and managing training across plant health, forestry, fire, research and land management sectors is essential. Responsibilities include management and development of the training programme, individual course management and finances, liaison with the custom award centre, internal and external marketing as well as customer engagement and management. Additional responsibilities include supporting incident management and Policy and Advice team project management.

Key work areas

Supporting PB3 Advisor for Wildfire and Contingency Planning by carrying out the

following:

• Lead the strategic planning, development and delivery of training programmes that support Forestry Commission and Forestry England priorities, workforce capability and organisational objectives.
• Identify emerging skills and capability requirements, driving the development of innovative training, learning and development initiatives to meet future business needs.
• Provide governance and assurance for training delivery, ensuring compliance with legislative, regulatory and organisational standards, including risk, quality and business continuity requirements.
• Develop and manage strategic partnerships and stakeholder relationships with internal teams, Lantra, Forest Research and external providers to maximise training effectiveness, value and continuous improvement.
• Manage programme performance, financial resources and reporting, using data and insight to evaluate outcomes, inform decision-making and provide recommendations to senior leaders.
• Lead training, research and development projects, driving innovation, organisational improvement and the delivery of strategic outcomes across the forestry sector.
• Provide incident management support at ad-hoc periods in response to incidents and emergencies.
• Provide project management support for research and development initiatives, working with Forest Research and external partners.

Supporting PB3 Carbon and Water Advisor (until end of November 2026):

• Provide maternity cover for the Carbon Projects Manager, responding to enquiries and developing the carbon agenda for the Forestry Commission
• Maintain relationships with project partners in the Nature Returns partnership including Environment Agency, Defra, Natural England, Kew Gardens and Forest Research.

Supporting PB1 Head of Policy Advice Team (from December 2026):

• Provide project management support across the Policy and Advice Team.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Knowledge of GB forestry and the UK Forestry Standard, with the ability to align training to organisational and sector priorities.
• Experience managing training systems and providers, including LMS platforms, accreditation processes and training delivery arrangements.
• Strong programme and project management skills, with experience delivering complex initiatives, managing performance and driving continuous improvement.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and partnership-building skills, with the ability to work effectively across organisations and sectors.
• Experience of governance, financial and business administration, including compliance, risk management, reporting and use of Microsoft 365 applications.
• Proven incident management and leadership capability, with the ability to make informed decisions and support organisational resilience and innovation.

Desirable Criteria

• Use of online booking systems
• Proven incident management support capability, with the ability to make informed decisions and support organisational resilience and innovation.

Behaviours

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

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

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £40,388, Forestry Commission contributes £11,700 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).

• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A range of family friendly benefits.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• A culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment.
• A range of wellbeing benefits including discounted Civil Service Healthcare, access to an Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, Bike to Work Scheme, plus many more.
• 25 days annual leave, with 1 additional day for each years’ service up to 5 years (pro rata), plus 10.5 bank holidays/privilege days (pro rata).
• Ability to buy or sell 5 days annual leave.
• 3 days volunteering per year (pro rata).

We aim to provide a great place to work, whichever location you work from. Blended working forms part of our flexible and inclusive approach to future ways of working. It is an informal arrangement which gives you the option to work some of the week from home, and some of the week from our Forestry Commission workplaces, subject to role requirements, business needs, and regular review. Informal blended working arrangements will be available as agreed with the line manager.

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