Forest Craftsperson - East Devon

at  Forestry Commission

JOB SUMMARY

Forestry England manages England’s beautiful, diverse and productive, publicly owned woods and forests, and is the largest provider of home-grown sustainably produced timber in England, selling around 1.4 million tonnes per year, nearly half the English-grown annual supply.
The West District extends from the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the majestic oak and beech woods of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, and to Idless Woods near Truro in Cornwall. The District is managed from the District Office at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, supported by local delivery teams in the forest beats and recreation hubs.
This is an exciting opportunity to join our dedicated Land Management Team in the West England Forest District, responsible for the sustainable management of over 36,500ha of the public forest estate in the West and South-West of England.
This post will form part of the East Devon Beat Team, based from our Smokey Bottom office near Taunton, set in the tranquil Blackdown Hills. The team comprises a beat forester, works supervisor, community ranger and two craftspeople who, together with local contractors, look after the public forest estate in East Devon, South Somerset, and West Dorset.
This role is based on a 37 hour week and you can expect to spend most of your time working outdoors.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Our forest craftsperson teams are essential to delivering the superb forestry that we strive for. As part of the team, you will be out on the beat each day, delivering high quality work that we are proud of. Working to top standards of health and safety and industry best practice, our craftspeople are practical problem solvers working with a variety of tools and materials in a challenging, but rewarding environment.

You will be expected to undertake the following work:

• Tree felling, including tree safety work, coppicing, forest road and ride management
• Tree establishment, including planting, mechanical and chemical weeding, brashing and cleaning to ensure successful, high quality restock sites
• General forest maintenance such as fencing, strimming and litter picking
• Surveying, including: measuring timber for sale, tree safety, stocking density and recreation trail checks
• Recreation and facilities maintenance such as trail clearance, grass cutting and litter picking
• Maintenance and enhancement of conservation sites and habitats including coppicing and implementation of leaky dams
• Write risk assessments and emergency plans for your work

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• A field based assessment will also be undertaken on the day of the interview further detail will be provided to those applicants who are selected for interview.

Benefits
Alongside your salary of £24,323, Forestry Commission contributes £6,567 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Across Forestry England, we are focused on ensuring that our staff are respected, included, supported and engaged. We love difference and know that every single person is unique.
Our wide range of Staff Benefits helps us to achieve this:
A supportive environment with a range of family friendly benefits.
Generous annual leave allowance starting at 25 days per year (pro-rata for part time) increasing by 1 day each year to a maximum of 30 days. After 20 years’ service you will receive a one-off award of 5 extra days’ holiday. On top of this, you will receive all public holidays plus an additional 2.5 ‘privilege’ days (pro-rata for part time).
A Civil Service pension, with the opportunity to choose from two pension schemes, one Career Average (Alpha) or a Defined Contribution Scheme (Partnership). If you join the Civil Service Career Average Scheme, we will contribute at least 26% of your salary towards your pension membership every month. Further details can be found at Civil Service Pensions.
A range of wellbeing benefits, including access to an Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, Bike to Work Scheme plus many more.
A culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment.
Free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums.
Three paid volunteering days per year (pro-rata for part time).
Forestry England is committed to lifelong learning and we will support your career development in a variety of ways, including:

Learning and development tailored to your role.

• 5 dedicated learning days a year (from e-learning to traditional training, team activities to coaching and shadowing), to target the skills you need to take your career forward
• Civil Service Learning (CSL) online platform provides access to a host of high-quality training courses on a variety of useful and relevant subjects
• Dedicated Technical Training in support of our operational functions, ensuring that keeping people safe is central to everything we do

Things you need to know

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)

Learning and development tailored to your role.

• 5 dedicated learning days a year (from e-learning to traditional training, team activities to coaching and shadowing), to target the skills you need to take your career forward
• Civil Service Learning (CSL) online platform provides access to a host of high-quality training courses on a variety of useful and relevant subjects
• Dedicated Technical Training in support of our operational functions, ensuring that keeping people safe is central to everything we d