Forest Craftsperson - Thetford East

at  Forestry Commission

JOB SUMMARY

Forestry England are seeking skilled forest operative to fill a forest Craftsperson vacancy in East England Forest District. Based out of Santon Downham, Suffolk. The work will mainly be based in Thetford forest as well as our North Norfolk woodlands with occasional travel elsewhere.
Forest Craftspersons work a standard 37 hour week usually 07:00 to 15:00 (14:30 Fridays) with occasional overtime to meet operational requirements.
We depend on our Craftspeople to meet high standards whilst working remotely to complete a range of tasks from large-scale tree planting and mechanical weeding programmes to fixing broken gates. The successful applicants will be flexible and adaptable practical thinkers who are resourceful and trustworthy. They will be willing and able to work equally productively on their own or in collaboration with others.
A Craftsperson job is outdoors in all weathers demanding physical and mental resilience in return we offer a generous benefits package including enrolment in the pension scheme (with 27% employer contribution), generous shared parental leave, 25 days leave (rising in one yearly increments to 30 days after 5 years) taken flexibly throughout the year plus public and privilege holidays.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

We are looking for people with enthusiasm, good communication skills, resourcefulness, and an ability to work safely and productively as part of a team and independently. The work tasks require driving to site, sometimes towing a trailer.

We expect Craftspeople to be able to:

• Operate and maintain tools and resources to required standards and ensure that a safe working site and safe methods are planned and maintained
• Work constructively and effectively with immediate work colleagues and the wider Forest District Team
• Be capable of planning, undertaking and recording practical tasks without supervision, planning tasks efficiently
• Take pride in their work and act professionally when dealing with members of the public, neighbours and other stakeholders

You will need a commitment to achieving results through working flexibly and supportively both on your own and as part of a small team.

REQUIREMENTS:

Full UK Driving Licence

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE:

Tractor operations
Chainsaw operations
Clearing saw operations
Spraying operations
Planting operations

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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

• Use of a range of hand tools
• Tree Planting

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £24,323, Forestry Commission contributes £6,260 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

SELECTION PROCESS DETAILS

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
We will use your CV and Personal Statement to assess whether you have the Experience we are looking for, so include examples to show us how your past work is similar to the advertised role.
Your CV needs to list your full job history and include a short description of what each job involved. Please provide reasons for any gaps in employment over the last two years.
Your Personal Statement (no longer than 750 words) is an opportunity for you to outline your personal skills, qualities and experience and explain how these make you suited to the advertised role.
The highest scoring applicants will be asked to attend a face-to-face interview and site-based assessment at Santon Downham, IP27 0TJ.
The interviews will include Behaviour and Strength questions. After the questions you will be asked to complete some brief practical tasks typical of the Craftsperson role. Please bring suitable outdoor clothing. Gloves will be provided.

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)

PURPOSE OF THE JOB

We are looking for people with experience in most/all of the following tasks: