Harvesting Works Supervisor (Standing Sales)

at  Forestry Commission

JOB SUMMARY

South England Forest District manages some 46,000 hectares of the public forest estate across West Sussex, Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset & South Wiltshire. The varied, mixed woodlands produce some 104,000 m3 of timber each year, of which 22,000 m3 is hardwood. The land management team have responsibility for an extensive programme of habitat restoration, principally ancient woodland and lowland heath.
Much of the land is of high importance for nature conservation, supporting some 29,000 hectares (ha) deemed to be of national importance for wildlife of which approximately 28,000 ha are also designated as being of international importance for biodiversity as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Ramsar sites. The majority of the land managed by the District is also within areas designated for their landscape value, including 4,000 ha within AONBs and 31,500 ha across two National Parks.
The area receives some 20 million day visits by the public each year and includes two major Forest Centres at Moors Valley Country Park and Alice Holt Woodland Park.
The Public Forest Estate is managed around the three pillars of sustainability; people, nature and economy. The Land Management Team play an important role in applying these objectives to ensure that we meet the highest standards of sustainable land management delivery.
The District Harvesting programme is divided between Direct Production and Standing Sales of timber.
The Direct Production programme of 49,500 m3 provides conifer saw log and similar material presented at roadside. The DP team of 3 work closely with the Land Management and Planning teams to deliver Forest Design Plan and conservation objectives, while fulfilling supply contracts to our sawmill customers.
The majority of the Direct Production volume is short wood produced by a mechanised harvesting contractor, but it also includes an element of mature hardwood felled using traditional motor manual techniques.
The District Standing Sales Programme of 54,500 m3 is currently delivered by the Beat Foresters who work closely with the Land Management and Planning teams, to deliver Forest Design Plan and conservation objectives while offering Timber Merchants and Harvesting Contractors opportunities to buy, harvest, and sell- on standing timber from the FE Estate.
The standing sales programme has recently increased from 30,000m3 and this is a new post to manage and support our delivery of the increased programme.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Your role will be to provide support to the Harvesting Forester (Standing Sales) and District Foresters, through the timely preparation of standing sales parcels for national and local sales events. This will involve supporting the Harvesting Forester (Standing Sales) to deliver front line supervision and site management of Tariffing operations by contractors and liaison with Beat Foresters, our Civil Engineering Team, Archaeology surveyors and others. You will assist in setting and maintaining standards in all aspects of this process ahead of the harvesting operations.

You will:-

• Support the Harvesting Forester (Standing Sales) to prepare standing sales in line with the District Harvesting Programme
• Support in leading and managing staff and contractors to prepare sales in line with the operational site assessment silvicultural prescriptions
• Supervise contractors with regular site visits to ensure that contracts are delivered within the agreed timescales
• Record and file site visits reports in SharePoint Contract folders
• Ensure that conservation areas, archaeological features are clearly identified during the marking process
• Support setting and maintaining operational / Health and Safety standards.
• Be available to support the contract management of harvesting sites and tree safety programme
• The successful candidate may be expected to join the South England Forest District Duty Officer roster. This would require you to act as Duty Officer providing 24 hr emergency contact cover for a period of one week in approximately every 14 weeks i.e. approximately 4 times per year.

ESSENTIAL EXPERIENCE

• Relevant experience in forestry or land management.
• Competence with a wide range of IT applications including Microsoft Office Suite.
• Competence with GIS applications

DESIRABLE EXPERIENCE

• Hold a recognised Forestry qualification to at least National Diploma level.
• Good understanding of and experience in the application of Health & Safety in forest operations.
• A sound understanding of and experience in the application of contract management.
• A sound understanding of measuring timber in accordance with “Forest Mensuration: A handbook for Practitioners” commonly known as the blue book.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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

• Contract Management
• Health and Safety

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,941, Forestry Commission contributes £8,094 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Flexible working to support a healthy work/life balance.
• 25 days holiday pa with an extra day’s holiday entitlement each year over the first 5 years up to a maximum of 30 days per year, plus bank holidays and 2.5 extra days leave. (all pro-rata)3 days paid volunteering leave every year (once you have passed probation).Access to technical and personal development training and qualifications that are tailored to your role.
• 5 days dedicated to your self-driven development each year.
• Extensive opportunities for further learning through Civil Service Learning.
• Reimbursement of professional membership fees.
• Employee benefits that include (but are not limited to) the Cycle to Work scheme, free high-street and online discounts and offers through ‘STaR’, and the opportunity to join the Civil Services Sports Council.
• The brilliant Civil Service Pensions scheme.
• Access to our dedicated Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that gives free, confidential and independent support - whether it is personal or work-related.
• Free eyesight tests and £100 voucher for glasses for visual display usage.
• Pay advances of up to £5,000 for computers, sports equipment, or training costs.
• Free parking at all Forestry Commission sites (including Moors Valley Country Park and Alice Holt Forest) and free entry into our National Arboretum in Westonbirt.
• Up to 15% discount at Forest Live Events, Forest Holidays cabins, and Go Ape outdoor activity centres.
• Numerous retail discounts including 10% off at Forestry Commission shops and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
• 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 28.97%

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)

Environment and Sustainability
Operational Delivery