Technical Support Officer

at  Forestry Commission

JOB SUMMARY

Forestry Commission - Forest Services - which the Technical Support Officer (Administrator) will be part of, are the government’s forestry experts facilitating delivery of government policy to protect, improve and expand England’s woods and forests. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England’s valuable woodland assets. We encourage good practice through professional advice, partnerships, advocacy and grants while discouraging damaging or inappropriate forestry practice through regulations and standards.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Our work involves engagement with an enormous range of people and organisations, from small landowners and wood business through to large corporations and other public bodies. We are seeking a dynamic individual who learns quickly to provide technical support to our team of Woodland Officers, Woodland Creation Officers and Field Managers.

QUALIFICATIONS

A minimum of 5 GCSE’s/Standard Grades or equivalent (A-C Passes) including Maths and English/English Language is required.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

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

• Practical MS Excel based computer task.

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.

• 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. Further information will be available for candidates invited to interview.
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)

Casework facilitation - provide technical support to South East and London Field Team to help optimise the deployment of field team skills and knowledge.

• Prepare electronic case files from multiple platforms, including SharePoint, allocating cases, and providing further administrative support during processing
• Update national and local ‘trackers’. Owning and maintaining a rolling progress report using Power BI and Excel to create local reports and dashboards to provide management information on all casework for managers.
• Prepare electronic Forestry Commission case files on local network and supporting Field Managers in uploading approved case files.
• Download applications for various schemes, conduct checks & prepare template & supporting documentation for Field Team.
• Support wider team members with ad-hoc requests including reporting, data interrogation and technical and system advice

TYPE OF ROLE

Administration / Corporate Support
Environment and Sustainability
Information Technology
Knowledge and Information Management

RESPONSIBILITIES

Casework facilitation - provide technical support to South East and London Field Team to help optimise the deployment of field team skills and knowledge.

• Prepare electronic case files from multiple platforms, including SharePoint, allocating cases, and providing further administrative support during processing
• Update national and local ‘trackers’. Owning and maintaining a rolling progress report using Power BI and Excel to create local reports and dashboards to provide management information on all casework for managers.
• Prepare electronic Forestry Commission case files on local network and supporting Field Managers in uploading approved case files.
• Download applications for various schemes, conduct checks & prepare template & supporting documentation for Field Team.
• Support wider team members with ad-hoc requests including reporting, data interrogation and technical and system advice.

Triaging enquiries from the South East and London TSO email inbox (and other sources) answering or forwarding to relevant team members if required.
Provide admin support including dealing with, and responding to, queries from the public, applicants, external organisations and other public bodies.
Support field team with updates to National regulations and process changes
While most of the work is administrative the post offers an opportunity to learn how trees, woods and forestry deliver a range of environmental, social and economic benefits and how Government supports this.