Regulations and Incentives Support Officer

Never has there been a more important time for trees and forests to help tackle the climate emergency and provide a much-needed sanctuary for people and wildlife. We aim to at least treble tree planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament, reflecting England’s contribution to meeting the UK’s overall target of planting 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this Parliament. This acceleration in current planting rates in England will contribute to meeting the net-zero by 2050 ambitions, and to government’s wider environmental targets. This is supported by the £640m Nature for Climate Fund announced in the March 2020 budget.

Forestry Commission Forest Services are the Government’s forestry experts. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and support the forestry sector to protect,improve and expand England’s valuable woodland assets, ensuring that they continue to provide benefits to people, the environment and the economy.
East and East Midlands – based at Santon Downham in Suffolk.
. The successful candidate will have a blended working approach between home and the office, living within the E&EM area. Formal homeworking may be considered for candidates living more than one hour away from the office.
The East & East Midlands Area stretches from Essex to the Peak District and contains over 250,000 hectares of woodland, 86% of which is owned and managed outside of the Forestry Commission’s estate. We are full of contrasts: have the two least-wooded counties in the UK; some areas are under sea level but others over 600m; we have internationally important ancient woodlands and very productive commercial plantations; we have number of important community initiatives and valuable peri-urban woodlands.
The Area Team operates from two offices distributed over the 12 counties we cover, but most staff currently work from home. The Area Team is led by Steve Scott (Area Director) and currently operates with 50 staff; the team will expand over the coming months to begin meeting the Government’s ambitions to create 30,000 a a year of new woodland in the UK by 2025.

The post includes the need to travel and will include some long journeys and overnight stays both within and outside the Area. During the induction for the role we would expect all RISOs to be spending a significant amount of their time at the Santon Downham office, with FC support depending on home location

Purpose of the Job:

Expand woodland cover – 
a. Champion the multiple benefits of new woodland as business opportunities for land owners and as natural capital (including biodiversity, water quality, flood management, carbon sequestration, etc) for the wider environment and society;
b. Assist Woodland Officers in facilitating the design and delivery of new woodlands optimising the benefits they can deliver to the owner and as natural capital;
c. Assist Woodland Officers in the administration of the Forestry Regulations relating to woodland creation (Environmental Impact Assessment); and
d. Assist Woodland Officers to administer/process applications for grants.

Protect our existing trees and woodlands – 
a. Support Woodland Officers in the administration of Forestry Regulations:
* Forestry Act – Felling Licences,
* Environmental Impact Assessments – deforestation, forest roads and forest quarries, and
* Habitats Regulations – re forest operations within Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation, and Ramsar sites to ensure that tree felling is carried out in accordance with the principles of the UK Forestry Standard;
b. Advise on the links with other legislation such as those pertaining to European Protected Species

Improve the condition and resilience of our existing woodlands and wider treescape – 
a. Champion the benefits of actively managed woodland;
b. Support woodland owners and managers in responding to key challenges of pests and diseases including: ash die back, Phytophthora ramorum, deer and grey squirrels;
c. Work to increase resilience within woodlands to the challenges of a changing climate; and
d. Facilitate closer working across the forestry sector – for instance between markets, contractors,managers, etc

Engaging partners, stakeholders and the public – 
a. Encourage, enthuse and support key partners and stakeholders to help facilitate the expansion,protection and improvement of our woodlands and treescape; and
b. At shows and events champion the many values of trees and woodland to the wider public helping them understand and appreciate the importance and values of active management.

Essential:
– Experience and knowledge of forestry practice in the UK or a similar forestry environment.
– Ability to prioritise and manage a varied workload.
– Proven ability to be innovative, enthusiastic, and prepared to work on your own initiative.
– Comfortable and experienced in using verbal and written communication to engage with stakeholders or customers.
– A minimum of 5 GCSEs/Standard Grades or equivalent (A-C Passes) including English -Language &Maths is required.
– Good computer skills with experience of MS Office.

Desirable:
– Good interpersonal and influencing skills demonstrating the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with internal colleagues and our customers.  – Membership of (or working towards) a relevant professional institute (e.g., Institute of Chartered Foresters).                                                                                          – Evidence of maintaining Continuous Professional Development.

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together

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

• Proven knowledge and experience of forestry or land management experience.

• A Civil Service pension
• A range of family-friendly benefits
• An environment with flexible working options
• Learning and development tailored to your role
• A culture that promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment
• A range of well being benefits including discounted 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.

Job contact :

• Name : Fs Recruitment Team
• Email : fs.recruitment@forestrycommission.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : FCERecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk