Regulations Development Project Officer

Do you want to be at the forefront of shaping the law in England to help protect and manage our trees and woodlands? Then this may be the role for you.

As we face the climate emergency, society has never been more interested in England’s tree and woodland resource. The Government aims to increase woodland cover to 16.5% by 2050, and to improve the sustainable management of our existing woodland. At the same time, there has never been so much pressure on England’s woodlands – environmental and social pressures, pests and diseases, illegal felling, lack of management.

The Forestry Commission (FC) are the Government’s forestry experts. We work with the forestry and environmental sectors nationally and locally to expand, protect, improve, and connect England’s valuable woodland assets.

We are recruiting two project officers – one permanent, one fixed-term appointment to cover maternity leave – to work in the FC’s National Grants and Regulations (NGR) team. NGR is one of our national teams and is responsible for tendering grants and incentives for woodland creation, woodland management and tree health activities, and for developing, implementing and enforcing forestry regulations.

Within NGR, the Regulations team is responsible for managing the regulations that govern tree and woodland management activities in England – such as tree felling, woodland creation and protecting habitats and species. It ensures those activities meet the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard and carries out enforcement activity where breaches of regulations are identified.

The project officers will work alongside colleagues in the Regulations Development side of the team, who focus on the reform of legislation, regulations, policy, procedures and systems. They will be an agile, resilient member of the team able to focus on a broad range of projects – from regulatory reform to systems development. They will also contribute to the development of agricultural policy and regulations through participation in the Farming and Countryside Programme – ensuring trees and woodland are adequately protected in the farming landscape. They will each be managed by an HEO and work alongside two other EOs in the team.

Our aim is to have a regulatory environment fit for the 21st century. We aim to create a well-informed, self-reliant, regulations-compliant woodland and forestry sector, and to have appropriate enforcement mechanisms in place where incidents of non-compliance occur.

It is an inspiring time to be involved. You could be instrumental in helping safeguard England’s trees and woodlands – now and for future generations.

The NGR Regulations Development Project Officers will:

• Work closely with Defra and Forestry Commission policy leads, Natural England, and other public bodies on relevant legislative, regulatory, policy, and procedure reform, and system development.
• Work directly on the development or updating of forestry legislation, regulation, policy, and of digital ways of working for an improved regulatory experience, to contribute to increased efficiency and lessening the burden of regulation on business.
• Become a regulatory ’subject matter expert’ responsible for the development and management of consistent, correct guidance on operational practice, business process, and associated support materials, for use by other Forestry Commission teams, Defra, and other external stakeholders.
• Be able to work independently in a fast-paced environment and will adapt to short term deadlines and seasonal peaks and troughs in workloads across the year in a dynamic and efficient way.
• Ensure all work on forestry regulation is addressed in a manner which is timely, accurate, and in accord with any relevant regulations, and to seek legal advice when appropriate
• Occasionally provide cover for other NGR Regulations team staff, other NGR business areas, and to Defra forestry policy team as well. They may also need to travel to other offices and to meeting venues to support development of regulatory activity.
• Contribute to the design, implementation, and communication of the Forestry Commission’s approach to regulation and enforcement and contribute to reducing non-compliant or illegal activity.

The Forestry Commission is growing its capacity across many business areas. The NGR Regulations Development Project Officer has the following responsibilities.

Key Work Areas:

Team working and people:

• Work collaboratively with the immediate line manager, with Forestry Commission and Defra policy leads, and with other staff within the NGR Regulations team. 
• Provide support at stakeholder meetings, as required, and lead on organising events to promote, for example, regulatory reform updates, training etc.
• Meet short term and seasonal work deadlines, and plan for regulatory activity throughout the year; be responsive to unexpected peaks and troughs in legislative, regulatory, policy and other work areas.

Regulations:

• Using copywriting, editing, and project management skills to review, develop and update drafts or final copy of regulatory advice, policy, guidance or instruction.
• Source content to accurately present new policy narrative, guidance and instruction for emerging areas of regulatory change, ensuring outputs are clear and accurate.
• Contribute to, maintain and develop regulation focused management information, including information on data trackers and GIS. Ensure completeness and accuracy and respond to ad-hoc requests for data-related information.
• Contribute to and help maintain a document library for forestry related legal advice.

Change and Development:

• Keep abreast of changes in the operating and regulatory environment, and on feedback from customers of Forestry Commission systems and regulatory services, and identify opportunities for simplifications, efficiencies and performance improvement.
• Support development and testing of new digital systems, technology, and ways of working (e.g., WordPress, O365 / SharePoint, GIS) and provide fresh insight into doing tasks in collaborative and efficient way.

Networks:

• Maintain a network of contacts across the Forestry Commission, Defra policy teams, Arm’s Length Bodies, environmental NGOs and sector engagement groups in the forestry sector and beyond.

ESSENTIAL

• Experience of successfully delivering tasks across multiple work areas to short term and changeable deadlines.
• Experience or relevant working knowledge of delivering regulatory processes, reviewing regulatory cases and dealing with regulatory customers communications.
• Experience of managing data and preparing management information reports to exacting specification and deadlines
• Confidence to deal with occasional adversarial situations and to sustain a viewpoint.
• A competent IT user with experience of the MS Office suite of applications, SharePoint, and ability to learn new bespoke IT systems quickly.
• Confidence and self-motivated to function at pace in a blended working environment, and to use online communications to maintain regular contact with the wider NGR Regulations team.

DESIRABLE

• A clear understanding of current forestry policies (England Trees Action Plan), the England tree planting programme, and the potential for regulatory change in relation to England, post EU exit.
• A working knowledge of current tree felling controls, EIA forestry regulations, Habitats and Species regulations and other related regulations.
• Experience of project management, including the development of organisational and business process changes, IT system changes, and development of individuals.

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Working Together

• 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 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.

Job contact :

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

Recruitment team

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