Forestry Commission
Forest Craftsperson
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These roles are based in our East Devon beat team. The office is located at Staple Fitzpaine just outside of Taunton.
Job Summary
You will support the beat forester shaping the land we manage doing a range of operations and inspections in the forest, including helping with practical matters that may arise. You will also be supporting the Wild Neroche Project Officer to help deliver practical interventions, restoring natural process to the landscape. Be a champion of our health & safety culture demonstrating our value of ‘look out and look after’ in our work.
Job Description
Key responsibilities & accountabilities
Operational:
- Practical tasks to support the Wild Neroche project
- Working with ancient and veteran trees
- Restock and establishment work: hand planting, tree guard installation, repairing fences and controlling vegetation.
- Clearing and maintaining trees: high pruning, cutting back and felling.
- Tree safety management: Inspections (LANTRA Basic Tree survey certification), Managing forest users (safety signs and safety fencing) and remedial work (felling, prepare for/assist arb contractors). Tree survey work related to managing potentially hazardous trees.
- Estate maintenance: vegetation and tree management alongside our roads, rides, rights of way and permissive paths. Installing and repairing gates/barriers.
- Make sure work programmes you are responsible for are delivered effectively and efficiently.
- Carrying out risk assessments working to high health and safety standards which are guided by FISA (Forest Industry Safety Accord).
- A variety of surveys and inspections related to timber marketing and forest management; tariffing (timber mensuration), stocking density, ecological, recreation trail inspections and many more.
- When needed, gather operational data accurately and efficiently and maintain appropriate up to date records to the standard required.
- Assist in the delivery of projects centred around Wild Areas and occasional Woodland creation activities.
Team Working And Health And Safety:
- Operate and maintain tools and resources to required standards and make sure work on site meets our health and safety standards.
- By effectively liaising with colleagues and stakeholders, plan, implement and deliver efficient work programmes that help meet Forestry England’s aims and objectives.
- Carrying out risk assessments working to high health and safety standards which are guided by FISA (Forest Industry Safety Accord).
- And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.
Person specification
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
Essential professional and technical experience
- Practical experience of practical work in forestry or countryside / environmental management.
- General understanding of forestry, arboriculture, nature conservation, outdoor recreation and countryside-related issues.
- Competently use a range of hand tools.
- Awareness of health and safety systems relevant to practical countryside work e.g. risk assessments, Forest Industry Safety Accord (FISA) guides and lone working systems.
- Competent IT user with experience in MS Office suite of applications.
- Good interpersonal and communication skills, and ability to work effectively alone and as part of a team.
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Qualifications
Essential
- City & Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award or equivalent in chainsaw maintenance, cross cutting, and felling and processing trees up to 380mm or equivalent qualification.
- Full UK driving license, however the Forestry Commission is willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means.
Desirable
- Forestry or land management qualification.
- Further NPTC and Lantra qualifications in Forestry based skills.
- Emergency first aid at work + forestry (F).
- A GCSE in Maths and English or functional skills equivalent
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
- 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 employer contribution of 28.97%
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.
How To Apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on a technical skill and strength based questions during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Seeing the Big Picture
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
“If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.”
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.
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Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Medical
Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.
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)
Working for the Civil Service
Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in a new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact :
Name: fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Email: fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Recruitment team
Email: fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk
Further information
Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.
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