Westonbirt Arboretum - Forestry England
Mechanic - Mechanical Engineering Field Service Engineer
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Job Introduction
We are Forestry England.
We live and breathe forests.
Job title – Mechanic - Mechanical Engineering Field Service Engineer
Salary - £30,105 per annum
Contract type – Permanent
Hours – 37 hours per week
Vacancy closes - Monday 26th October 2026 23:58
Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.
Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.
What You’ll Do…
As a Mechanical Engineering Field Service Engineer (Mobile Mechanic), you will deliver an efficient, value for money service that supports Forestry England in achieving its operational objectives. You will be responsible for maintaining and repairing vehicles and specialist forestry equipment, ensuring the fleet is professionally and cost‑effectively managed to maximise availability and reliability.
The role will involve carrying out inspections, servicing, repairs, welding and fabrication, and recovery work at operational worksites and other locations as required. Equipment maintained will typically include chainsaws, trailers, quad bikes, agricultural machinery such as tractors and associated attachments, as well as cars, vans, and 4x4 vehicles.
This is a workshop based role but includes a mobile role requiring a proactive and flexible approach to supporting frontline operations.
The post reports to the Mechanical Engineering Chargehand / Service Delivery Administrator.
Please refer to the full job description for further details on the role requirements and candidate criteria.
Where you’ll work…
This role is based from our Santon Downham Workshop situated in the East district, Thetford Forest just outside of Brandon. This workshop covers Forestry England's East, South and West districts so traveling will be expected at times. Overtime payments and expenses rates will be offered to cover travel periods.
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East England Forest District, covers an area of 35,000 hectares from North Norfolk to Brighton; including Thetford Forest and the outlying beats of Sandlings, Kent, East Sussex, Chilterns and Thames Chase Community Forest. The District has a varied landholding including the largest lowland pine forest in England at Thetford, community woodland on the outskirts of London at Thames Chase, and a range of mixed woodland, many of which are on sites of Ancient Woodland.
Benefits…
Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
- 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
- STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
- free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
- a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.
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 experience, technical and strength based questions during your interview. There will be a small practical technical assessment where you will be required to carry out a walk around inspection to identify any defects.
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The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Making Effective Decisions
- Changing and Improving
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
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.
Nationality Requirements…
Read more about nationality requirements here.
Working for the Civil Service…
Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.
Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.
Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.
Attached documents
- Forestry England Job Description – Mechanical Engineering Field Service Engineer (PB6A).pdf
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