Westonbirt Arboretum - Forestry England
Project Manager
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Project Manager
Project Manager - Covid Commemoration
About Forestry England
We are Forestry England. We live and breathe forests. At Forestry England, we care for the nation’s forests for people, nature, and the economy. Our forests are special places designed to be accessible, inclusive, and meaningful for all—spaces to explore, connect, reflect, and belong.
We connect people with nature, creating opportunities to experience the proven health and wellbeing benefits that time spent in forests brings. Together, we’re creating places that matter—today and for generations to come.
Job Summary
Title: Project Manager – Covid Commemoration Salary: £40,388 - £43,382 per annum Contract Type: Fixed-Term (until 30th June 2028) Hours: 37 hours per week Location: Blended working possible (nominally based at Forestry England offices in England), with travel required
Closing Date: 12th July, 23:58 Interviews: 20th & 27th July, in-person at our Bristol office
About the Role
In this vital role, you will lead the delivery of a nationally significant programme to create Covid Commemoration spaces across the nation’s forests. These spaces will enable people to:
- Reflect, remember, and reconnect with shared experiences.
- Connect with meaningful landscapes that promote wellbeing and healing.
You will:
- Lead a multi-site programme require balancing sensitivity, quality, and strong governance.
- Collaborate with colleagues, external partners, consultants, and communities to ensure spaces reflect local voices and lived experience.
- Navigate complexity, risk, budgets, and timelines while fostering co-creation and inclusive design.
This role combines technical project management with engaging thought leadership, ensuring that places of reflection and remembrance are welcome and accessible for everyone.
Responsibilities
You will:
- Set a nationwide vision, ensuring each Covid Commemoration space creates a meaningful connection to the environment, people, and history.
- Coordinate delivery across multiple forest locations, ensuring timely and high-quality finalisations.
- Work closely with colleagues across Forestry England as well as external partners, communities, and facilitators to align local voices and expertise.
- Drive collaboration to achieve sensitive and inclusive design—integrating cultural understanding, appropriate materials, and sensitive symbolism.
- Lead a process to construct and install facilitation materials in line with regulatory, legal, ethical, and health and safety standards.
- Deliver communications and engagement activities to coach and support external teams to ensure high standards are consistently delivered on the ground.
- Lead complex projects while proactively managing risk, budgets, timelines, and capability.
- Present and champion the programme goals internally and externally playing a lead role in inspiring and developing clear lines of escalation if or when challenges arise.
- Report to stakeholders, facilitating engaging and insightful feedback and contributing to broader ${\tt Macro}$ significance feedback.
- Champion the values of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and embed strategies into the project delivery process ensuring consideration for all and at all stages.
- Paying excellent attention to detail is critical in all communications, documentation, and project deliverables.
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Requirements
Essential
- Strong problem-solving skills, project management experience, and the ability to take decisions under pressure while managing risk.
- Excellent time management, high standards, and the ability to deliver complex projects beyond KPIs.
- Leadership skills and the ability to work across organisations at different professional levels.
- Enthusiasm for working with diverse stakeholders and creative energy, embracing innovative ways of working.
- Good written and oral communication skills.
- Project management experience is essential.
Desirable
- demonstrable knowledge of a wide selection of commemoration projects.
- Understanding of substantial community engagement and facilitation within formal events.
Skills and Knowledge
- Experience in executing projects that meet complex briefs and have multiple layers of requirement.
- Competence in shaping and effectively communicating rationale for such projects.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with external teams to achieve creative deliverables.
- The ability to embed EDI mapping and practice within all work.
- Knowledge of working in the des conjecture of open spaces, shared altruistic projects, and nature conservation.
Benefits
Core Benefits
- Contributions towards a pension scheme (average 28.97%).
- 25 days holiday annual leave (rising by one day per year to a maximum of 30, pro-rated for part-time).
- Involvement in STaR, our employees benefits scheme, offering discounts on shopping, travel, insurance, gyms, phones, and wellness.
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Additional Offers
- Free parking at Forestry England sites.
- Free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
- Investment in lifelong learning, including career development, sponsorships, and continued professional development.
Location and Relocation Policy
- Must be able to relocate to long-term mixed located office–based and site-based contract.
- Occasionally required to travel overnight for necessary fieldwork or offsite events.
- This role can only be worked in the UK.
How to Apply
Candidates will be required to:
- Write a 200-word statement on their relevant experience and career achieved.
- Provide a 500-word personal statement outlining why the candidate is the best fit.
- These submissions will be evaluated in the early screening phase.
Further assessment includes:
- Strength-based questions during interviews.
- Short presentation.
The Civil Service Behaviours Being Assessed
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Additional Information
- All applicants must demonstrate a reasonable working understanding of spoken English.
- Civil Service DCS Disability Confident applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria will be guaranteed an interview.
- Current Civil Servants at risk of redundancy meet the baseline requirements will also benefit from a redeployment interview process.
- Acting "non-discriminatory" towards prisoner leavers and veterans.
Those requiring reasonable adjustments should email fcrecrruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
Forestry England & Working for the Civil Service
Usually, positions such as this one will lead to a permanent role within the Civil Service working across many projects with similar meaningful objectives.
Disability Confident Commitments
Forestry England is part of a Disability Confident initiative. Guaranteed interviews will be provided for applicants who meet the minimum selection criteria under this policy.
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