Engagement Support Officer

Salary - £29,171 (pro-rata) Contract type – 12 months, fixed term, with possibility of extension.

Join us. We are 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 we move forward with different projects across the south of England, there’s a growing need to engage with communities; this post is key to ‘telling our story’ to local communities involved. You’ll be asked to talk to people and stakeholders about the different programmes and projects, as well as wider recreation issues in the area. You’ll also be responsible for formulating responses to queries, talking about the work we are doing, championing and helping others to understand our work and objectives. You will co-ordinate responses and engagement plans associated with the team’s delivery in the region.

You will be expected to have knowledge of Forestry England’s recreation offer and understand the landscape sensitivities. You will have excellent communication skills, able to adopt a very flexible approach to the varied tasks assigned to you. You will also have excellent organisational and time management skills to balance the role. You’ll need to work well within a team and be capable of building good relationships, while communicating clearly both verbally and in writing.

Where you’ll work… This role is based at South District office in Lyndhurst, Hampshire, three days a week, with opportunity to work from home some days via a blended working framework. Please note, for this role you will need to get to our flagship visitor centres at Alice Holt Forest and Moors Valley as well as our many car park locations across the New Forest, so you’ll need a full valid UK driving licence. However, we will consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means.

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.

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 technical skill and strength-based questions during your interview.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

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 line with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.