GIS and Planning Assistant

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are increasingly valuable tools for managing the nation’s forests. The GIS and Planning Assistant is an exciting role that will support our forestry, environment and wider land management teams in the East Forest District by coordinating the collection, processing and management of accurate and insightful spatial data. You will use this data to support important decision making processes, such as forest planning and operational planning. This will involve the production of maps, reports and other analyses and visualisations of spatial data. It will also involve working with a wide range of colleagues, from ecologists to foresters, to make sure that outputs are accurate and meet the high standards of our sustainable forest management certifications. You will be an important part of the Planning Team, who provide expertise in forest planning, in close collaboration with the Environment and Forest and Land Management teams. In particular, you will work closely with, and learn from, the Forest Planner. You will assist the Forest Planner in the production and review of forest plans and the coordination of our operational planning processes.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

• Coordinate and assist with the collection, processing, and management of spatial data that supports forest and operational planning.
• This will require you to coordinate procedures for gathering data, such as tree planting returns, tree safety management surveys, and forest tariffing.
• Update essential data sets, such as the sub‑compartment database, tree safety, thinning, and conservation records using information gathered from surveys.
• Create new spatial layers, query and analyse spatial data to support management decisions.
• Produce maps, reports and other visual representations of data for Forest Plans and other projects.
• Undertake regular integrity checks of our data to ensure datasets meet the standards required for operational use and compliance with the UK Woodland Assurance Standard.
• Assist the Forest Planner in the production and review of forest plans.
• Provide advice and technical support to colleagues on the use of GIS, including Forester Web, ArcPro and ESRI Field Maps.

General Responsibilities

• Minimise filing backlogs and prioritise workload to meet targets.
• Be familiar with and appropriately adhere to Forestry England Policies and Procedures.
• Keep Health and Safety matters as the overriding determinant at all times and in all circumstances.
• Undertake any other duties reasonably requested by the Forest Planner or Planning Manager.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience using GIS software, preferably ESRI ArcGIS/ArcPro.
• Ability to work with complex spatial data accurately and precisely.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to work collaboratively across teams.
• Proficient user of Microsoft Office applications.

Desirable Criteria

• Basic understanding of forestry, land management, ecology or forest planning.
• Experience with mobile GIS software, e.g. ESRI Field Maps.

Qualifications

Degree qualification in an environmental discipline with a strong GIS component, or demonstrable, equivalent professional experience.

Behaviours

• Delivering at pace
• Working together
• Changing and improving

Technical Skills

Technical skills in GIS will be assessed at interview by a practical test.

Benefits

• 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%

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)
• Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members 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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.