Ranger – Dartmoor (West)

As part of the Trust’s Ranger Team

You will deliver safe public access and positive, informative visitor experiences alongside caring for the environment and maintaining to a standard of excellence, the facilities and grounds at Burrator and across west Dartmoor.

In delivering your role you will

• Champion and contribute to our vision – healthy lakes, landscapes and lives

• Contribute to meeting our strategic impacts

• Our managed landscapes will be abundant, diverse and connected
• The biodiversity of our places is enhanced and better connected
• We strive to be carbon neutral in our activities and processes
• Lives will be enhanced from experiencing the outdoors
• A more diverse range of people and more young people are inspired by and engaged with our places and experiences
• The health and wellbeing of more people is improved

Introduction

• Our Rangers work around the lakes and reservoirs of southwest England, conserving and protecting land and property of public interest and/or of statutory designation.
• Our Rangers work varied shift patterns, including evenings, weekends and bank holidays depending on the time of year and visitor demands.

Our visitor locations are open seven days a week and tend to be busiest at weekends, in school holidays and during good weather.

What you will do as our Ranger

• Play an integral part in planning and delivering safe public access at the locations within your responsibility, working closely with the Trust’s Activity and Angling teams, enabling our visitors to feel welcome, have a safe and enjoyable visit as well as outstanding, inspirational experiences at our lakes.
• Plan and take responsibility for day-to-day maintenance of the locations in your care, working with volunteers and wider teams on site to ensure the grounds and its facilities are presented to the highest standard.

This will include engaging and managing contractors, grass cutting, tree work and footpath maintenance as well as assisting with the management of our built assets.

• Work closely with the Trust’s environment team to plan and deliver work for the benefit of the environment at the locations within your responsibility including developing and delivering habitat work plans, archaeological protection plans, agri-environment schemes and reporting on invasive non-native species or other conservation concerns.
• Take responsibility for delivering agreed plans and work relating to the above in line with the Trust’s relevant policies, procedures and risk assessments.
• Deliver improvements to the facilities and grounds at the locations within your responsibility in line with agreed plans
• Provide excellent customer service to visitors and colleagues
• Develop excellent relationships with neighbours, stakeholders and our visitors, handling enquiries and promoting the Trust through a public facing presence.
• Discourage and challenge unsafe and antisocial behaviour as required and promote responsible visitor behaviour
• Support the fisheries and activities teams ensuring a great experience is always available, engaging with customers and promoting safe and enjoyable use of the sites, ensuring all regulations and rules are upheld.
• Maximise car park and friends’ membership income through initiatives, education, and information to the public.
• Work with colleagues to ensure compliance with statutory duties such as the Conservation Access and Recreation Code of Practice, Countryside Code and assisting delivery integrated management plans.
• Take responsibility for developing and managing relevant land management and project budgets, placing orders and raising invoices as necessary.
• Take responsibility for the proper care and maintenance of equipment and vehicles in line with their operating manuals, ensuing required safety checks are carried out.

Maintain facilities and carry out routine checks of playground equipment, site furniture, legionella etc. making sure online monitoring records are kept up to date in line with specified timescales.

• Recruit, on-board, train, manage and supervise volunteers (individual and groups) in line with the Trust’s procedures and develop programmes of work for them, taking accountability for their performance and delivery of objectives.
• Deliver education sessions to schools and adult groups from time to time as requested.
• Undertake training and development as required by the Trust and be available to train colleagues.
• Take responsibility for the safety of our informal visitors, ensure that your team comply with procedures to manage risk to the public, self, other staff, volunteers and contractors.

Ensure that high quality risk assessments are carried out in line with Trust guidance for works you are undertaking and supervising and monitor compliance with safety procedures.

• Take responsibility for visitor safety risk assessment and safety inspections, ensuring electronic records are accurate and regularly updated.
• Carry out such other duties as may reasonably be assigned by the Trust.

About you

You will share our values

• Inclusive – we respect others and want to help everyone to enjoy the outdoors.
• Trustworthy – we will keep our word, we are credible, honest and fair.
• Collaborative – we work together in our teams, communities and partnerships.
• Responsible – we act to benefit society and are accountable for our actions.
• Ambitious – we are determined to do more for people and the planet.
• You will be flexible in your approach, recognising that a Ranger’s allocation of time varies dynamically throughout the year (in summer, engagement and public safety takes most time, whilst out of the main visitor season there is greater focus on tasks to maintain the estate and protect wildlife habitats).
• You will be confident operating independently in outdoor countryside environments, in all weather conditions, often lone working on and around water.
• You will be confident and proactive in holding challenging, constructive conversations with the public including where South West Water Reservoir Regulations and rules set down by the Trust are breached.
• You will be able to work effectively as part of a team
• Given the variety of internal and external stakeholders you’ll be engaging with, it is vitally important that you have excellent interpersonal, communication and influencing skills
• You will be practically minded with a skillset to deliver safe public access and environmental work
• You are passionate about delivering positive experiences for people and caring for the environment
• You are self-motivated and set your own goals
• What you will need (knowledge, experience and skills)

Essential Criteria | Desirable Criteria

Skills/ Experience

• Practical outdoor manual labour
• Safe use of hand tools and power tools
• Working and engaging with the general public
• Supervising volunteers
• High quality customer service
• Dynamic risk assessment
• Countryside management (estate maintenance)
• Enforcement and ensuring compliance with countryside and access legislation
• Volunteer Management
• Conflict resolution
• Cleaning skills
• Social media and promotional skills

Qualifications

• Driving licence
• Strimmer
• Trailer towing
• Powerboat
• Tree safety checks
• Workshop / hand-tools qualifications
• COSHH awareness
• Chainsaw
• Tractor operator

Education / experience

• GCSE’s to grade C in English
• Computer literate – MS Word, Excel and Outlook (emails)
• Customer service
• Countryside management
• Conservation
• Public Access
• Fishing
• Knowledge
• Outdoor recreation
• Good knowledge of health and safety and risk assessment
• Understanding of issues related to working outdoors and lone working
• Water industry
• Trees and tree safety
• Fishing – coarse or game
• Behaviours
• Building understanding and trust
• Customer focused
• Driving results / self-starter
• Effective communication
• Personal effectiveness
• Teamwork
• Willingness to learn and develop new skills
• Keen to present oneself and sites to the best for people and nature
• Behaviours

• Demonstrate an ethical approach including

• Long term thinking for biodiversity and people;
• Ability to advocate for the Trust and empower others;
• Uphold and promote equality and dignity in all that you do;
• Act in an environmentally responsible way
• Positively engage and consult with customers and stakeholders to achieve more.
• Take responsibility for the safety of yourself, colleagues, volunteers and customers.

Comply with the Trust’s Health and Safety Policy and defined standards.

Ensure safe use of appropriate equipment; follow Risk Assessments and Method Statements.

• Thinking visitor first you will be proactive and innovate to make sure visitors want to return and do more. A self-starter and team player you will be motivated to achieve more.
• Being aware of your own responsibilities regarding safeguarding and to support our commitment to providing safe environments and working practises that promote and protect the safety and welfare of children, young people and adults at risk at all times.

• Be committed to delivering our strategic outcomes

• Our managed landscapes will be abundant, diverse, and connected;
• Lives will be enhanced from experiencing the outdoors.

About us

• As an independent charity, our purpose is to protect special places for people and wildlife; in doing this we care for over 40 inland waters in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset.

Ranging in size from one to nine hundred acres, the lakes provide unrivalled access to water sports, angling, walking and cycling, and are places you can be active or play and explore all day long.

• We take great pride in protecting and enhancing these locations for the future and for people to value and enjoy.

They provide a perfect setting for a great day out, be it for a stroll, to play, nature watch or enjoy adventurous activities such as stand up paddle boarding, kayaking or sailing.

• We offer a stakeholder pension scheme after 3 months of employment, with a 5% contribution matched by the company, 23 days holiday (plus statutory bank holidays) rising to 25 days after 5 years and 28 after 10, a culture of investing in our employees through training and development and the opportunity to work in some of the most beautiful places in the south west.

Benefits

• Free parking at all sites
• 20% discount in Roadford Lake Café
• 20% discount on Watersports Activities including Camping
• 20% discount of Fishing permits (Day Tickets only)
• 70% discount off Wimbelball Café (must be wearing uniform)
• Employer pension contribution of 5% for all staff (two schemes – auto-enrolement run by Now pensions and Work place pension scheme run by Scottish Widows)
• Free eye tests for employees with a basic glasses allowance of £25
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