Nature Recovery Manager in Ashington

Join to apply for the Nature Recovery Manager role at Forestry England. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Salary: Pay Band 4 – £40,388 to £43,482

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: 37 hrs/week

Vacancy closes: 23:55 25/01/2026

We are Forestry England. We live and breathe forests. 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

This is an exciting and diverse job, with the potential to play a key role in some of the country’s largest and most innovative wilding projects. Leading a small team, the successful candidate will manage Forestry England North District’s forest wilding projects, ensuring they meet the aims of nature recovery, timber production and public engagement. Initial priorities will include implementation of the 6,500 ha Wild Kielder project, as well as initiating and developing new wild core areas within the District. The Nature Recovery Manager will manage delegated budgets and work with national and district colleagues to identify and secure external funding for forest wilding.

Where you’ll work

The post will be based at Forestry England’s Bellingham office, with hybrid home working available. Travel across England will be required.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday a year, rising 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, hotel stays, clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills and 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.

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 a technical skill, experience, strength and behaviour‑based questions during your interview.

Behaviours being assessed at interview

• Seeing the big picture
• Delivering at pace
• Working together
• Making effective decisions

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check. If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email us for more information. If you’re planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you have read our guidelines first.

This role is funded by Defra rather than through Forestry England generated revenue, and is therefore subject to government spending reviews. While Defra has indicated long‑term funding for the Biodiversity Programme and we expect funding to continue, it is possible that funding levels may change at the end of any financial year depending on Defra’s budget allocations. In the event of funding changes, we would prioritise retaining staff posts wherever possible. The position is being offered on a permanent basis, given the indications from Defra regarding funding. This approach is consistent for roles within publicly funded organisations. We are committed to keeping staff informed and supported through any changes.

Nationality requirements: Please read more about nationality requirements here. 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.