Senior Specialist - Natural Grazing and Herbivory

Salary: £40,388 – £43,482

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: 37 hours per week

Vacancy closes: Sunday 31st May 23:58

Forestry England’s Biodiversity Plan sets out a bold ambition of nature recovery in the nation’s forests. Working across five principal focus areas, Forestry England aims to restore resilient biodiversity in the nation’s forests, delivering our vision to ensure that these forests provide the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England.

Established in 2022, Forestry England’s Forest Wilding Programme brings together two of these focus areas as part of a co‑ordinated effort to deliver a step‑change in nature recovery. Our species recovery work focuses on the reintroduction of key influential species, such as beaver, wildcat, pine marten, white‑tailed eagle and wood ants. Alongside this nationwide effort, we have established Wild Areas on over 16,000 ha of the nation’s forests, bringing innovative approaches together with a sound evidence base to shift our land management to restore and enhance natural processes.

As a Senior Specialist you will play a key role in the national Forest Wilding Programme Team, bringing your deep knowledge and experience to bear as we support the implementation of species recovery and wild area projects across England. The post holder will bring technical skills and insight, combined with the ability to interpret and apply evidence and good practice, helping to shape national and local decision‑making, supporting ambitious nature recovery delivery on the ground.

Where you’ll work: The post holder can be based anywhere in the country from any Forestry England office, but we support hybrid working from home.

Benefits:

• 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.

Equal Opportunities: 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. 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 support for the Biodiversity Programme, 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.