HR Advisor in Wendover

We are Forestry England. We live and breathe forests.

Salary - £33,854

Contract type – Fixed term appointment for 18 months from start date

Vacancy closes - 22nd June 23:58

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.

We’ve not always been known for our conservation work, but Forestry England have bold ambitions to be a leading force for nature recovery. Our progress is real and measurable: FSC certified since 1999, WWF’s 'Gift to the Earth' award in 2001, and commitments to restore all our ancient woodlands in 2007 and 11,000 hectares of open habitats in 2013. In 2022 we launched our first Biodiversity Plan with a clear goal to make the nation’s forests the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England.

As HR Advisor, you will act as the first point of contact to our managers, providing advice and guidance to the business to improve people management capability and manage casework. We provide HR support to teams across the whole of England, so travel will be involved including occasional overnight stays. We aim to provide a great place to work and blended working forms part of our flexible and inclusive approach to future ways of working. It is an informal arrangement which gives you the option to work some of the week from home, and some of the week from our Forestry Commission workplaces, subject to role requirements, business needs, and regular review. Informal blended working arrangements will be available as agreed with the line manager.

Where you’ll work: You can be based at our Wendover site or Santon Downham site. There will be an expectation for the post holder to travel across the South and East districts as well as to National Office in Bristol and other sites across the Country.

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, rising by one day every year of service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.

STAriS 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 experience, behaviours and strength based questions during your interview. You may be asked to complete an assessment exercise as part of this.

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 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. This approach is consistent for roles within publicly funded organisations. We are committed to keeping staff informed and supported through any changes.

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.