Wild Area Officer

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.

The Wild Area Officer will oversee the development and delivery of one (initially Wild Ingoldsby) or more wild area projects in the district, managing them through concept and definition project stages, and facilitating their effective implementation on the ground. The post holder will be responsible for bringing the concept of wild areas to life, delivering at scale and pace to meet Forestry England’s ambitions for nature recovery.

Within Central England Forest District, working out of an office at either Sherwood Pines (NG21 9JL), Market Rasen (LN8 3RQ) or Fineshade (NN17 3BB). Hybrid home working available. Travel across England will be required.

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Project Management
  • Lead on the development of the vision and the project plan for one or more wild area projects.
  • Apply appropriate project management principles to ensure effective and timely project implementation, in accordance with Forest Wilding Programme guidance and framework.
  • Produce, maintain and review relevant project documentation throughout the project lifecycles.
  • Develop annual and long-term work programmes and budgets for the projects, supported by relevant project boards and the Forest Wilding Programme Team.
  • Manage a delegated budget to ensure the projects are managed within budgetary limits and fiscal guidelines.
  • Support funding bids for external funding and ensure that commitments to funders for the projects are appropriately met through project delivery.
  • Work with the Wild Areas Manager and Wild Area projects to ensure that programme, corporate and funder reporting requirements are met.
• Land Management
  • Lead on the development of land management plans for individual wild area projects, working with district colleagues and the Forest Wilding Programme Team to drive nature recovery at the landscape scale.
  • Lead the investigation of appropriate techniques which will deliver the vision for wild areas in restoring natural processes, ensuring there is a sound evidence base for land management interventions.
  • Implement agreed land management plans on the ground, including for example, installation of grazing infrastructure, management of herbivores, forest management, tree planting, peatland restoration, hydrological restoration.
  • Lead the development and delivery of a stakeholder management plan, and take the lead in building and managing relationships with relevant stakeholders.
  • Procure and manage contracts, services and contractors, including graziers, forestry contractors, consultants and academic institutions.
  • Ensure Forestry England procurement and contract management regulations are followed throughout the project.
  • Support the investigation of the (re)introduction of influential species to wild areas, which help restore natural processes.
• Knowledge and Monitoring
  • Support the implementation of Forestry England’s evidence framework, in assembling evidence to support decision-making and monitoring the success of land management interventions for nature recovery.
  • Work with the national Forest Wilding programme team, colleagues from Forest Research and wider academia to learn from, identify synergies and efficiencies and share best practice across the Forest Wilding programme.
  • Commission, manage and interpret surveys to gather baseline information relevant to wild area projects, including eDNA soil analysis, ecological and hydrological information.
  • Undertake or commission feasibility studies to explore innovative approaches to secure nature recovery in wild areas.
• Communications and public engagement
  • Work with district and national communications colleagues to develop and implement communications plans for relevant wild areas and the Forest Wilding programme.
  • Where relevant, support the development of partnerships with neighbouring landowners to increase the scale and effectiveness of landscape scale nature recovery.
  • Showcase the project to internal and external stakeholders to gain support for forest wilding, nature recovery and further delivery within the nation’s forests.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• A track record of successfully developing, managing and coordinating nature recovery projects.
• An experienced project manager, able to manage and prioritise workloads, meet deadlines and solve problems, and manage budgets.
• Strong ecological knowledge, with practical experience of a range of land management interventions including in woodlands, heaths, wetlands, and uplands, relevant to the location of the role.
• Experience of procurement and contract management, especially in the relevant areas of land management, feasibility studies and ecological survey and monitoring.
• A great team worker, adept at working under your own initiative and as part of a multi‑disciplinary team, taking ownership of the responsibilities of the role, building collaborative working relationships with colleagues, and being adaptable in the face of changing situations.
• Demonstrable skills in stakeholder management, with a track record of developing constructive collaborative relationships with a wide range of stakeholder groups, including public sector, private sector, and non‑governmental organisations, volunteers and community groups.
• An excellent communicator, both written and verbally, able to adapt to a range of audiences.
• Competent using information technology, and sound knowledge of Microsoft Office suite, especially Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams.

Desirable professional and technical experience

• Sound experience in the forestry sector.
• Experience of procurement and contract management.
• Working knowledge of environmental legislation and designations, including their practical application.

Qualifications

Essential

• Ecology or environmental degree, or equivalent professional experience in nature‑focused land management.
• A full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK.

Desirable

• A recognised project management qualification.
• A member of a relevant professional body, e.g. Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, Institute of Chartered Foresters.

Behaviours

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

• Alongside your salary of £33,854, Forestry Commission contributes £9,807 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
• 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%.