Trails and Facilities Supervisor

Job summary

Forestry England are the country�s largest land manager, caring for the nation�s forests for people, nature, and the economy. The foundation of our organisation is our world-class sustainable management of the nation�s�forests. See our plans to �Grow the Future,� Forestry England five-year strategy .

The Central Forest District has responsibility for the management of some 30,000ha of the Nation�s Forests within a triangle formed by Liverpool, Hull, and Milton Keynes. This gives rise to a large diversity of users, customers, neighbours, and pressures, all of which are interacting on a varied backdrop of land uses.

The district has a large resident population and manages 6 significant visitor centres as well as three Community Woodland areas and a high number of other accessible woodlands. We have hundreds of volunteers helping across the district contributing over 50,000 hours of volunteer time each year.

The post will be based at Cannock Chase Forest Centre, within the county of Staffordshire, located north of Birmingham. The forest centre sees approximately 400,000 visitors per year undertaking numerous outdoor activities. The site visitor facilities include car parks, toilets, Grounds cafe, GoApe, Cannock Chase Cycle Centre, play areas, waymarked walking, horse riding, running and cycling trails and several Public Rights of Way.�

This is an exciting opportunity to be a trail and facilities supervisor and be part of the Cannock Forest Centre team. We are looking for someone with an eye for detail, be able to work at pace, be a team player, be able to prioritise different situations, and have a love of Forests and Cannock Chase. The candidate will ideally have experience of managing volunteers and contractors, and experience of working in an outdoor environment.�

Job description

The role is to ensure consistency in safety and quality standards of all the forest facilities and trails, according to the principles of the Visitor Safety Group. The role will also be supporting the running of the Forest Centre, which has a small team required to cover the forest centre 364 days a year, therefore the successful applicant will work as part of a seven-day roster, and including regular weekends, public holidays, evenings and out-of-hours events.

Key work areas

Facility Management�

Take overall responsibility for all facility management at Cannock Chase Forest in compliance with PPG 62Ensure that all inspections have been carried out by the team and that all paperwork, spread sheets and processes have been completedEnsure that all remedial works are carried with the necessary time frameOversee the team job list systems, and ensure works get prioritised according to Visitor Safety Group risk matrixCo-ordinate the annual hazardous tree inspections and submit PPG1 form to Sustainable Land Management (SLM) team. Supervise arb/chainsaw operations working with SLM team.

MTB Trails�

Carry out operational inspections of all walking and cycling trails, plus othersManage unauthorised trails in compliance with the guidance, carrying out inspections of Stile Cop and Tackeroo trails

Contract Management

Oversee and supervise contractors, which includes producing job sheets and maps, completing site visit notes and ensuring safety documents are in place. It will also include being involved with the procurement process.

Support the Forest Centre Manager with the management of civils on site.Support MTB framework. This involves carrying out surveys to estimate cost requirement of civils work for tender, support with completing for tender, supporting with contractor bidding days, scoring the tenders, support with supervision and paperwork, measuring and costings.

Volunteer Management

Lead on contacting new leads on Connections with an outline of volunteering sessions and send out registration forms and volunteer agreements via Connections.Organise and plan monthly Sunday MTB volunteering sessions using Microsoft Bookings system and writing job sheets, risk assessments, maps and organising welfare as required.Organise and plan mid-week forest maintenance volunteering sessions as and when needed using Microsoft Bookings system and writing job sheets, risk assessments, maps and organising welfare as required.Assist with planning and organising litter-picking volunteering sessions.Communicate with volunteers about upcoming sessions and updates on the trails.Liaise with Chase Trails Volunteer Group about stock of tools and order where necessary.Create jobs on Connections and assist with inputting all hours volunteered onto connections.Upload completed job sheets and signed risk assessments onto job on Connections.Issue volunteer kits, parking passes and uniform as volunteers complete their 30 hours and keep record of what kit issued and when.Stock check and re-stock of brew kit, snacks, uniform, volunteer kits and PPE for volunteers as required.

Harvesting and Civils Works around MTB trails

Oversee planning, installation, inspection and removal of trail diversions and MTB trail closures around harvesting and trail maintenance operations.Work with SLM team, civils and volunteer groups to ensure trail damage is minimised and re-instated quickly.Update website accordingly to inform public of closures and works.Update information in clipframes on site to inform public of closures and works, producing diversion maps using ForesterWebLiaise with marketing team to update social media cycling group and provide information for them to use to respond to enquiries.

Stakeholder Relations

Ensure anything that may impact any of the onsite tenants and related stakeholders is communicated, face to face and/or via e-mail.Be the recreational point of contact for some neighbours and landownersOrganise regular litter picking at barriers and other areas.

Concerts

Assist with the planning, setup/takedown supervision and event phase

Supporting others

Use eFinancials to create Purchase Orders and GPC systems to procure required goods and services within annual budget, and record on expenditure spreadsheet.

Complete GPC statement within allocated time permitted, and ideally once a week, to reduce admin at end of month.Ensure recreation team have sufficient supplies of tools, equipment, signs, timber, fixings and other consumables and that tools and equipment containers are organised, tidy and litter free.Lead on the design and purchasing of signage required for the businessEnsure that diversion signage and timber storage area is tidy and fully stockedSupport visitor services teams, working on the day-to-day running of the Forest Centre and take on duty manager accordingly to the rotaSupport the development of the visitor service officers and other staff.

Health & Safety

Oversee the risk assessment system for tools/facilities/jobsEnsure risk assessments are completed and followed when undertaking tasksEnsure correct use of tools and wear necessary PPEOversee the HAVS and equipment maintenance, working with MESCarry out vehicle and tools checks, and report issues as necessaryLead on green carding of new employees to use vehiclesOversee and update People Safe escalation listsComplete necessary mandatory training within deadlinesSupport with incidents and accidents as required, facilitating emergency service access��

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

Excellent communication skillsExcellent team working skillsExperience working in a customer facing roleCompetence with IT such as MS OfficeExperience in working in an outdoor environmentExperience in using a variety of tools and equipment to carry out repairs and maintenanceFull UK Driving Licence

Desirable Criteria:

Experience of supervising/managing a team, contractors or volunteersA good understanding and experience of relevant health and safety and CDM regulationsA proven track record in inspecting and maintaining safe conditions for visitors, and safe working conditions for colleagues including volunteers, with proven awareness of requirements for Health and Safety.Experience of trail maintenance

Other Information:

Successful candidate must be self-motivated and able to work alone and with others to deliver the work programme in an effective and timely manner. They will need to be able to work outside in all weather, they need to be able to speak and approach members of public, and potentially dealing with challenging and confrontational situations from time to time, such as customers not happy with car park charges, or the standards of facility provision.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

Changing and ImprovingCommunicating and InfluencingWorking TogetherManaging a Quality ServiceDelivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of �27,941, Forestry Commission contributes �7,544 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Learning and development tailored to your roleAn environment with flexible working optionsA culture encouraging inclusion and diversityA with an average employer contribution of 27%A range of family friendly benefits

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