Forest Craftsperson

**Details**:
**Reference number**:

- 342069**Salary**:

- £24,323- A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%**Job grade**:

- Administrative Officer- Pay Band 6b**Contract type**:

- Permanent**Business area**:

- FC - Forestry England**Type of role**:

- Operational Delivery**Working pattern**:

- Flexible working, Full-time, Job share**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- This post is based from our office at Smokey Bottom, near TauntonAbout the job

**Job summary**:
Forestry England manages England’s beautiful, diverse and productive, publicly owned woods and forests, and is the largest provider of home-grown sustainably produced timber in England, selling around 1.4 million tonnes per year, nearly half the English-grown annual supply.

The West District extends from the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the majestic oak and beech woods of Savernake Forest in Wiltshire, and to Idless Woods near Truro in Cornwall. The District is managed from the District Office at Coleford, in the Forest of Dean, supported by local delivery teams in the forest beats and recreation hubs.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our dedicated Land Management Team in the West England Forest District, responsible for the sustainable management of over 36,500ha of the public forest estate in the West and South-West of England.

This post will form part of the East Devon Beat Team, based from our Smokey Bottom office near Taunton, set in the tranquil Blackdown Hills. The team comprises a beat forester, works supervisor, community ranger and two craftspeople who, together with local contractors, look after the public forest estate in East Devon, South Somerset, and West Dorset.

This role is based on a 37 hour week and you can expect to spend most of your time working outdoors.

**Job description**:
Our forest craftsperson teams are essential to delivering the superb forestry that we strive for. As part of the team, you will be out on the beat each day, delivering high quality work that we are proud of. Working to top standards of health and safety and industry best practice, our craftspeople are practical problem solvers working with a variety of tools and materials in a challenging, but rewarding environment.

You will be expected to undertake the following work:

- Tree felling, including tree safety work, coppicing, forest road and ride management
- Tree establishment, including planting, mechanical and chemical weeding, brashing and cleaning to ensure successful, high quality restock sites
- General forest maintenance such as fencing, strimming and litter picking
- Surveying, including: measuring timber for sale, tree safety, stocking density and recreation trail checks
- Recreation and facilities maintenance such as trail clearance, grass cutting and litter picking
- Maintenance and enhancement of conservation sites and habitats including coppicing and implementation of leaky dams
- Write risk assessments and emergency plans for your work

**Person specification**:
**ESSENTIAL**
- City & Guilds NPTC Level 2 Award in Chainsaw Maintenance, Cross Cutting, **and** Felling and Processing Trees up to 380mm or equivalent qualification.
- Previous experience of practical work in the countryside and a general understanding of forestry, arboriculture, nature conservation, outdoor recreation and countryside related issues
- Excellent communication and team working skills
- A good working understanding of health and safety
- A Full UK Driving Licence.

**DESIRABLE**
- Experience in fencing, planting and weeding
- Strimmer & Brush cutting certification
- Experience in timber measurement
- A forestry or land management qualification
- NPTC and Lantra qualifications in Forestry based skills
- Emergency First Aid at Work + Forestry (F)
- A working knowledge of tree safety
- Use of technology for surveys, data collection and reporting e.g. iPads, tablets and app systems
- GCSE at level C or above in Maths and English Language or equivalent.

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

- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions

**Technical skills**:
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

- A field based assessment will also be undertaken on the day of the interview further detail will be provided to those applicants who are selected for interview.

**Benefits**:

- Alongside your salary of £24,323, Forestry Commission contributes £6,567 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.- Across Forestry England, we are focused on ensuring that our staff are respected, included, supported and engaged. We love difference and know that every single person is unique.
- Our wide range of Staff Benefits helps us to achieve this:

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