Wild Kielder Project Officer

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

- 253564**Salary**:

- £27,779 - £30,168**Job grade**:

- Executive Officer- Pay Band 5**Contract type**:

- Fixed Term
- Loan
- Secondment**Length of employment**:

- Fixed term appointment - to 31st March 2026**Business area**:

- FC - Forestry England - North England Forest District**Type of role**:

- Operational Delivery**Working pattern**:

- Full-time**Number of jobs available**:

- 1Contents

Location

About the job

**Benefits**:
Things you need to know

Location
- North Forest District, Kielder Office, Eals Burn, Bellingham, NE48 2HP.About the job

**Job summary**:
Forestry England is an organisation like no other. Our strong values and shared ambition to connect everyone with the nation’s forests underpin all that we do.

North England Forest District is the largest in England, with 130 staff helping care for 61,000 ha of forest and 25,000 ha of open land in Cumbria, County Durham, Lancashire and Northumberland. We operate in some of England’s most remote areas, generating significant economic and environmental benefits, and we are important stakeholders in many regional initiatives.

North forest district is also home to 45 Sites of Special Scientific Interest covering over 10,000 ha and is a major contributor to nationally significant biodiversity projects supporting red squirrels, water voles, ospreys, red kites, forest rewilding, limestone woodland and blanket bog restoration.

The district’s visitor offer and experience is focused on five Forest Centres; Grizedale, Gisburn, Hamsterley, Kielder and Whinlatter. In total, the nation’s forests in North England District attracts over one million visits per annum.

Forestry England aims to be an exemplar of best practice sustainable forest management and all our activities are independently certified to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).

**Job description**:
As part of our ambitious Growing the Future strategy, Forestry England aims to ensure that the nation’s forests provide the most valuable places for wildlife in which to thrive and expand. We will do this in a way which is resilient to climate change, increases their value for communities by producing high quality, sustainable timber and absorbing carbon emissions. We will also ensure that the nation’s forests are a living treasure for all, deeply connected to people’s lives, health and wellbeing.

Under Forestry England’s new biodiversity plan, we have established key principles for doing this through:

- Improving biodiversity in the nation’s forests by restoring fully functioning ecosystems.
- Prioritising conservation action beyond managing for single species or very specific habitats.

A key component of Forestry England’s strategy is the establishment of core wild areas in each of the forest district across the country. Forestry England’s Forest Wilding Programme, supported by Defra, brings funding to support these new projects. This suite of core wild areas will pilot new approaches for managing our forests, drawing in experience from across the organisation and outside it. Building on the success of Wild Ennerdale in Cumbria, Wild Kielder is a major component of the forest wilding programme and will be one of an initial six flagship projects across the country.

Wild Kielder brings working for nature at a landscape scale to life. Focused on the East Kielder forests and Kielderhead Moors, the project will have a minimum scope of around 6000 ha of forest, grassland and moorland within Forestry England’s ownership. The focus will be on creating a more natural, wilder upland landscape, combining sustainably managed forests, an enriched environment for nature, and an enhanced experience for visitors.

The Wild Kielder project will include action to reintroduce and recover populations of iconic keystone species, and ecosystem engineer species to allow ecosystems to function more naturally.

**Purpose of the job**

This three-year role will develop the vision and delivery plan that will take the Wild Kielder forward. This role is very much about enabling change and to achieve this the post holder will work with Forestry England colleagues and our partners to learn about and develop alternative strategies for land management within a conservation objective.

The post holder will manage successful relationships with our partners and stakeholders and begin the implementation of key steps on the ground, including gathering baseline survey and monitoring data, and introducing different approaches to land management to lay the foundations to meet our long-term objectives.

Reporting to the Planning & Environment Manager, the Wild Kielder Forest Project Manager will work closely with colleagues in the district land management, environment and planning teams, and with our national forest wilding and communications functions. The post holder will have the opportunity to learn from the established partners, including the Kielderhea