Land Management Business Support

Job summary

What you’ll do…

Join our Land Management team in the South and help support the people who care for the New Forest and wider South Forest District. Working alongside foresters, wildlife rangers, engineers and land management specialists, you'll provide essential administrative and business support, helping coordinate contracts, recruitment, meetings, records and information management. We're looking for an organised, proactive and personable individual with strong communication skills, attention to detail and a customer-focused approach. No forestry experience is required - just a willingness to learn and work as part of a supportive team making a real difference for nature, climate and local communities.

Please see the job description attached for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

This role will be based at Kings House, Lyndhurst, New Forest, SO437NH.

We are Forestry England. We 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.

Our South England Forest District team is made up of around 170 people with a diverse range of roles - from foresters and wildlife rangers to civil engineers, and ecologists to marketing professionals. We all contribute towards the management of 46,000 hectares of public forest estate that stretch from Sussex to Dorset, and from Berkshire to the Isle of Wight. Nearly all of our forests are within either a National Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Much of this forest is of high national importance for nature conservation and wildlife, and of international importance for biodiversity. South England Forest District is therefore responsible for land that includes Special Areas of Conservation (for habitats), Special Protection Areas (for birds) and Ramsar sites (for wetlands). We also provide public access and recreation in our forests, with nearly 50 million visits every year to South England Forest District.

Job description

Key responsibilities & accountabilities

• Supporting Beat Managers and Work Supervisors with beat-level contract administration and collating contract documentation ahead of commencement of operations, travel within the district will be required as part of this requirement.
• Supporting District Operations Manager with district framework contracts, through managing administrational tasks within the management and tendering of contracts.
• Managing the documentation storage of both beat-level and district framework contracts within Microsoft SharePoint contract management site.
• Support with Vehicle, Machinery and Equipment asset management, inclusive of managing asset transfer, vehicle specification and business planning administration processes.
• Work alongside the district Business Support team to administer various recruitment campaigns and be the point of contact for vacancy managers and candidates within the LM team.
• Undertake ad-hoc administrative tasks for wider LM team for Beat Managers, Wildlife Managers and wider Senior LM Team.
• Support with organisation of wider LM district update meetings, prepare and collate agendas and compile minutes.
• Assist in managing LM resumptions system and cross-check completion of actions with resumption holder.
• Administer consolidation and skills development schedule and calendar for district operational staff.

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

Person specification

Skills, knowledge & experience

Essential professional and technical experience

• Experience of working effectively and collaboratively in a large, dispersed and often remote team.
• Strong organisational skills, with a proven ability to manage competing demands and prioritise workloads to meet tight deadlines.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Very competent IT user with experience of MS Office applications.

Desirable

• Experience of providing administrative and business support to teams planning and undertaking forestry, recreation or land management operations.

Qualifications

Essential

• A full driving license that allows you to drive in the UK. Automatic only license is acceptable.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• 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%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

How to apply…

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

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.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

You may also be assessed on Experience, Strength based questions, and/or the Technical Success Profile at the interview. The technical element could include a presentation, practical or written task.

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email [email removed].

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines