Natural England

Ecologist - Woodland Creation, West Midlands

Vacancy Manager: Dawn Whitehouse or Ajay Bhatt

Salary: £27,273

Grade: Lead Adviser (Higher Executive Officer)

Contract: Permanent

Working pattern: Full-time, job share, part-time

Number of vacancies: 1

Location: West Midlands – Telford or Worcester office

Do you have a passion for nature and the environment? Do you want to make a real difference and secure significant environmental gains in the present and the future? Do you enjoy working in a team? Can you see yourself advising communities and customers to maximise gains for the Natural Environment?

If this appeals to you, a career at Natural England offers rewarding opportunities to secure environmental improvements and play your part in creating a better future for people and nature.

The priority work Natural England is delivering includes:

• Establishing a Nature Recovery Network to help wildlife thrive
• Monitoring environmental changes to identify and help reduce the effects of climate change
• Working with farmers and landowners to develop greener food production methods
• Advising on plans for new developments to maximise gains for nature
• Providing ways for people to better connect with nature, including green social prescribing
• We are the Government’s advisor for the natural environment, playing a vital role in delivering the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan, an ambitious vision which brings new opportunities to protect and enhance and to achieve real outcomes for the environment.

   
Find out more about the work of Natural England here

Benefits

Wherever possible Natural England accommodates requests for both full-time and part-time hours and other flexible working patterns to help employees achieve a good work/life balance and maintain their health and wellbeing.

Natural England provides excellent opportunities for career progression, training and development tailored to your role. From induction to ongoing learning and development, everyone in Natural England is supported to develop their skills and capabilities. Everyone has 10 days to devote to personal learning and development, as well as an additional 3 days to volunteer.

You will have access to Civil Service Pension and benefits arrangements and generous leave allowances (33 day per year pro rata), as well as flexible working, to help you achieve a work-life balance that works for you and us.

You will have access to a range of benefits including discounts on shopping vouchers, cycle to work scheme, and childcare vouchers. You can also join the Civil Service Sport club which offer discounts on a range of sports and leisure opportunities as well as social events.

Natural England is a fantastic place to work, where difference is celebrated.

We’re committed to fairness and equality for all, so you feel valued for who you are and what you do. Our shared values help us work together to benefit the communities we serve. Our thriving employee-led diversity networks support our inclusive culture and contribute to our Diversity Action Plan.

Locations

Natural England is adopting hybrid working – which means that our staff will work from a flexible range of locations, encompassing home, offices (ours and our partners) and relevant sites. All new staff will be formally linked to one of our 25 offices across England and the expectation is that all new staff will be able to access their local office to be part of the community of staff in their geographic area. Staff members are required to carry out all their duties working in this way and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time. Travel expenses will be paid if work related travel is required but does not apply to travel between home and your associated office.

National team roles can be linked with any Natural England office while Area Team roles will be linked with an office in the relevant geographic area.

View a map of our office locations here 

Our West Midlands Area Team

Natural England’s West Midlands Area Team covers Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Our offices are in Telford and Worcester.

The West Midlands landscape is rich in nature and cultural heritage, from its industrial heartlands to the hills of the Welsh border in the West. We have accessible nature next or near to dense conurbations, home to over 6.5 million people. Most of the area is farmed, with the River Severn and its many tributaries snaking through the landscape. The area boasts a great natural diversity, including rivers, meres, mosses, lowland heaths, uplands, ancient woodland and grassland.

Our vision for the West Midlands reflects the ambitions set out in the Government’s 25 year Environment Plan. Our ambition is for a West Midlands characterised by distinctive landscapes of connected high quality habitats, teeming with nature. Our urban environments providing high quality green space that connects both people and nature to the wider landscape.

Job Description

West Midlands Area Team is seeking someone who is keen to contribute to the Government’s aspiration to increase woodland cover across England. Natural England has a crucial role in helping to realise this ambition, both through provision of technical advice and by influencing how new tree establishment can contribute to nature recovery, climate resilience, flood risk mitigation, water quality and social benefits.

You will have good botanical field skills. You will have a good ecological understanding of priority habitats and priority species and the opportunities and threats that woodland creation brings to these. You will have confidence in providing technical advice on this to our partners and a range of land managers. The ability to prioritise casework will be important. You will be part of a network of 22 Tree Action Plan Delivery advisers embedded in our 12 area teams.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

• Responding to consultations on woodland creation proposals from partners such as the Forestry Commission, Community Forests, the Woodland Trust, National Parks, landowners and agents
• Providing site specific technical advice on:
  • opportunities to maximise new woodland creation’s contribution to nature’s recovery
  • the constraints presented to woodland creation from existing environmental assets such as priority habitats, priority species and peat soils
• Nurturing close working relationships with local colleagues in the Forestry Commission and other key woodland creation partners.
• Developing a comprehensive understanding of grant support mechanisms for tree establishment.
• Promoting the benefits of woodland creation to land managers and partners. Raising awareness with colleagues on how woodland creation can help deliver other Natural England outcomes.
• Securing interest in woodland creation from landowners and other land managers

   
How to Apply

For further information, please email:

Jonathan.blowers@naturalengland.org.uk
ewan.nugent@naturalengland.org.uk

Apply here: Ecologist - Woodland Creation, West Midlands(Ref: 5093) - Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK

Closing Date: 06/06/2023  Location: West Midlands – Telford or Worcester office