Senior Forest Officer

The Forest Operations Team are responsible for the sustainable management of the Welsh Government Woodland Estate to meet accreditation under UK Woodland Assurance Scheme and ISO14001 and to deliver Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. The team covers management of the Welsh Government woodlands in the Mid-South (West) area from Aberystwyth in the west to Llandovery in the east. These comprise a diverse mix of upland and lowland blocks including north and mid Tywi, Cwm Berwyn, Lampeter, Cross Inn, Tarenig, Myherin and the Ystwyth valley.

The role of the Senior Officer is key in developing tactical plans to deliver annual operational programmes. This requires working closely with teams within NRW as well as suppliers, customers and stakeholders to ensure that these plans are delivered on time as well as to meet qualitative standards and value for money.

The individual will be expected to:

• Develop tactical five year plans covering clearfelling, thinning as well as conversion to Low Impact Silvicultural Systems (LISS), restocking, establishment and maintenance programmes.
• Produce annual budget profiles in collaboration with the Team Leader and regularly report on progress.
• Assess proposed strategic Forest Resource Plans to ensure delivery of a wide range of objectives to meet UK Forestry Standard.
• Support the wider team in terms of management of operations where required.
• Take ownership of managing sub-compartment data.
• Manage specific projects when required.

The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate self-motivation and innovative thinking.

If you would like to have a site visit to discuss the role as well as seeing the working environment, please contact us (see contact details for Marius Urwin below).

Must have full UK driving license.

Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Deliver technical advice for specific sector or technical issues.
• Deliver work plans, and delivery of agreed actions to contribute to business planning.
• Participate in NRW technical groups.
• Interact with peers in NRW to promote consistent industry and specialist subject practices.
• Have responsibility for direct delivery of delegated programmes.
• Required to take part in incident response activities

Qualifications, experience and knowledge

You will have:

1. Professional membership, or at least working towards such accreditation of their related subject, within an agreed timescale.
2. Experience of working across a wide range of land management disciplines.
3. Knowledge of sustainable forest management, UKWAS and forest certification schemes.
4. Coaching and mentoring skills.
5. Good understanding of commercial business processes and pressures.
6. Ability to communicate effectively with regulated business and the public, explaining complex issues and gaining support by influencing.
7. Extensive knowledge and experience of all aspects of forest practise, including, forest planning, forest operations.

Welsh language requirements:

Essential Level 1 – able to pronounce Welsh and use basic phrases

Please note if you do not meet the level 1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Competencies

Please note – Applications to this role will be assessed based on the following competencies, both at shortlisting and interview. Please give examples of how you demonstrate these competencies when completing your application form.

Essential Knowledge and Skills	Ability to undertake a higher level of practical or technical tasks, requiring specialist knowledge/ expertise.  Post holders may be experts in a range of subjects relating to their profession. Post holders will have substantial contract management experience and will be able to deliver contracts of mid-level complexity, risk and impact.  Knowledge of contract law and contract management/ governance and its consequences is essential.  Post holders will have the ability to develop briefs and specifications for contracts. Post holders will display technical knowledge in their discipline and will have relevant experience. Post holders will have a high level of knowledge and experience of health, safety and wellbeing as well as public safety and public liability.
Evaluation of Information	Interprets the function’s operational delivery plans and understands its context in the wider NRW strategy. Ability to interpret contracts and contract law, and be able to assess and evaluate contract queries, challenges and non-compliance. Ability to analyse, understand and convey organisation requirements in contract briefs and specifications. Able to analyse and interpret a wide range of complex information, extracting key points and communicating this to individuals at all levels and contributing to the development of policy.
Decision Making and Autonomy Requirements	Work guided by expected results but able to decide how best to achieve these.  Guidance may be provided by peers but there will be a need for some degree of judgment or creativity. Priorities may need altering due to conflicting demands. Objectives and targets, etc. will be reviewed on an intermediate basis. Post holders will be delivering often significant programmes of work. Responsible for making independent decisions at an operational level with input from line management and peers. Will have an understanding of NRW policy and their potential implications for the business. As a mid-level contracts manager, post holders are accountable for all aspects of delivery and performance. Decisions may be made which lead to changes in established procedure/practice. The consequence of taking wrong decisions will have an adverse effect on the organisation in relation to its external stakeholders such as partner organisations, lenders, service users etc. Decisions may concern a broad range of matters and the outcomes of some decisions may not always be immediately clear or apparent. Problems encountered may also relate to the work of other parts of the organisation and could be variable and diverse. The impact of decisions is likely to be wider than the immediate function or department and is likely to be medium term.
Impact	Post holders will have a moderate level of impact and influence, which is generally medium term in impact. The post holder’s decisions and actions will influence others. The consequences of their decisions making/ action will have a medium impact internally or externally. Post holders are responsible for the overall delivery and output of the range of contracts being managed.
Communication and Relationships with Others	As an externally facing organisation, the post holder will have responsibility for managing the relationships with third party organisations and contractors. Ability to communicate both in writing and verbally, and/or leading projects, requiring persuasive skills. This may also include facilitating and/or presenting at internal or external meetings, giving advice and input as required.  There will be a requirement to foster and maintain good relationships and networks. Post holders will typically produce less complex documents, reports, accounts, contracts etc. Content will contain a lower level of advice, guidance or opinion which the recipient will act upon or use and which is likely to have detrimental consequences if incorrect or poorly drafted. Able to source information from multiple locations through research and apply professional judgment as to how the material should be interpreted; the impact of which is likely to be medium term in nature.

Benefits of working for us

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• agile and flexible working (role dependent)
• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 26.6% to 30.3%
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly well-being hour to use at your choice
• competitive financial rewards to enhance your monthly pay

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.