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Trainee Wildlife Ranger East England Forest District

An exciting opportunity to join the East England Wildlife Ranger team.

The successful applicant will train in professional deer and wildlife management activities, learning new skills and working within a team to support the District’s wider objectives such as restocking, biodiversity and long term forest resilience. In doing so you will gain the knowledge and experience required to become a professional wildlife manager.

The District

This post is based in East England Forest District at the District Office in Santon Downham near Brandon, Suffolk. The District, with over 150 directly employed staff, covers an area of 35,000 ha from North Norfolk to Brighton; including Thetford Forest and the outlying beats of Sandlings, Kent, East Sussex, Chilterns and Thames Chase Community Forest.

The District has a varied landholding including the large pine forest at Thetford, community woodland on the outskirts of London and a range of mixed woodland, many of which are on sites of Ancient Woodland. There are numerous sites of conservation interest designated across the district, including SPA, SAC, SSSI, AONB, ASNW, CWS and Scheduled Monuments. The District offers outdoor recreation activities to hundreds of thousands of people each year at its recreation centres and the whole freehold estate is dedicated for public access on foot, with numerous small carparks and informal access points

East England Forest District Wildlife Team

Training in the management of wildlife, crop protection and conservation. The delivery of operational support in addition to liaising with the general public, tenants, neighbours and outside organisations.

In the beginning of the two year placement the successful applicant will work closely with the Thetford wildlife ranger team to gain the skills and confidence to allow them to take the responsibility for wildlife management, and operational support to the wider district team on their own beat, mentored and monitored by the wildlife team and wildlife ranger manager. There will be opportunities throughout the placement to visit and work in other areas across the district to gain experience in working in differing woodlands and environments and with different species.

The successful applicant will have a designated mentor from within the wildlife team and will report to the Wildlife Ranger Manager

The successful applicant will work out of the district office at Santon Downham and ideally need to be based within a 25 minute drive. The majority of day to day work will be within Thetford forest. The successful applicant will also be expected to travel to other areas of the district across the East of England, and occasionally attend events elsewhere in the country.

Responsibilities

We are looking for an enthusiastic and highly motivated individual to undertake a period of training with our wildlife management team. To gain the knowledge and experience required to become a safe and effective Wildlife Ranger, managing populations of wild deer in accordance with Best Practice and Forestry England guidance.

The Trainee Wildlife Ranger will support the Wildlife Rangers in Thetford Forest and the surrounding woodlands to meet deer cull targets in line with district objectives. Additionally, there will be opportunities to support the team with conservation and operational roles. Full training and mentoring will be given to reach the standards required.

You will complete an established training programme to:

• Represent Forestry England professionally and positively, acquiring a working knowledge of all of the operations it undertakes.
  
• Identify tree, and common plant and animal species.
  
• Undertake safe use and maintenance of firearms in accordance with current legislation, best practice, and Forestry England operational guidance, policy and procedures.
  
• Safely and humanely cull deer and present carcasses at the required high standard, using the Wildlife Management System to record all deer cull data.

• Safely and humanely cull other species such as rabbits and hares in line with district policies and following Forestry England operational guidance
  
• Recognise tree damage and produce survey reports.
• Advise and support Forest District staff in restock design, appropriate protection methods (including deer fencing) and tree species choice to aid prevention and reduction of deer damage.
  
• Inspect fences and prepare reports on their condition and possible repairs.
  
• Support the wider district team with conservation work.
  
• Undertake a range of ecological surveys.
  
• Liaise with game shoots and deer control licences operating on Forestry England Land.
  
• Build knowledge and confidence to work within a team supporting other colleagues as necessary and contribute to forest district wildlife and design plans.
  
• Meet appropriate standards of health and safety, operational efficiency, and quality of output.

• Latterly, as skills develop and you become an independent wildlife ranger there will be a significant increase in lone working.

• Dawn and dusk working is required therefore split working days are expected and some night time operations.

The post is operational. Regular out of hours work should be expected.

The candidate should be able to demonstrate experience of successful working to their own initiative and without day-by-day supervision, as well as experience of working in a team. They should display an enthusiasm for and experience of working in the countryside and a knowledge of it’s management.

Experience

Essential

• 
  An interest in wildlife and nature
• Experience of working alone, outdoors in a range of weather conditions and during unsociable hours

Desirable

• An understanding of woodlands, their management and ecology
• Experience of firearms use, and
• Experience deer management and carcass preparation.
• Experience of working in a woodland environment

Professional and Technical Expertise

Essential

• Full current driving licence
• A valid police firearms certificate

Desirable

• Deer Stalking Certificate (DSC) 1
• A qualification in wildlife or conservation land management
• Competent user of IT including Microsoft Office applications

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

• Working Together
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions

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

• Firearms handling and safety - candidates will be asked to complete a stills test as part of the interview process.
• Basic deer and wildlife identification and knowledge - candidates will be asked to complete a skills test as part of the interview process.

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%
• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing by one day per year to 30 days plus public holidays

Job contact :

Name :
Joss Mosby
Email :
jocelyn.mosby@forestryengland.uk

Recruitment team

Email :
fcerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk