Ecologist

Posting date:	06 June 2025
Salary:	£32,089 to £32,724 per year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	06 July 2025
Location:	BS16 1EJ
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Temporary
Job reference:	409666/1

Summary

Forestry England are actively growing the nation’s forests, planting around 1,000 hectares of new woodland each year to support carbon sequestration and biodiversity, produce sustainable timber and create resilient landscapes for future generations.

We are looking for a proactive Ecologist to join our fast-paced Woodland Creation team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of landscape-scale woodland expansion.

The role will support the evaluation, planning and delivery of woodland creation projects across England ensuring designs meet regulatory requirements and best practice. This will involve working closely with colleagues and external stakeholders throughout the development and delivery of projects. The successful candidate will provide technical expertise on a diverse range of ecological issues and opportunities and work across a variety of sites in all parts of the country. Some travel across England will be required with occasional overnight stays necessary.

• provide ecological expertise and advice across new woodland creation sites in England from
  scoping potential land acquisitions to delivery.
• lead on BNG requirements where full planning is required.
• develop and maintain strong working relationships with internal teams, external partners and
  key stakeholders.
• apply a risk-based approach to woodland creation and management, balancing the protection
  of ecological features with woodland creation objectives.
• procure and oversee ecological surveys, ensuring quality assurance and specifications are
  appropriate for project needs. In some cases, undertake self-led surveys, such as Preliminary
  Ecological Appraisals.
• review and interpret ecological data including LERC records and survey results, appraising risks
  and opportunities for woodland creation to develop proportionate responses to inform designs,
  in line with national guidance, such as the UK Forestry Standard (UKFS).
• attend and support public consultations as a representative of the woodland creation team.

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

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