Ips typographus Project Officer
| Posting date: | 13 June 2025 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £35,580 to £38,338 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 22 June 2025 |
| Location: | Eastern England, UK |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | 409528 |
Summary
Ips typographus is regulated in the UK as a Quarantine Pest and we are obligated to act against the current findings to support maintaining this status.
The beetle poses no threat to human health but can be a serious and destructive pest of spruce tree species and poses a serious threat to the GB forestry sector. Spruce trees are a major component of our forestry industry, making up around 50% of commercial planting in the UK and supporting thousands of jobs.
The aims of the Ips typographus management programme are:
Deliver strategic plans: Develop and implement England-wide strategies to prevent, detect, control and ultimately eradicate Ips typographus incursions, interceptions and outbreaks.
Outbreak response: Rapidly identify and respond to outbreaks of the pest, coordinating multi-agency resources to contain spread, minimise impact and achieve swift eradication.
Surveillance: Maintain a systematic, risk-based surveillance programme for vulnerable spruce stands. Collaborate with Forest Research on the management of pheromone trapping detection networks. Coordinate and execute targeted ground-inspection responses to various intelligence streams.
Authorisations: Oversee the timely response to spruce felling, movement and processing inspection requests, ensuring compliance with biosecurity requirements and issuance of authority letters. Maintain detailed records of all authorisations ensuring compliance with auditing requirements.
Contractor management: Coordinate procurement, assignment and performance monitoring of contractors tasked with surveillance, felling, sanitation and other control measures, ensuring efficient use of resources.
Support policy objective of reducing host presence in high-risk areas: Align operational activities with policy goals by encouraging proactive removal of spruce material in zones most vulnerable to Ips typographus
Data collection and reporting: Lead the gathering, validation, and analysis of surveillance, pest distribution, outbreak response status data, producing clear, timely reports to drive informed decision-making and optimise management tactics.
Training, communications and guidance: Provide best-practice training programmes, clear sector guidance and ongoing stakeholder engagement, ensuring that forestry workers, landowners, partner agencies and the wider forestry sector are fully equipped to implement and support Ips typographus control measures.
Project work: Collaborate with Forest Research and government partners to deliver R&D initiatives on Ips typographus control, spanning remote sensing applications, debarking-equipment efficacy trials, and canine detection methodologies.
The beetle poses no threat to human health but can be a serious and destructive pest of spruce tree species and poses a serious threat to the GB forestry sector. Spruce trees are a major component of our forestry industry, making up around 50% of commercial planting in the UK and supporting thousands of jobs.
The aims of the Ips typographus management programme are:
Deliver strategic plans: Develop and implement England-wide strategies to prevent, detect, control and ultimately eradicate Ips typographus incursions, interceptions and outbreaks.
Outbreak response: Rapidly identify and respond to outbreaks of the pest, coordinating multi-agency resources to contain spread, minimise impact and achieve swift eradication.
Surveillance: Maintain a systematic, risk-based surveillance programme for vulnerable spruce stands. Collaborate with Forest Research on the management of pheromone trapping detection networks. Coordinate and execute targeted ground-inspection responses to various intelligence streams.
Authorisations: Oversee the timely response to spruce felling, movement and processing inspection requests, ensuring compliance with biosecurity requirements and issuance of authority letters. Maintain detailed records of all authorisations ensuring compliance with auditing requirements.
Contractor management: Coordinate procurement, assignment and performance monitoring of contractors tasked with surveillance, felling, sanitation and other control measures, ensuring efficient use of resources.
Support policy objective of reducing host presence in high-risk areas: Align operational activities with policy goals by encouraging proactive removal of spruce material in zones most vulnerable to Ips typographus
Data collection and reporting: Lead the gathering, validation, and analysis of surveillance, pest distribution, outbreak response status data, producing clear, timely reports to drive informed decision-making and optimise management tactics.
Training, communications and guidance: Provide best-practice training programmes, clear sector guidance and ongoing stakeholder engagement, ensuring that forestry workers, landowners, partner agencies and the wider forestry sector are fully equipped to implement and support Ips typographus control measures.
Project work: Collaborate with Forest Research and government partners to deliver R&D initiatives on Ips typographus control, spanning remote sensing applications, debarking-equipment efficacy trials, and canine detection methodologies.
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