Plant Health Support Officer

Posting date:	06 October 2025
Salary:	£32,547 to £33,711 per year
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	19 October 2025
Location:	Cambridge
Company:	Government Recruitment Service
Job type:	Temporary
Job reference:	431363/2

Summary

Forest Services as part of Forestry Commission are the Government’s forestry experts. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and support the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England’s valuable woodland assets, ensuring that they continue to provide benefits to people, the environment and the economy.

The Plant Health Forestry team supports healthy trees, woods and forests, now and in the future. We work together to prevent entry, provide early detection, and minimise impacts of harmful tree pests and diseases, and to ensure traceability of forestry planting material. The unit is geographically dispersed with teams based in Edinburgh, Bristol and London, and individuals based in a variety of other locations. We work with wide range of partners, stakeholders and customers including other units within the Forestry Commission, Forest Research, Devolved Administrations of Wales and Scotland and other government agencies. Also trade and industry bodies businesses within the sector including importers, processors, forest management companies and landowners.

We are seeking a well-motivated individual to carryout surveillance and management of tree pests and diseases. The role will support the Plant Health Team by carrying out ground surveillance for regulated tree pests and diseases, conducting inspections of regulated wood and wood products at the border, supporting development of internal systems and promoting the work of the Plant Health Forestry Service. The working environments include at times physically demanding on site surveillance, visiting industrial areas such as ports and potentially working in helicopter surveillance.

While there is flexibility on location of the posts within the geographic areas:

• The Plant Health Support Officer will be expected to cover work operationally within the central region, with a specific focus on supporting the response to the regulated pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.
• At times, postholders will be expected to work outside of the geographic areas in which they are based.

Responsibilities

• Deliver monitoring and survey programs such as protected zone surveys and outbreak response for regulated pest and diseases including Phytophthora ramorum and Ips typographus.
• Undertake targeted and reactive inspections of regulated wood, wood products and isolated bark at points of entry and inland premises.
• Represent the Plant Health team both within the organisation and externally.
• Contribute to Plant Health project work and internal systems, which may include report writing, systems improvements and data management.
• Promote a safety-first culture delivering enhanced safety standards.

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