An exciting opportunity has arisen within the Countryside Service, we are recruiting the team to set up the Derbyshire Heartwood Community Forest.
So-called because of its location at the heart of England, Derbyshire’s Heartwood Community Forest will occupy a central position between the National Forest to the south and the Greenwood Community Forest in Nottinghamshire, providing the missing link to join up these two woodland areas. Trees will be planted on pockets of available land stretching over a geographic area of approximately 289 square miles within communities along the eastern border of the county and areas in the south of the county including Amber Valley, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Erewash and South Derbyshire.
We are a member of England’s Community Forests – collectively, the work of 15 community forests has formed the largest environmental regeneration initiative in England – and part of the Community Forest Trust, a registered charity, providing all of our team opportunities to work at both local and national levels.
We are now recruiting a Forest Coordinator.
This is a new role was created to provide technical and administrative support to the Heartwood Community Forest team. The role supports the collection, storage, and evaluation of Heartwood Community Forest data to support design, costing and award of grants to landowners, legal agreements, statutory grant reporting returns as well as environmental and carbon sequestration returns. Also, the role assists with the design, costing and contracting of tree planting projects and general administration of the Community Forest.
What will I be doing:
- Assist members of the public and partner organisations on all tree and woodland planting enquiries, act as a focal point for the receipt of calls and manage paper correspondence in accordance with current systems.
- Contribute to the development and maintenance of the capture, update, management, manipulation and reporting of data to support development of tree planting projects within The Heartwood Community Forest project area.
- Contribute to the analysis, capture, development and maintenance and storage of tree planting data to support forward works programmes, future maintenance works and replanting, programmes and statutory grant reporting conditions.
- Land Registry and other external searches as required to support the development of planting projects with landowners.
- Assisting with the planning, organisation and implementation of tree planting projects through the preparation of technical drawings, maps bills of quantity, contract documents as required.
- Assisting with procurement and purchasing of goods and materials as required.
What skills and experience do you need:
- Be enthusiastic, versatile and self-motivated with the ability to work well as part of a multi-disciplinary team.
- Have the confidence to work under pressure and manage several tasks simultaneously.
- Experience in the use of computer systems in particular familiarity and competency in MS Office / database, web based and desk top analytical tools, design software, spread-sheet and GIS systems.
- Knowledge and experience of woodland creation/forestry, nature conservation management or land management.
- BTEC / ONC or equivalent in relevant subject plus experience
- Relevant professional/technical/industry competency qualification and experience and / or significant relevant and practical experience.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with attention to detail.
What we offer you:
- 27 days of annual leave plus another 5 once you reach 5 years of continuous service, plus 8 bank holidays.
- Flexi time, allowing up to an additional 2 days of leave per month
- Training and development opportunities.
- Generous local government pension scheme.
- Guaranteed incremental annual pay increases.
- Access to a comprehensive wellbeing package.
- Cycle to work scheme.
- Discounts at selected county leisure centres.
We are accepting CVs for this position so it’s easier than ever to apply. Please include a covering letter outlining the reasons for your interest and your skills, knowledge and experience, taking account of the requirements set out in the job and person profile (attached). Each document should be no longer than 2 sides of A4 (font size 12).
We're always pleased to hear from talented people so if you're looking to join a dynamic team and have the skills and experience we're looking for, then we'd like to hear from you.
If you would like an informal discussion you can contact Richard Bonner, Head of Countryside services after 21 August on 01629 539657.
If you would prefer to submit a standard application form, you can upload this instead of your CV.
Provisional interview date is 25 September 2024.
Apply now and take the first step towards a fulfilling career with us! By joining Derbyshire County Council you will have access to a range of amazing rewards and employee benefits, including our generous annual leave scheme, excellent local government pension and fantastic employee discounts. To discover more detail about the rewards and benefits available to you, click here
Job and Person Profile
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