Ecologist - Woodland Creation, West Midlands - Natural England

Natural England

Verified Company

West Midlands, United Kingdom

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Details:

Reference number:

Salary:

- £27,273
Job grade:

Higher Executive Officer
Lead Adviser
Contract type:
Permanent
Type of role:
Environment and Sustainability
Operational Delivery
Working pattern:
Fulltime, Job share, Parttime
Number of jobs available:
1Contents

Location

About the job

Benefits:

Things you need to know

Location

West Midlands (England)About the job

Job summary:

This position is based at Telford, Worcester, County Hall
Job description:

Natural England's West Midlands Area Team covers Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands Combined Authority. Our offices are in Telford and Worcester.

The West Midlands landscape is rich in nature and cultural heritage, from its industrial heartlands to the hills of the Welsh border in the West.

We have accessible nature next or near to dense conurbations, home to over 6.5 million people. Most of the area is farmed, with the River Severn and its many tributaries snaking through the landscape. The area boasts a great natural diversity, including rivers, meres, mosses, lowland heaths, uplands, ancient woodland and grassland.

Our vision for the West Midlands reflects the ambitions set out in the Government's 25 year Environment Plan. Our ambition is for a West Midlands characterised by distinctive landscapes of connected high quality habitats, teeming with nature. Our urban environments providing high quality green space that connects both people and nature to the wider landscape.

Job description

West Midlands Area Team is seeking someone who is keen to contribute to the Government's aspiration to increase woodland cover across England.

Natural England has a crucial role in helping to realise this ambition, both through provision of technical advice and by influencing how new tree establishment can contribute to nature recovery, climate resilience, flood risk mitigation, water quality and social benefits.

You will have good botanical field skills.

You will have a good ecological understanding of priority habitats and priority species and the opportunities and threats that woodland creation brings to these.

You will have confidence in providing technical advice on this to our partners and a range of land managers. The ability to prioritise casework will be important.

You will be part of a network of 22 Tree Action Plan Delivery advisers embedded in our 12 area teams.

Key Tasks and Responsibilities

Responding to consultations on woodland creation proposals from partners such as the Forestry Commission, Community Forests, the Woodland Trust, National Parks, landowners and agents
Providing site specific technical advice on:
opportunities to maximise new woodland creation's contribution to nature's recovery

- the constraints presented to woodland creation from existing environmental assets such as priority habitats, priority species and peat soils

Nurturing close working relationships with local colleagues in the Forestry Commission and other key woodland creation partners.
Developing a comprehensive understanding of grant support mechanisms for tree establishment.
Promoting the benefits of woodland creation to land managers and partners. Raising awareness with colleagues on how woodland creation can help deliver other Natural England outcomes.
Securing interest in woodland creation from landowners and other land managers

How to Apply
This vacancy uses competency-based assessment.

We'll assess you against the competencies below during the selection process:

Personal Effectiveness
Putting People at the Heart of the Environment
Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas
Technical Skills & Knowledge

Competencies

Competence 1
Professional competency

Detail
Personal Effectiveness

Description

Make and explain objective decisions which combine your professional judgement and evidence (Practitioner)
Act with integrity, addressing challenging issues and managing conflict through being open and objective (Practitioner)
Share expertise and knowledge with people and networks so that you can develop together (Basic)

Competence 2
Professional competency

Detail
Putting People at the Heart of the Environment

Description

Nurture trusting partnerships and collaborate to achieve pragmatic outcomes that help deliver the organisation you represents vision, mission and aims (Practitioner)
Understand and explain the outcomes that we seek in your local patch and how these fit in with local and national issues (Basic)

Competence 3
Professional competency

Detail
Creating Resilient Landscapes and Seas

Description

Understand the environmental value of designated sites and explain that to partners, stakeholders and customers (Practitioner)
Identify appropriate solutions for avoidance, mitigation and compensation of environmental impac