Civil engineers at Forestry England plan, design and manage civil engineering projects delivered by contractors in a forestry environment. The work carried out by our civil engineers underpins the delivery of our operational activities.
The role covers many aspects, from the construction and maintenance of infrastructure such as bridges, buildings and play equipment to forest roads and car parks. The role is varied and exciting.
What it takes
A civil engineer’s role involves working within all areas of the organisation to oversee a suite of assets such as buildings, car parks, recreational facilities and forest roads. The role involves:
planning, prioritising and delivering programmes of works, such as new construction programmes and ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
providing guidance and technical advice.
understanding environmental protection requirements and responsibilities under Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulations.
producing contract maps, identifying CDM roles and agreeing the scope and specifications required.
keeping accurate records of work carried out and of the organisation’s assets using Geographical Information System (GIS) software.
managing projects to a high standard and monitoring project outputs within agreed time frames and budgets.
working to high Health and Safety standards.
Skills and qualifications
We recommend that you gain experience and certificates where you can. For example, completing a relevant college course or apprenticeship and demonstrating proven relevant experience in areas such as project and /or contractor management. You will also need good IT skills, experience of GIS and Autocad software and relevant health and safety qualifications on topics such as IOSH (Institution of Occupational Safety and Health) and the Site Supervision Safety Training Scheme (SSSTS).
You can get into this job through:
a university course.
a college course.
an apprenticeship.
working towards this role.
College
You can take a higher national certificate (HNC) or diploma (HND) at college, which may help you to find work as a trainee engineer. You'll do further training on the job to qualify.
Subjects include:
Level 4 HNC in Engineering.
Level 5 HND in Construction and the Built Environment.
You'll usually need:
one or two A levels, or equivalent, for a higher national certificate or higher national diploma.
University
You can do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in civil engineering.
Many universities specialise in particular areas of civil engineering, like:
structural engineering.
environmental engineering.
You can apply for a postgraduate master's award in civil engineering if you've got a related degree like maths, science or geology.
You'll usually need:
two or three A levels, or equivalent, including maths and a science for a degree.
a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study.
Apprenticeship
You could complete a civil engineer degree apprenticeship.
You'll usually need:
four or five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a great way to learn while you earn. Discover more about apprenticeships at Forestry England.
Salary
Starting from £25,000.
Typical hours
On average 37 hours.
Forestry England offers flexible working patterns where appropriate and lots of other great benefits to support a healthy work/life balance.
How you can grow with us:
Your career could progress into:
- head of engineering and landscape architecture, director of engineering.
- specialist roles like bridges and structures engineer, design and assurance, reservoir management.
With incorporated or chartered engineer status, you could move into senior project management roles. You could also specialise in a particular engineering field, work in research or become a consultant.
- membership of (or working towards) a relevant professional body at EngTech level or above.
Applying to work at Forestry England
You can find all our current vacancies online at Civil Service jobs.
Our frequently asked questions will help you in your application.
