Forestry England cares for more land and more trees than any other organisation in England, shaping landscapes for people, nature and timber. Forest works supervisors are part of the land management team and support the local forest manager.
They lead and manage forest craftspeople and contractors, and maintain standards in all aspects of forest and woodland management.
What it takes
The forest works supervisor works with a range of teams to help deliver forest management plans within a geographical area. An equal amount of time is spent outdoors and in the office. They are good at planning and organising their own time and that of their teams. The role includes:
supervising a team of forest craftspeople and sometimes volunteers to oversee tasks such as maintenance of forest infrastructure, attending to windblown trees, conducting dangerous tree surveys and tree planting.
managing contractors to deliver projects and work programmes based on objectives laid out in forest management plans.
marking and tariffing trees ready for thinning regimes.
playing a key role in setting and maintaining health, safety and environmental standards on work sites.
creating maps and risk assessments and ordering tools and personal protective equipment.
keeping records, entering data and reporting accidents onto a range of IT applications, such as Microsoft Office suite and Geographical Information System (GIS).
Skills and qualifications
We recommend that you gain experience and certificates where you can. For example, volunteering to gain practical knowledge, completing a relevant college course or apprenticeship and achieving appropriate certificates such as chainsaw and application of pesticides. A good level of competency in IT applications, understanding of health and safety practices in forest operations and contract management are also desirable.
You can get into this job through:
a college course.
an apprenticeship.
volunteering and / or relevant experience in forestry or land management.
applying directly.
Forestry England's shadow volunteer and trainee programmes.
College
You could take a course at an agricultural college to learn some of the skills needed in this job. Courses include:
- forestry.
- land management.
Apprenticeship
You could get into this job by doing a Forest Craftsperson Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.
With experience, you could move on to complete a Professional Forester Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships are a great way to learn while you earn. Discover more about apprenticeships at Forestry England.
Discover more about apprenticeships at Forestry England.
Salary
Starting from £26,500.
Typical hours
On average 37 hours per week.
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:
- contract management and trainee forester.
- forest planner.
- specialist roles on topics such as plant health, civil engineering and woodland creation.
Applying to work at Forestry England
If a forest works supervisor role sounds exciting to you, check out Civil Service jobs for all our current vacancies.
Our frequently asked questions will help in your application.
