Forest Works Supervisor - Thetford East Beat - East England Forest District

Thetford Forest is divided into four beats, each managed by a forester. Their Work Supervisor plays a critical role in assisting them to plan and organise tasks for the Beat Craftspeople and contractors, enabling them to achieve our programmes., This Work Supervisor role covers Thetford East Beat based near Brandon, Suffolk. Most of the outdoor elements of the job are within 30 minutes drive of the office but there'll be an occasional requirement to support teams elsewhere in District. Meetings and training events may take place in other parts of the country., The Beat Team work in a focused, motivated, enthusiastic way to plan and implement economic, social and environmental work programmes and projects that effectively, efficiently and safely meet the Forestry England Strategic Plan aim of "secure and grow the social, economic and natural capital value of the nation's forests".,

• Assist the beat forester in all aspects of the day-to-day management of the beat and in planning, organising and supervising forest operations by staff and contractors to ensure agreed work is delivered safely, effectively and efficiently.
• Take a focused interest in developing and coaching the beat team through demonstration and clear verbal communication.
• Accurately collect site measurements and observations and use these in monitoring outcomes, assessing site conditions, updating records and informing decisions.
• Communicate appropriately with colleagues and all stakeholders including landowners, neighbours, contractors, customers and members of the public.
The role involves a mixture of office work and time spent in the forest. The job is varied and wide ranging, requiring close team working to continually re-balance priorities as unplanned situations arise that need dealing with, whilst maintaining momentum to deliver planned programmes. A guide to expected Works Supervisor tasks:
• Promoting a safety-first culture.
• Ensuring through site set-up and supervision that all operations comply with safety and environmental legislation and meet the site specification.
• Building team spirit and nurturing staff knowledge and skills.
• Collecting site hazard information and using it to ensure site plans are accurate.
• Undertaking surveys that support sustainable timber production such as weeding assessments, stock density, mensuration, basal area checks.
• Maintaining a site monitoring diary.
• Collating site and job records, providing evidence for site management decisions and informing programme plans.
• Ground truthing and updating forest inventories and maps.
• Carrying out boundary, tree safety and infrastructure inspections.
• Overseeing stock control of materials and maintenance of equipment.
• Maintaining yard and estate safety and security.
• Organising legally compliant handling, storage and disposal of operational and 'gifted' waste.
• Keeping objective information flowing between craftspeople and the forester.
• Engaging formally and informally with customers, neighbours, stakeholders and members of the public.
• Drafting job specifications for staff and tender documents for contracts.
The normal start time is 7am and a standard working week is 37 hours, but the duties of the post require you to work flexibly at times, including participating in the rota for out of hours emergency cover.

Do you have the experience, skills and enthusiasm required to support efficient and effective implementation of establishment, harvesting and maintenance programmes in Thetford Forest?

Forestry England is the part of the Forestry Commission that looks after the nation's forests. We are the largest supplier of homegrown, sustainable timber in England. We're able to share and care for amazing places and incredible wildlife because of the timber we produce. Comprising 35,000 hectares from North Norfolk to Brighton, East England Forest District's landholding varies from the extensive Thetford Forest, England's largest lowland pine forest, to community woods on the outskirts of London. We are committed to preserving our rich natural and cultural heritage. We look after numerous sites that have been legally designated in recognition of their special characteristics such as rare species, habitats or historic earthworks. We offer outdoor recreation, leisure, and wellbeing activities for hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Our entire freehold estate is dedicated to public access on foot, with numerous small carparks and informal access points. Whilst the nation's forests are increasingly being appreciated for their environmental and social value, supplying sustainable homegrown timber has remained a core purpose for Forestry England since its origins; an important continuing role given that the UK still imports over 80% of the wood products consumed by the population. The Beat Thetford Forest lies in the heart of East Anglia. The forest is approximately 20,000ha with an annual felling programme of around 80,000tonnes and planting programme of around 1million trees a year. We carry out a significant proportion of these programmes with in-house staff, so we run our own tractors and harvesting machinery in addition to carrying out manual tending and maintenance work. We supplement our own teams with contractors when we don't have capacity to complete programmes or require specialist skills and machinery.