Forest Operations Officer

Team / Directorate: Team 1 / Operations

Starting salary:  £36,246 rising to £39,942 per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern:  Full time, 37 hours per week (Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview Date: 22/08/2025

Post number: 200721 GRJ

The role

Are you passionate about sustainable forestry and ready to take a leading role in woodland management? We are seeking a dedicated Forest Operations Officer to help deliver a two-year cyclical programme of forest operations across South Wales. Based in Resolven, you’ll be part of a skilled Forest Operations Team, working both in the field and from the office. You will lead on the evaluation, planning, and delivery of harvesting and restocking operations, taking responsibility for developing and managing contracts and procurement activities in line with NRW and Welsh Government guidelines.

The role involves planning forest infrastructure to support operational activities, coordinating with internal teams to ensure delivery is efficient and sustainable. You’ll manage health and safety across operational sites and help monitor the outputs of team members to support high-quality delivery and reduce risk. You’ll also contribute to longer-term and more complex site projects, while engaging with local communities, forest users, and stakeholders to foster collaboration and shared ownership of our natural resources.

In addition, the role includes supporting conservation, deer and animal management, heritage site protection, and estate stewardship. You’ll work closely with colleagues to maintain the integrity of forest data and contribute to mapping and reporting, ensuring compliance with NRW’s Forest Surveys Handbook. You’ll also help deliver unique and high-value projects, such as ancient woodland restoration, continuous cover forestry at Glyncastle, and low-impact logging techniques. As part of your responsibilities, you will manage budgets associated with your work, preparing annual forecasts and reporting regularly in line with NRW’s financial regulations.

This is a key role that combines technical leadership with a real opportunity to influence sustainable forest management in Wales. As a manager, you will also work alongside your peers to ensure compliance with UKWAS, UKFS, and FISA standards, championing good practice and continuous improvement across all areas of your work.”

As an organisation we support flexible working.  You will be contracted to the NRW office at the above location and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Claudia MacDonald-Robins at claudia.robins@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams.

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

About us

The Welsh Government Woodland Estate (WGWE) is part of the longest running, continuously certified state forests in the world.

You will be using your skills as a forward thinker, analyser, collaborator as well as your knowledge of sustainable land management to further strengthen the foundations of our forest operations enabling the WGWE to provide even more public benefit. You will also be contributing towards a business generating c£25M per year that leads to changes to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation, manage flood risk, provide space for people and nature, and supply timber and other products to grow the Welsh circular economy.

Your delegated responsibilities in Forest Operations will include the planning and delivery of up to 100,000 m3 of clearfell and thinning and/or up to 200ha of restocking/maintenance in South West Wales Forest Operations Team based in Resolven, Neath.

The woodlands of the surrounding area are predominantly upland in character and duties will include working/managing the forests in the Neath, Afan, Dulais and Swansea Valleys as well as Pembrey in Camarthanshire (Eastern section of South West). These woodlands encompass many aspects of land administration such as the management of productive high forest, ASNW, Planted Ancient Woodland (PAWS), SSSI’s, heritage features, liabilities and priority open habitats with associated rare flora and fauna.

The role of the Senior Officer is key in developing tactical plans to deliver annual operational programmes. This requires collaborating closely with teams within NRW as well as suppliers, customers, and stakeholders to ensure that these plans are delivered on time as well as to meet qualitative standards and value for money.

What you will do

• Support technical advice for specific sector or technical issues. 
• Implementation of team work plans, and delivery of agreed actions to contribute to business planning. 
• Participate in NRW technical or represent NRW on external forums as a technical representative. 
• Interact with peers in NRW to promote consistent industry and specialist subject practices.
• Have responsibility for direct delivery of delegated programmes and agreed delegated budgetary control, including all relevant compliance and adhering to procurement process.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs). 
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.
• Required to take part in incident response activities 

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Experience of working across a wide range of land management disciplines. 
2. Knowledge of sustainable forest management, UKWAS and forest certification schemes. 
3. Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities. 
4. Knowledge and experience of designated sites, and all aspects of forest practise, including land liabilities, forest planning and forest operations.

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.  

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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