We are Forestry England.
We live and breathe forests.
Job title – Ecologist
Salary - £32,089 – £32,724
Contract type – Fixed - Term Appointment until 31/03/2028
Hours – 37 per week
Vacancy closes - 23:58 7th September 2025
Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.
Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.
What you’ll do…
Forestry England are actively growing the nation’s forests, planting around 1,000 hectares of new woodland each year to support carbon sequestration and biodiversity, produce sustainable timber and create resilient landscapes for future generations.
As an ecologist you could join our fast-paced Woodland Creation team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of landscape-scale woodland expansion.
The role will support the evaluation, planning and delivery of woodland creation projects across England ensuring designs meet regulatory requirements and best practice. This will involve working closely with colleagues and external stakeholders throughout the development and delivery of projects. The successful candidate will provide technical expertise on a diverse range of ecological constraints and opportunities, and work on a variety of sites in all parts of the country. This is a desk based role, but there will be some travel across England to visit sites and attend meeting with occasional overnight stays.
This is a Temporary Appointment for three years with the possibility of extension or permanency but no guarantee.
Where you’ll work…
Any Forestry England office. Blended working arrangements will be considered within England.
Benefits…
Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
- 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
- STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
- free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
- a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.
How to apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on a technical skill during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Communicating and Influencing
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Nationality requirements…
Read more about nationality requirements here.
Working for the Civil Service…
Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.
Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.
Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.