Job Introduction
We are Forestry England.
We live and breathe forests.
Job title – Beat Forester
Salary- £37,537 - £39,661
Contract type – Permanent
Hours – 44 hours per week
Vacancy closes - 23:58 18th March 2026
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…
As one of the four Thetford Beat Foresters, you will play a key role in evolving our forest management practices - diversifying tree species to sustain timber production under future climate conditions, maintaining SSSI/SPA habitats for rare Breckland fauna and flora, protecting our unique heritage and providing extensive access to the countryside for an increasing number of visitors.
At Thetford Forest, we work at a landscape scale. The 20,000 hectare forest is divided into four beats, each producing a share of the forest’s 85,000m³ typical annual timber harvest and contributing to the up to 1million tree-planting programme.
The Beat Forester plans and organises forest operations, preparing large-scale silvicultural and estate maintenance programmes and ensuring they’re delivered safely, on-time and to exemplar professional standards.
In addition to managing planned work, Beat Foresters frequently need to react to unexpected or unusual situations (for example wildfires, windblown trees), quickly organising a response which complies with procedures.
If this job advert has inspired you to consider turning a passion for forests and trees into a career, but you don’t yet have the technical knowledge required for this role, you will find information about routes into forestry and qualifications on the Royal Forestry Society and tree work on the Arborictultural association websites. You may also find opportunities to gain experience through volunteering.
Please see the attached document for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
This post is based at the Santon Downham Office near Brandon, Suffolk IP27 0TJ.
A Beat Forester is a management role, so you can expect to spend part of most days in the office, but you must also be prepared to work outdoors in all seasons and be able to walk across rough ground with obstacles.
The standard working pattern is 44 hours a week 7am Monday to Friday but the operational pay and responsibilities of the role require flexible working to meet the needs of the team, and for you to be available on-call out-of-hours at times.
Sometimes meetings and training events will take place elsewhere in the country, which may require overnight stays.
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. Please ensure you write about your skills and experience in Silviculture knowledge, planning and delivery of forest operations that meet environmental safety standards and managing staff
You will be assessed on these during sifting. Please complete all sections so we can score your application. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
The interview will be conducted in person at Santon Downham. You will be assessed on behaviours, strengths and technical skills during your interview. The interview will include formal questions and exercises relating to these.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Leadership
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Please refer to the Civil Service Success Profiles for more information about the different types of questions and assessments.
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.
If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.
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.
