Forest Centre Manager

Job Introduction

YWe are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Forest Centre Manager

Salary- £33,854

Contract type – Permanent

Hours – 37 per week

Vacancy closes - 23rd November 2025 23:58

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 Forest Centre Manager, you will take a leading role in shaping outstanding visitor experiences at Jeskyns Community Woodland and across our sites in Kent and East Sussex. This dynamic position will see you lead and manage a committed team of staff and volunteers to deliver efficient, safe and high-quality daily operations.

Your experience in managing outdoor visitor facilities, infrastructure, service contracts, activities and events will be key to ensuring every visitor has a memorable, positive experience. You will also play a strategic role in supporting our wider business goals through effective site management and strong financial oversight. You will be responsible for managing budgets with care and identifying opportunities to improve business performance through operational efficiencies and new income streams.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Where you’ll work…

This role sits within the East England Forest District, which manages over 35,000 hectares of woodland spanning from Norfolk to Buckinghamshire and East Sussex. Your primary base will be Jeskyns Community Woodland, with regular travel across Kent and East Sussex required to meet the operational needs of the role. The woodlands in this region are diverse and multifunctional, shaping the landscape, supporting sustainable timber production, providing vital habitats for wildlife and welcoming millions of visits each year from both local communities and tourists. In this role, you will play a key part in safeguarding and enhancing these valuable outdoor assets for current and future generations.

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 experience and strength based questions during your interview. 

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are – 

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.