Job Introduction
We are Forestry England.
We live and breathe forests.
Job title – Forest Centre Manager, Alice Holt
Salary- £33,854
Contract type – permanent
Hours – 37 hours per week
Vacancy closes - 29/4/26 at 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 our Forest Centre Manager you will be responsible for the recreation operations at Alice Holt Forest. You will be managing the recreation and craftspeople team, overseeing health and safety compliance, managing the budget with a focus on increasing income generation, contract management and overseeing asset management. Working with internal and external stakeholders you will be enhancing and delivering an excellent visitor experience.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
Alice Holt Forest is 850 hectares and forms part of the South Downs National Park. The Forest lies within an hour’s drive of West London, Reading, Southampton and Portsmouth and it is one of Forestry England's most popular destinations, attracting over 300,000 visitors a year.
Its facilities include a café, natural spaces, an activity centre, forest classrooms, outdoor play structures for children to explore, cycle hire, and over eight miles of waymarked trails for walking and cycling. In 2025, Forestry England launched three new main components, Adventure Nets, Disc Golf and the UK’s first Giant Marble Run.
The duties of this post require the applicant to have a full current driving licence that enables them to drive in the UK. However, Forestry England is willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by any other means. This role will require weekend and public holiday working.
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.
During your interview, you will be assessed on experience and you will be asked to give a short presentation. We will advise the subject of the presentation to candidates who are selected for interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
- Leadership
- Working Together
- Delivering at Pace
- Managing a Quality Service
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.
