Forest Planner

Job Introduction

We are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Forest Planner

Salary – £33,854

Contract type – Permanent

Hours – 37 hours per week

Vacancy closes – Wednesday 17th June 2026, 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 a Forest Planner with Forestry England in Yorkshire, you will help shape the long-term future of some of England’s most diverse and valued landscapes. You’ll lead the development of forest management plans that set the direction for how our woodlands are cared for over the next 30 years and beyond, balancing objectives for biodiversity, forest resilience, sustainable timber production and public access. Working collaboratively with colleagues across Forestry England and a wide range of external partners, you’ll bring together evidence, data and professional judgement to produce UKFS‑compliant Forest Plans and help maintain our UKWAS certification.

Covering a varied district from the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales to the Humber and West Yorkshire, the role combines strategic planning with practical delivery. You’ll use GIS and field surveys to inform decisions, consult widely with stakeholders, and support operational teams by providing high-quality data, mapping and specialist advice. Around a third of your time will be spent outdoors, often working independently, with flexibility to manage your own workload. You’ll be part of a supportive district team and a national network of forest planning professionals, with access to tailored training, mentoring and development opportunities to grow your expertise and career.

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

Where you’ll work…

The post will initially be based at Forestry England’s Yorkshire Office in Pickering. It will move to the Dalby Forest Office in autumn/winter 2027. Regular travel around Forestry England’s estate in Yorkshire will be required. There will be occasional trips outside of Yorkshire for Forestry England-wide meetings, which may require an overnight stay. 

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 behaviour-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. 

If candidates pass the interview but are not the leading candidate they can be placed on a reserve list. We may offer candidates on the reserve list for this role the opportunity to be considered for other roles at the same or lower pay bands.

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.