Nature Recovery Officer - Westonbirt

Job Introduction

We are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Nature Recovery Officer - Westonbirt

Salary – £33,854

Contract type – 3 year fixed term (with the possibility of extension or permanency)

Hours – 37 hours per week

Vacancy closes - Monday 8th 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…

Forestry England’s vision is that the nation’s forests will provide the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England. The Nature Recovery Officer – Westonbirt will play an important role in achieving this vision by providing evidence-based guidance to inform management on native tree species of conservation concern. Key responsibilities include producing guidance on habitat pruning (veteranisation) on native trees, working in collaboration with partners including Action Oak and the Ancient Tree Forum. The Nature Recovery Officer will also lead the production of guidance on woodland management to support the conservation of threatened native whitebeams, rowans and service trees (Sorbus spp.) as part of the Global Conservation Consortium for Whitebeams, Rowans and Services Trees, which Westonbirt leads. The role will also facilitate trialling of innovative ecological techniques in ancient woodland at Westonbirt.  

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

Where you’ll work…

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS

We have an exciting opportunity for a Nature Recovery Officer to join the team at Westonbirt Arboretum. The arboretum is one of the largest pay-to-enter visitor attractions in the Southwest, welcoming over 550,000 visitors per year. The onsite businesses generate a turnover of more than £14m in which events contributes a large part.

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum is one of the most beautiful and important plant collections in the world. First laid out in the 1800s following Picturesque landscape principles, the collection contains more than 15,000 specimens representing 2,500 taxa from all over the temperate world. The arboretum plays an important role in tree research and conservation, and leads the Global Conservation Consortium for Whitebeams, Rowans and Service Trees.   

Along with one of the most complete examples of a picturesque landscape, Westonbirt's Silk Wood is designated ancient woodland and home to numerous nationally important ancient woodland features.  

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 and strength based questions during your interview. 

 The Behaviours being assessed at interview are – 

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.

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. 

This role is funded by DEFRA rather than through Forestry England generated revenue, and is therefore subject to government spending reviews. While DEFRA has indicated long term support for the Biodiversity Programme and we expect funding to continue, it is possible that funding levels may change at the end of any financial year depending on DEFRA’s budget allocations. In the event of funding changes, we would prioritise retaining staff posts wherever possible. This approach is consistent for roles within publicly funded organisations. We are committed to keeping staff informed and supported through any changes.