Forester
We are currently recruiting Foresters to join our regional Delivery Teams throughout Scotland. Please note - we may not currently have a vacant post in your preferred location, however if you pass the interview we will hold you on reserve for 6 months with the potential to offer you a role should a suitable vacancy arise.
Working at Forestry and Land Scotland is all about ‘People, Pride and Purpose.’ Join us and take pride in helping look after something incredibly valuable to the people of Scotland and its visitors – Scotland’s national forests and land.
At FLS, you’ll work with over a thousand talented, innovative, and committed people. Together we’re helping adapt and respond to climate change in Scotland, supporting the economy, protecting and enhancing the environment, and bringing increased positive benefits to the people of Scotland.
Our Foresters are responsible for planning and managing programmes of work for their team in areas such as planting and maintaining forests, habitat and visitor management and so much more!
It’s an exciting time to join us as everything you do will play a key role in delivering the biodiversity and climate change objectives for Scotland. To support you to achieve this, you will participate in a comprehensive induction programme and have the option to work with a Mentor for your first six months.
If you’re interested, please see the job description and Success Profile document attached for a full role overview.
What's it like being a Forester?
Hear from Marie and Tom about working as Foresters in some of Scotland's most iconic locations.
Main duties
Below are some tasks you could find yourself completing:
- You'll have line management responsibilities, working with your team to ensure projects are completed while also ensuring the continued professional development of individuals is set out;
- Proactively plan work to assist in achieving your regions objectives;
- Deliver professional results through best practice, taking a balanced view of the options available;
- Managing health, safety and wellbeing in all aspects of your role;
- You'll continue to expand your own professional knowledge of industry best practice;
- Oversee the delivery of work by contractors working on behalf of the agency;
- Develop detailed expenditure budgets, monitor and manage your teams budgets while providing accurate updates and forecasts as appropriate;
- You'll play a key role in positive engagement with colleagues, visitors and stakeholders.
The role may differ slightly depending on where you’re based.
Salary: £34,028 - £36,302
Where you'll be based
We have five region covering all of Scotland. Have a look at the map to see where each of the regions operate, and use the drop down options to find out more about each region. You can also visit where we live and work to hear from some of our colleagues about what it’s like to be based in these areas.
Central Region covers large urban areas within and surrounding Glasgow and Edinburgh, whilst also taking in the natural beauty of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. The region is believed to manage the oldest forest park in Scotland. Geographically the region is made up of low lying holdings in the East to high mountainous forestry and open land in the West. Managing approximately 90,000 ha of national forests and land, and several other areas in partnership with Local Authorities.
The FLS team in East Region manages approximately 90,000Ha of Scotlands National Forests and Land, from the coastal pine woods of Moray and Fife, to the large productive forests across Aberdeenshire, the busy recreational woods near Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth, and the iconic forests of Bennachie and Tay Forest Park. These areas also include large parts of the Cairngorms National Park and encompass important open habitats and native woodlands, including sand dune and shingle systems, blanket bog and montane habitats, the pinewoods of Deeside, lowland oak woods and the Blackwood of Rannoch Caledonian Pinewood.
North Region is responsible for the management of a large and diverse land holding from Caithness in the North, Skye in the West and Strathspey in the South. This includes a varied range of terrain from the flow country to part of the Cairngorms National Park and the steep terrain of the North-West Highlands. North has significant areas of steep ground harvesting above major transport routes, including Loch Ness, requiring major resilience work; as well as a major peatland restoration programme in Caithness and the Sutherland, funded via Peatland Action Fund.
South Region has the largest forested land in Scotland. It covers a diverse forest from the rolling Galloway glens on West Coast to the Tweed Valley on the East Coast. The topography has large scale upland conifer forests, soils of deep peat, peat gleys and brown earths. This is attributable to a climate that is mild and wet maritime in the West, and drier and colder in the East with windy conditions. Supporting the rural economy with 25+ timber industries, with a wide contractor base and links to tourism – this is supported through the Borders Initiative and South of Scotland Economic Partnership.
West Region has a diverse forest and land structure based on the beautiful North West coast of the country with around 2,655 ha of ancient semi-natural woodland and around 145,000 ha of forest and land holdings, spread across a diverse coastal and inland landscape. The West are building on stakeholder relationships and community opportunities/partnerships, as well as the development of visitor services offering and community support for local based industry.
What we offer
We understand that changing your role or workplace can be a big decision to make, with many aspects to consider. In addition to a generous pay, holiday and pension package we also offer:
- Genuine consideration of flexible working options, such as compressed hours and a mixture of virtual, home and remote working
- Employer Pension Contributions of 27.5%
- Flexi-time with the ability to take off up to 2 days per month period (in addition to your annual leave allowance)
- An environment that supports work/life balance for everyone in the team
- Consideration of job sharing opportunities
- Opportunity to pursue continued professional development
Whatever your circumstances, if you think you would be the right fit for our team and meet the essential criteria for the role, we encourage and welcome your application.
How to apply
Please apply through the job portal with your CV and a supporting statement. Your supporting statement should be utilised to give additional evidence of how you meet the essential and desirable criteria. The supporting statement should be no more than 750 words, if the word count is higher we cannot consider the supporting statement as part of the assessment.
*Please note your preferred location(s) in the relevant text box in the application portal. Without this we cannot send you an interview invite.*
- Download - CV template (PDF)
- Download – Application Guidance
For more information on the application process as a whole, please visit the candidate Information section.
Get in touch
If you would like further information or have any questions, please contact:
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