Ips typographus Project Officer

The Forestry Commission (FC) are the Government’s forestry experts. We work nationally and locally on unlocking the full potential of woodlands and the forestry sector to expand, protect, improve, and connect England’s valuable woodland assets.

The Plant Health Forestry (PHF) team is a high-performing, geographically distributed team working across Great Britain (GB) to support healthy trees, woods and forests now and for the future.

By joining PHF, you will become part of a passionate, expert team driving ambitious work to protect and improve GB’s valuable woodland assets.

Job description

We are seeking an Ips typographus Project Officer to help detect, contain and eradicate Ips typographus outbreaks across Southeastern England.

Ips typographus is regulated in the UK as a Quarantine Pest and we are obligated to act against the current findings to support maintaining this status.

The beetle poses no threat to human health but can be a serious and destructive pest of spruce species and poses a serious threat to the GB forestry sector. Spruce trees are a major component of our forestry industry, making up around 50% of commercial planting in the UK and supporting thousands of jobs.

The aims of the Ips typographus management programme are:

• Deliver strategic plans: Deliver England-wide strategies to prevent, detect and eradicate Ips typographus incursions and outbreaks.
• Outbreak response: Identify and respond to outbreaks, working with landowners, industry and partner agencies to eradicate the pest.
• Surveillance: Run a risk-based surveillance programme for vulnerable spruce stands, working with Forest Research on pheromone trapping networks and following up on inspection leads.
• Authorisations: Process requests for spruce felling, movement and processing, ensuring compliance with biosecurity requirements and keeping accurate records.
• Contractor Management: Coordinate contractors carrying out surveillance, felling and other control work, ensuring resources are used efficiently.
• Support policy objective of reducing host presence in high-risk areas: Encourage the removal of spruce in areas most at risk of Ips typographus
• Data collection and reporting: Gather and analyse surveillance and outbreak data, producing reports to support decision-making.
• Training, communications and guidance: Provide training and guidance to forestry workers, landowners and partners to support pest control efforts.
• Project work: Work with Forest Research and government partners on R&D projects, including remote sensing, debarking equipment trials and canine detection.

Key work areas

The purpose of the Ips typographus Project Officer is to:

• Support the Ips typographus Programme Manager and line manage Ips typographus Support Officer/s to deliver England’s eradication response to Ips typographus.
• Maintain our risk-based surveillance programme for vulnerable spruce stands, with intensified field-work activities during spring and summer seasons.
• Lead the mobilisation of survey teams, prioritise sites according to risk, coordinate resource allocation.
• Collaborate with Forest Research on the management of pheromone trapping detection networks and rapidly respond to trap catches with targeted ground-inspection.
• Oversee inspection requests for spruce felling, movement and processing authorisations, issuing authority letters and maintaining audit-ready records. Ensure every authorisation conforms to regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate the delivery of Statutory Plant Health Notices (SPHNs), ensuring landowners, agents and contractors understand legal requirements, operational timescales and biosecurity obligations.
• Lead and coordinate activities to ensure statutory plant health requirements are implemented effectively and consistently.
• Procure, brief and manage contractors delivering surveillance, sanitation and control measures. Monitor performance against objectives, support budget monitoring and ensure efficient use of resources in the field.
• Drive proactive spruce removal policy objective in high-risk areas, engaging local landowners and the wider forestry sector. Promote best practice approaches at stakeholder workshops and site visits.
• Lead the gathering, validation and analysis of field data on surveillance, pest distributions, outbreak status and eradication outcomes. Produce clear, timely reports to the Ips typographus Programme Manager that inform tactical decisions and programme review.
• Design and deliver best-practice training sessions for forestry workers, contractors and partner agencies. Assist with the preparation of guidance materials to keep local landowners, the forestry sector and government bodies informed and engaged.
• Support FC and government partnerships on R&D initiatives including remote sensing, debarking-equipment trials and canine detection studies.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• HND qualification (or equivalent) in Forestry, Plant Health, Arboriculture or a related subject, and/or significant practical experience in forestry, the timber industry, ecology, or other relevant field-based operations.
• Confident communicator with the ability to brief stakeholders, landowners, contractors and partner agencies clearly and persuasively.
• Able to prioritise multiple work streams and tasks under pressure, managing time and resources to deliver rapid responses to surveillance pressures and outbreaks.
• Skilled in coordinating on-the-ground operations including surveillance, eradication or pest control with awareness of seasonal field demands.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Office 365 tools (Excel, Outlook, Teams, Word) to produce reports, manage data and communicate effectively.
• Valid UK driving licence and willingness to frequently travel across England for fieldwork in all weather conditions.
• High attention to detail in record keeping, ensuring legal and regulatory compliance across site inspections and authorisations.

Please clearly demonstrate how the above applies to you throughout your application. Failure to do so will mean that your application is automatically sifted out.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience supervising contractors or small field teams in forestry operations, surveillance, ecological surveys, eradication programmes or related field.
• Proficiency in GIS or mobile-based mapping and reporting tools (e.g., ArcGIS, FieldMaps, Survey123 etc).
• A clear understanding of current UK forestry policies related to pests and diseases and regulations and a working knowledge of regulatory processes.
• Experience delivering training sessions or stakeholder engagement events.
• Familiarity with public-sector working practices, especially within Defra, Forestry Commission or other arm’s length bodies (ALBs).