Land Management Officer – Waterfall Country Project

Natural Resources Wales are seeking an experienced, self-motivated, organised and passionate Land Management Officer to join the high-profile Waterfall Country Project in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

This role is a Fixed-Term appointment until the 31/03/2028.

Over recent years, Waterfall Country has experienced a significant rise in visitor numbers, largely driven by social media, which has led to a marked change in visitor behaviour and trends, with visitor numbers now in the region of 300,000 per year. Such an increase has led to a rise in reported incidents, the deterioration of site infrastructure and protected features, and has also impacted significantly upon local communities.

Improving visitor safety is a key objective of the Waterfall Country project, and one that requires a holistic approach. Working in collaboration with the project manager and stakeholders from a range of organisations, the Project Officer will play an integral role in supporting the development and implementation of visitor safety initiatives including infrastructure improvements, upgrading on-site interpretation, and developing stronger messaging and pre-visit communications.

The successful applicant will play an integral role in supporting the Project Manager in the effective delivery of this nationally significant project, working within the busy Land Management Team, and therefore will need strong interpersonal skills, and be an active team-player.

Applicants will need proven strong time-management skills, the ability to prioritise work to good effect. The applicant must be experienced in manging visitor safety in a forest setting including undertaking recreation inspections, mapping of defects and planning infrastructure improvements, writing works specifications, and mapping using a GIS platform. Experience of managing contracts involving rural path construction and vegetation management will be required.

Applicants will need strong communication skills and experience working with stakeholders, and a working knowledge of social media platforms.

Office base for the Project Officer will be the NRW Resolven office.

Interviews will take place in person (time, date and location to be confirmed).

To make an informal enquiry about this role please contact Paul Dann at [email protected]

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What you will do

• Implement team work plans, and delivery of agreed actions.
• Participate in NRW technical/strategic groups or represent NRW on external forums.
• Interact with peers in NRW to promote consistent industry and specialist subject best practice.
• Have responsibility for direct delivery of delegated programmes within agreed budgetary control, ensuring relevant compliance and adherence to procurement procedures, health and safety legislation and industry best practice.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. Experience of working across a wide range of land management disciplines.
2. Extensive knowledge and experience of designated sites, and all aspects of forest practise, including land liabilities, forest planning, forest operations, recreation asset management, including visitor centre management (where relevant).
3. Knowledge of sustainable forest management, UKWAS and forest certification schemes.
4. Experience of community liaison and public engagement activities.
5. Full and valid UK driving license.

Welsh Language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to equal opportunities, and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.