Roaming Ranger

We have an exciting opportunity for a Roaming Ranger to join our dedicated team, based at Danbury Country Park and working across all eight Essex Country Parks, as well as the county’s associated rail trails and woodlands.

Essex is a diverse county, home to both highly affluent communities and areas experiencing significant deprivation. Culture and Green Spaces play a vital role in enhancing residents’ quality of life by providing exceptional outdoor spaces and visitor experiences. Through the effective management of our green spaces, we aim to maximise the benefits of Essex’s unique landscape while supporting a financially sustainable operation.

As a Ranger, you will help manage and maintain a range of green spaces across Essex, ensuring high standards of conservation, horticulture and land management. You will play a key role in creating safe, welcoming and well-presented environments for visitors while helping to protect and enhance the natural landscape.

This is a varied and rewarding role where no two days are the same. Alongside practical land management and conservation work, you will deliver excellent customer service, support community engagement initiatives, and assist with activities, events and special interest groups that connect people with Essex’s parks and open spaces.

If you’re passionate about conservation, enjoy working outdoors, and are committed to delivering outstanding visitor experiences, we’d love to hear from you.

Accountabilities

• Support the requirement to build and maintain effective relationships with neighbours, stakeholders and partners by liaising with other landowners and community groups.
• Undertake and participate in a range of projects to contribute to the effectiveness of activities and share knowledge and expertise on all country park activities.
• Contribute to creating a safe environment for visitors by conducting regular checks of the country parks and to ensure it is a clean and safe environment for all visitors and users.
• Responsible for aspects of the day-to-day operation of the sites and their facilities, ensuring the sites are well presented and maintained at all times, good repair regimes and clear work programmes are followed.
• Contribute to the management of the land to enhance its nature conversation, habitat and landscape management, historic features and structures, for recreational and amenity value to achieve a high quality of land management to support the sites management plan and contribute to maintaining the Greenflag status across all sites.
• Contribute to ensuring country parks meet all legislative requirements including all byelaws, health and safety and other relevant legislation, carrying out regular Health and Safety checks and completing all relevant paperwork/reports in line with the parks procedures.
• Responsibility for the management of casual staff, volunteers and work experience placements to ensure they are fully supported in their daily tasks.
• Engage with customers to consider and improve the visitor’s experience; dealing with issues and problems involving visitors that occur within a country park.
• Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

• Educated to degree level in countryside management or equivalent by experience in country park management.
• Have a selection of industry relevant national governing body accredited qualifications. Examples could be First Aid, Tractor Operations, Chain Saw, Brush Cutter etc.
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to demonstrate good customer service.
• Evidence of delivering excellent customer service across a wide range of people.
• Understanding and experience of ecological/habitat management and the Country Parks ethos and commitment to promoting enjoyment of the countryside.
• Evidence of working within a team to achieve joint objectives.
• Experience of planning and managing resources, including staff and services, arranging for purchases as required, in line with procedures and maintaining records.

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we ensure everyone matters in Everyone’s Essex. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, the Government announced that councils in Greater Essex will be reorganised into five new unitary authorities from April 2028. In addition to this, Greater Essex has been accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our careers site.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the Nolan principles, including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

To apply, please click on the apply button.

Closing date: 23rd August 2026.