Species Recovery Manager

What you’ll do…

Forestry England’s Forest Wilding Programme was launched in 2022, to deliver a step-change in our efforts to restore naturally functioning ecosystems to the Nation’s Forests. As part of this, we have developed one of the most ambitious initiatives to recover a select group of priority influential species, including beaver, wildcat, pine marten, white-tailed eagle and wood ants, predominantly through conservation translocation projects. We have over 30 projects in progress across England, including feasibility studies for wildcat in Northumberland, the reintroduction of pine martens in Devon, and a pioneering study of influential species which will inform our priorities through the next phase of the Forest Wilding Programme. These projects involve Foresty England colleagues across the country, as well as many other organisations, including Wildlife Trusts, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Vincent Wildlife Trust and Natural England.

As Species Recovery Manager you will lead this initiative, providing the inspiration, leadership qualities and managerial skills to ensure the effective delivery of these projects, and develop a pipeline of new species recovery projects, which together help drive nature recovery. The post holder will bring technical experience and insight, developing and maintaining standards, and ensuring robust programme and project management to deliver projects on time and on budget. This is an exciting and fast-paced role which is at the forefront of nature recovery efforts in England, working for England’s largest land manager.

The key elements of this role include:

• Providing strong technical leadership in species recovery and nature-focussed land management, and its integration with forestry management
• Programme and project management including a delegated budget of around £2 million
• Developing and managing strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders as well as representing Forestry England on various national forums

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

Where you’ll work…

You can be based anywhere in the country from any Forestry England office, but we support hybrid working from home. You will also be initiating and supporting projects across England, including in the Lake District, Kielder Forest, the North York Moors, the Peak District, south-east England, the New Forest, Purbeck, the Forest of Dean and Dartmoor.

The duties of this post require the post holder to travel across England regularly, and occasionally to other parts of the UK. Whilst we encourage use of public transport wherever possible, some of the locations you will need to visit include remote locations that are not accessible by public transport. You will therefore need to hold a full and current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK and be willing to stay away from home. We are willing to consider any proposals put forward by applicants that would allow them to do the job by other means.