Species Recovery Manager

Job Introduction

We are Forestry England.

We live and breathe forests.

Job title – Species Recovery Manager (Maternity Cover)

Salary - £40,388 - £43,482

Contract type – Fixed Term Appointment for 18 Months (with the possibility of extension but no guarantee) 

Hours – 37 hours per week

Vacancy closes - 1st January 2026 23:58

Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.

Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.

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-focused 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 below 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.

Benefits…

Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

How to apply…

You will be asked to upload your CV and to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form. 

Please note, the post is suitable for secondment from Defra, its arm’s length bodies, and other relevant parts of the civil service. 

You will be assessed on experience, behaviours and a technical skill during your interview.

The assessment of Technical abilities will include a 10 minute presentation to be given by the candidates at the interview stage, on a relevant topic which will be given to candidates when they are invited to interview.  

 The Behaviours being assessed at interview are – 

• Seeing the Bigger Picture 
• Making Effective Decisions 
• Working Together 
• Delivering at Pace 

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email fcrecruitmentteam@forestryengland.uk.

If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first. 

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website. 

Nationality requirements…

Read more about nationality requirements here. 

Working for the Civil Service…

Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative. 

Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.

Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: englandhr.services@forestryengland.uk.