Ips typographus Admin Officer

About the role

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.

Responsibilities

• Process felling and movement inspection requests, issue authority letters, and keep audit-ready records.
• Compile surveillance and outbreak data into regular summaries for the Programme Manager.
• Help Officers coordinate contractors and act as a point of contact for landowners and partner agencies.
• Maintain databases of surveillance, authorisations and outbreak status.
• Maintain GIS databases, ensuring data quality and reporting any inconsistencies to Officers.
• Track programme spend and process contractor invoices.
• Organise workshops and training and distribute guidance materials to Inspectors.
• Provide general admin support to the team, including correspondence and diary coordination.
• Support engagement with Forest Research and government partners on related projects.

Requirements

Essential:

• Administrative experience, ideally within an environmental, land-based or regulatory setting.
• Confident written and verbal communicator, comfortable liaising with landowners, contractors and partner agencies.
• Prioritise competing deadlines and manage multiple work streams.
• Strong working knowledge of MS Office 365 (Excel, Outlook, Teams, Word) for reporting and data management.
• Able to maintain accurate records and ensure compliance with regulatory or audit requirements.

Desirable:

• Interest or background in forestry, biosecurity, or environmental/land management.
• Experience in a public-sector or ALB administrative environment (Defra, Forestry Commission, or similar).
• Familiarity with ESRI Products (FieldMap, ArcGIS Online, ArcPro, Survey123).
• Familiarity with database or case-management systems.
• Basic awareness of UK plant health/biosecurity policy.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Post-secondary education or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation.

Desirable:

• Advanced degree in forestry, biology, or a related field.

Skills

• Excellent organizational skills.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Effective communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in MS Office 365.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Knowledge of forestry practices and regulations.

Benefits

Salary: £30,105
Pension: Forestry Commission contributes £8,721 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Annual Leave: 25 days annual leave, with 1 additional day for each years’ service up to 5 years (pro rata), plus 10.5 bank holidays/privilege days (pro rata). Ability to buy or sell 5 days annual leave.
Volunteering: 3 days volunteering per year (pro rata).
Flexible Working: Blended working forms part of our flexible and inclusive approach to future ways of working. It is an informal arrangement which gives you the option to work some of the week from home, and some of the week from our Forestry Commission workplaces, subject to role requirements, business needs, and regular review.

Pay

£30,105 per annum

Schedule

Full-time