Regulations Development Project Officer

Description:

Do you want to be at the forefront of shaping the law in England to help protect and manage our trees and woodlands? Then this may be the role for you.

As we face the climate emergency, society has never been more interested in England’s tree and woodland resource. The Government aims to increase woodland cover to 16.5% by 2050, and to improve the sustainable management of our existing woodland. At the same time, there has never been so much pressure on England’s woodlands – environmental and social pressures, pests and diseases, illegal felling, lack of management.

The Forestry Commission (FC) are the Government’s forestry experts. We work with the forestry and environmental sectors nationally and locally to expand, protect, improve, and connect England’s valuable woodland assets.

We are recruiting two project officers – one permanent, one fixed-term appointment to cover maternity leave – to work in the FC’s National Grants and Regulations (NGR) team. NGR is one of our national teams and is responsible for tendering grants and incentives for woodland creation, woodland management and tree health activities, and for developing, implementing and enforcing forestry regulations.

Within NGR, the Regulations team is responsible for managing the regulations that govern tree and woodland management activities in England – such as tree felling, woodland creation and protecting habitats and species. It ensures those activities meet the requirements of the UK Forestry Standard and carries out enforcement activity where breaches of regulations are identified.

The project officers will work alongside colleagues in the Regulations Development side of the team, who focus on the reform of legislation, regulations, policy, procedures and systems. They will be an agile, resilient member of the team able to focus on a broad range of projects – from regulatory reform to systems development. They will also contribute to the development of agricultural policy and regulations through participation in the Farming and Countryside Programme – ensuring trees and woodland are adequately protected in the farming landscape. They will each be managed by an HEO and work alongside two other EOs in the team.

Our aim is to have a regulatory environment fit for the 21st century. We aim to create a well-informed, self-reliant, regulations-compliant woodland and forestry sector, and to have appropriate enforcement mechanisms in place where incidents of non-compliance occur.

It is an inspiring time to be involved. You could be instrumental in helping safeguard England’s trees and woodlands – now and for future generations.

Job Description

The NGR Regulations Development Project Officers will:
 

• Work closely with Defra and Forestry Commission policy leads, Natural England, and other public bodies on relevant legislative, regulatory, policy, and procedure reform, and system development.
• Work directly on the development or updating of forestry legislation, regulation, policy, and of digital ways of working for an improved regulatory experience, to contribute to increased efficiency and lessening the burden of regulation on business.
• Become a regulatory ’subject matter expert’ responsible for the development and management of consistent, correct guidance on operational practice, business process, and associated support materials, for use by other Forestry Commission teams, Defra, and other external stakeholders.
• Be able to work independently in a fast-paced environment and will adapt to short term deadlines and seasonal peaks and troughs in workloads across the year in a dynamic and efficient way.
• Ensure all work on forestry regulation is addressed in a manner which is timely, accurate, and in accord with any relevant regulations, and to seek legal advice when appropriate
• Occasionally provide cover for other NGR Regulations team staff, other NGR business areas, and to Defra forestry policy team as well. They may also need to travel to other offices and to meeting venues to support development of regulatory activity.
• Contribute to the design, implementation, and communication of the Forestry Commission’s approach to regulation and enforcement and contribute to reducing non-compliant or illegal activity.