Technical Support Officer

Secondment Length of employment Fixed Term Appointment until 30th September 2026 Business area FC - Forest Services - FC - Forest Services - The Forestry Commission are the Government’s forestry experts, and facilitate the protection, improvement and expansion of England’s trees, woodlands and forestry sector. Type of role Environment and Sustainability Working pattern Flexible working, Full-time Number of jobs available 1 Contents

• Location
• About the job
• Benefits
• Things you need to know
• Apply and further information

Location This role will be based at Bucks Horn Oak, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4LS, with some flexibility for blended working. About the job Job summary

Forestry Commission - Forest Services - which the Technical Support Officer (Administrator) will be part of, are the government’s forestry experts facilitating delivery of government policy to protect, improve and expand England’s woods and forests.

We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England?s valuable woodland assets.

We encourage good practice through professional advice, partnerships, advocacy and grants while discouraging damaging or inappropriate forestry practice through regulations and standards., Our work involves engagement with an enormous range of people and organisations, from small landowners and wood business through to large corporations and other public bodies. We are seeking a dynamic individual who learns quickly to provide technical support to our team of Woodland Officers, Woodland Creation Officers and Field Managers. The post holder will be required to:

1. Casework facilitation through the preparation of electronic case files from multiple platforms providing all necessary documents ready for Woodland Officer review, allocating cases, and providing further administrative support during processing through to case completion.

Updating national and local trackers and maintaining a ?rolling? progress report on all casework for managers.

Supporting Woodland Officers with queries, process and documentation relating to grants and incentives.

Liaising with agents and government bodies to resolve queries relating to incentives and ensure workflows progress efficiently.

Communicating updates from NO on process changes to the field teams and inputting in to process changes.

Use Power BI and Excel and create and update local reports and dashboards to provide management information.

1. Support wider team members with ad-hoc requests including reporting, data interrogation and technical and system advice.

While most of the work is administrative the post offers an opportunity to learn how trees, woods and forestry deliver a range of environmental, social and economic benefits and how Government supports this. Person specification, We aim to provide a great place to work, whichever location you work from. 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. Informal blended working arrangements will be available as agreed with the line manager. Things you need to know Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles , and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

This is a Fixed Term Appointment until 30th September 2026 with the possibility of extension or permanency but no guarantee.

As part of the application process, you will complete the following:

• A tailored CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. The CV will be split into 3 parts and requests: Job History, Previous Skills/Experience, and Full Qualification Details.
• A personal statement ? In no more than 500 words, please provide evidence of how you meet the requirements of the role as outlined in the job description.

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Interview

Applications will be sifted from the 25th May. Interviews will be held from the 1st June. Please note the above dates are subject to change. Interviews will be held in person at the Bucks Horn Oak Forest Office so please keep this in mind when applying for the role.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Forestry from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Existing Civil Servants (excluding Forestry Commission employees) and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, and will only be considered on a loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return., If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ?Assistance required? section in the ?Additional requirements? page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you?re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

• Good computer skills with experience of Office 365 and Microsoft suite emphasising Excel
• Excellent communication skills both written and verbal
• Experience of delivering quality services to a diverse customer base
• Experience of prioritising work to meet a deadline
• Experience of working effectively as part of a remote team
• Ability to prioritise and manage a varied workload
• Good interpersonal and influencing skills demonstrating the ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with internal colleagues and our customers

Please clearly demonstrate how the above applies to you throughout your application. Failure to do so will mean that your application is automatically sifted out.

DESIRABLE

• Understanding of forestry and woodland management
• Evidence of maintaining Continuous Professional Development
• Experience in the use of Power BI
• Experience of using a Customer Relationship Management system

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• At the interview you will be required to undertake a basic Excel exercise., Where a role has been identified as one which falls under the scope of the Public Sector English Language Requirements, within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English. Applicants will be assessed in the selection process in accordance with the requirements.

Benefits Alongside your salary of £26,959, Forestry Commission contributes £7,810 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• A Civil Service pension.
• A range of family friendly benefits.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• A culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment.
• A range of wellbeing benefits including discounted Civil Service Healthcare, access to an Employee Assistance Programme 24/7, Bike to Work Scheme, plus many more.
• 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.
• 3 days volunteering per year (pro rata).