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Business Development Advisor (Woodland Creation)

Employer
Forestry Commission
Location
Across England
Salary
£35,167 
Closing date
3 Sep 2022

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Never has there been a more important time for trees and forests to help tackle the climate emergency and provide a much-needed sanctuary for people and wildlife. Our Prime Minister and our government are committed to creating 30,000ha of woodland a year across the UK by the end of this Parliament. This acceleration in current planting rates in England will contribute to meeting the net-zero by 2050 ambitions, and to government’s wider environmental targets. This was supported by the announcement in the March 2020 budget of a new Nature for Climate Fund ‘to support natural habitats like woodland and peat’.

The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Forestry Commission have set up a joint tree planting programme for England to support the forestry sector, landowners and communities in the delivery of these ambitions.

Forestry Commission will lead the delivery of the following parts of the tree planting programme:

  • Promotion and engagement.
  • Developing sector capacity.
  • Woodland creation on public land.
  • Woodland creation on private land.

As part of the promotion and engagement project, this role will develop a pipeline of woodland proposals through identifying how woodland creation and management can meet land owners’ and managers’ objectives. You will work closely with a broad range of customers and stakeholders, and will have a sound understanding of land management and/or agriculture complemented by an understanding of forestry.

Job description

If you are passionate about the role forestry can play in creating a better future for England, and want to play a part in that, we want to hear from you.

By joining this programme you will become part of a team of passionate, committed colleagues, and you will have the opportunity to build on a wealth of expertise to take this ambitious work forward. You will be able to make your mark by helping the Forestry Commission to revolutionise how we reach new audiences and influence the woodland creation agenda.

Our staff engagement levels are consistently well above the Civil Service average and staff turnover is well below. We value our people, we look after them, and we will look after you. We hope you will join us for the challenge.

The Business Development Advisor will be responsible for identifying opportunities for woodland creation and management that meet land-owners’ and managers’ objectives, to create a pipeline of woodland creation proposals supporting tree planting ambitions.

KEY WORK AREAS

• Plan and prioritise engagement with landowners and managers based on Area plans and priorities, and relevant data available, working closely with Area colleagues.
• Meet landowners and managers to assess their business requirements, conduct whole holding or business audits, and identify woodland creation and management opportunities that meet the landowners’ objectives.
• Develop a local network with the forestry and land management sector, sharing skills and knowledge with advisors and those supporting land-use decisions.
• Approach and engage with local advisors/agents/stakeholder networks offering information on woodland creation.
• Attend events to talk directly to farmers/landowners engaging in proactive lead generation/targeting and to provide advice on woodland creation.
• Assist with the planning and delivery of local networking events and agricultural shows.
• Engage with existing and new customers and stakeholders to strengthen understanding and awareness of the woodland creation offer, building on established relationships with Area teams.
• Manage customer journey from initial engagement through to the point of proceeding with woodland creation project, liaising with the Woodland Creation Officer and Woodland Officer.
• Keep CRM system information up to date, following up on all leads and tracking prospective customers.
• Lead the programme agenda with the sector to facilitate accelerated woodland creation
• Collect and feedback intelligence to inform development or improvement of promotional tools, and to inform improvements to the woodland creation offer.
• Provide content input as subject matter expert.
• Maintain an understanding of current market trends and work with regional and national teams to address market challenges and opportunities.

We are open to part-time working, particularly when combined with farming or other land-based activity.

The role will report to the Regional Promotion Manager.

The posts will be located across 4 Forest Services (Forestry Commission) Areas. These locations are: AREA 1 - North West & West Midlands, AREA 2 - South East & London, AREA 3 - East & East Midlands and AREA 4 - Yorkshire & North East. Applicants can live anywhere within the area, with travel across the area and blended working. Applicants will be asked to specify their preferred area team, using the area team head office as a selection (Farnham, Brandon, Penrith or York). Please note you do NOT need to live near these offices nor will you be expected to work from them; they are indications of your area preference only. 

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