Trees and Timber Modern Apprenticeship

Forestry and Land Scotland – Trees and Timber Modern Apprenticeship

We are looking to recruit 10 enthusiastic people who have an interest in forestry to join our teams in our South and Central Regions to complete a 2 year Trees and Timber Modern Apprenticeship.

Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) look after Scotland’s National Forests and Land for the benefit of all, now and for the future. We are made up of 5 regional areas, North, East, South, West and Central and each has responsibility for their own uniqueness.

Our regions contain a number of environmental features and sites of special purposes, as well as significant interest in the visitor services facilities available to the public both formally and through the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. There is a strong focus towards commercial forestry alongside these features which provides a very interesting and varied role for our apprentices.

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 16th May 2021. Applicants claiming a guaranteed interview will be invited for further assessment should they meet the minimum essential criteria listed below.

Job description

A 2 year Trees and Timber Modern Apprenticeship is an excellent opportunity to work and combine specialist on the job training and industry experience with high quality learning.

You will gain hands on industry skills whilst working alongside local teams to support FLS to look after and protect the National Forest Estate by carrying out a range of forest management operations. You will build on the practical experience and develop the knowledge and skills to gain certification with a Scottish Vocational Qualification Level 2 and Level 3 in Trees and Timber and you will achieve City & Guilds/Lantra industry recognised qualifications such as Strimmer & Brushcutter, Mobile Chipper & First Aid.

Upon successful completion of the apprenticeship, you will be able to apply for a range of permanent roles with us and there is ample opportunity for career progression as your skills and abilities begin to develop not just with the practical skills but with your development of leadership and management skills too. (However, please note there is no guarantee of a permanent role).

This apprenticeship is suitable for young people such as school and college leavers, or adults who are interested in the forestry industry and looking for a new career direction.

For more information on the apprenticeship and locations available, please see the attachment titled ‘Trees and Timber Modern Apprentice’ at the bottom of this page.

Responsibilities

  • Undertake general land maintenance duties including using a range of tools, for example grass cutting.
  • Contributing towards the establishment and maintenance of new and existing plantations through planting trees, crop protection, mechanical clearing and undertaking stocking density assessments.
  • Undertake Stewardship duties such as scrub clearance, path repairs, boundary and fencing surveys, repairs and construction, litter picking, road control, painting and installing furniture in our visitor attractions.
  • Conducting forest surveys; including vegetation, wildlife, and environmental surveys.
  • Undertaking other operations as detailed in our conservation, archaeological and recreation management plans.
  • Assisting in the protection of the forest and land including waste disposal activities and fly tipping clear up.
  • Learning and undertaking Health and Safety tasks relevant to your work, including wearing and utilising Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and taking a positive approach to the H&S of yourself and others.

Person Specification

Essential

  • Demonstrate a passion for working in the outdoors and a willingness to work outdoors year round in all weathers;
  • Demonstrable experience of working both in a team environment and independently using your own initiative to solve problems;
  • Ability to communicate effectively, both in writing and face to face including use of basic IT including MS Word and Outlook programmes;
  • An awareness of the importance of Health and Safety.

Desirable

  • Good interpersonal skills and ability to interact with stakeholders and visitors;
  • Good time management skills and able to respond to shifting and conflicting priorities;
  • Practical skills and experience in using hand tools for groundwork, basic carpentry or similar;
  • Aptitude for working with power tools.

Technical Skill

Essential

  • A minimum of 2 Scottish National 4’s (Grade A-C) or equivalent (e.g. Standard Grades, Ordinary Grades) including English and Maths;
  • Willingness to obtain industry recognised qualifications and licences leading to a career in the forestry sector.

Licences

You need to have a full current driving licence that enables you to drive in the UK. However, successful candidates would be given 3 months from taking up the position to obtain this.

Qualifications

A minimum of 2 Scottish National 4’s (Grade A-C) or equivalent (e.g. Standard Grades, Ordinary Grades) including English and Maths.

Behaviours

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

  • Working Together
  • Making Effective Decisions
  • Developing Self and Others
  • Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

  • Working Together
  • Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

  • Please refer to the Technical Skills section of the job advert.

Benefits

If successful you will be entitled to a large range of benefits. This includes:

  • An annual leave allowance of 25 days, rising to 30 days per year after 5 years’ service. In addition, there are currently 11.5 days of public and privilege holidays, dates of which are set annually.
  • A competitive contributory pension scheme you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution to the cost of your pension.
  • We recognise the importance of enabling employees to achieve a healthy work / life balance by offering flexi-time arrangements in areas of the business where it is appropriate to do so.
  • Reimbursement of professional membership fees directly relevant to your job.
  • Generous paid maternity and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers.

Salary

£19,963

Grade

Administrative AssistantPay Band 7

Contract type

Fixed Term
Apprenticeship

Length of employment

2 years

Business area

FLS – Land Management

Type of role

Operational Delivery

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time

Number of posts

10

Location

Ae, Clydebank, Straiton or West Calder

Happy to talk flexible working

Things you need to know

Security

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.In the event of a high number of applicants, candidates will be selected for interview based on the lead criteria which is Experience/Technical Skills and the Lead Behaviour “Working Together”.

The sift is due to take place week commencing 17 May. Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 7 June and will take place via Microsoft Teams.

For more information about applying for a role and working at Forestry and Land Scotland, please visit https://forestryandland.gov.scot/jobs.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

  • UK nationals
  • nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
  • nationals of the Republic of Ireland
  • nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
  • relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
  • relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
  • certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further information on nationality requirements

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s recruitment principles.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Kirsty Whitehead – kirsty.whitehead@forestryandland.gov.scot | hr@forestryandland.gov.scot

Attachments

Tree and Timber Modern Apprentice Opens in new window(pdf, 590kB)
Additional Information Opens in new window(pdf, 222kB)

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