Land Management Technical Support Officer

Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales; Merthyr Tydfil; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Civil Service Pension Scheme

28 days annual leave rising to 33 days

Professional development opportunities

Health and wellbeing benefits

Weekly wellbeing hour

Job summary

Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru / Natural Resources Wales is seeking a motivated Land Management professional to work primarily in the field, supporting the management and improvement of diverse outdoor sites. You will inspect, map, and maintain assets while engaging with landowners, the public and stakeholders to resolve issues.

The role requires travelling to remote sites, driving, and collaboration with forestry teams, with a hybrid pattern and DBS checks as part of recruitment.

Qualifications

• Experience across varied land management areas including recreation, forestry and environmental work.
• Experience delivering work plans and actions.
• Meet with landowners, public and stakeholders to discuss concerns and resolve issues.
• Experience using GIS to map and report locations.
• Proficient IT skills with Outlook, Word, Excel and saving information.
• Knowledge of industry best practice guidance, sustainable forest management, UKWAS and forest certification schemes.

Responsibilities

• Support the Senior Land Management Officer in the team to deliver work plans, agreed tasks and actions.
• Undertake occasional physical and manual work in the delivery of recreation management, forestry, and environmental work.
• Meet with landowners, members of the public and stakeholders to discuss and identify concerns or issues.
• Interact with peers in NRW to promote consistent industry best practice.
• Deliver site and recreational inspections and surveys and report findings using GIS.
• Ensure inspections, surveys and tasks are documented and stored on NRW's DMS.
• Plan and deliver work across a range of sites, exercising judgement while in remote locations.
• Carry out health and safety checks on equipment and report issues.
• Maintain electronic records using NRW systems for decision-making.
• Supervise and monitor contractors ensuring safety and NRW standards.
• Undertake health and safety duties appropriate to the post.
• Commitment to NRW Equal Opportunities and Diversity policy.
• Commitment to personal development through Sgwrs.
• Any other reasonable duties commensurate with the grade.

Skills

Land management

Work plan delivery

Stakeholder engagement

GIS mapping

MS Office (Outlook, Word, Excel)

Industry best practice

Welsh language (A1)

Tools

GIS software

Job description

The role

We are looking for someone who is motivated, forward-thinking, and confident using their own initiative to join our Land Management Team and play a key role in helping people safely enjoy and connect with the outdoors. This is a varied and rewarding position, primarily based in the field with some office-based activities. This is a fixed term appointment until 31/03/2028, with the possibility of permanency. You will help care for a diverse range of sites, from picnic and play areas to walking and equine trails, mountain bike routes, and wider public access land. Through regular inspections, responding to enquiries, and supporting maintenance work, you will contribute to keeping these places welcoming, safe, and well-managed. You’ll also work alongside Senior Land Management Officers to support the ongoing promotion, management and improvement of our sites. As part of the role, you will collaborate with our forestry operations teams, helping to ensure harvesting and replanting activities are carried out safely, with clear communication to visitors. You will also take part in essential inspection programmes, including fence line checks to protect boundaries and tree safety surveys to meet legal requirements and ensure public safety. You will have the opportunity to contribute to planning and delivering work programmes, supporting key projects, and helping ensure our land is protected and accessible for everyone to enjoy. This is a people-focused role where your communication skills will be key. You’ll engage with a wide range of stakeholders, including members of the public, landowners, and neighbouring properties, helping to resolve queries and build positive relationships. Practical experience in recreation management, forestry, or environmental work would be beneficial, and experience with GIS software is an advantage, though full training can be provided. As mentioned, the role is primarily based out in the field so someone that is confident working alone, in remote areas and happy out in all weather conditions is a key requirement.

Driving is essential to this role as this is a field-based post with daily requirement to travel to various remote sites and locations not serviced by public transport. You must hold a full and current UK driving license. As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the NRW office at the above location and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

What You Will Do

• Support the Senior Land Management Officer in the team to deliver work plans, agreed tasks and actions.
• Undertake occasional physical and manual work in the delivery of recreation management, forestry, and environmental work.
• Meet with landowners, members of the public and stakeholders to discuss and identify any concerns or issues raised.
• Interact with peers in NRW to promote consistent industry best practice.
• Deliver site and recreational inspections and surveys in accordance with agreed programmes of work, recording findings accurately and using GIS systems to map and report identified issues. Use GIS based systems to map and mark suitable locations of issues as identified from inspections and surveys.
• Ensure all inspections, surveys and tasks are document and saved appropriately on NRW's Document Management System (DMS).
• Plan, prioritise and deliver allocated work independently across a range of sites, exercising judgement and initiative while working in remote locations.
• Carry out work in accordance with NRW health and safety procedures, risk assessments and industry best practice, identifying and reporting hazards where necessary.
• Maintain accurate electronic records and documentation using NRW systems, ensuring information is stored appropriately and available to support operational decision-making.
• Supervise and monitor contractors undertaking land management activities, ensuring compliance with NRW specifications, health and safety requirements and industry best practice guidance. Undertake health and safety checks on personal equipment and tools and report any issues to Senior Officers.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy , together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

• Experience of working across a wide range of land management work areas, including physical and manual work in the delivery of recreation management, forestry, and/or environmental work.
• Experience of supporting the delivery of agreed work plans, tasks and actions.
• Meet with landowners, members of the public and stakeholders to discuss concerns, provide advice, resolve issues where appropriate and maintain positive working relationships. Delivering inspections and/or surveys.
• Experience of using GIS based systems to map and mark locations.
• Competent IT skills using various software packages including and not limited to Outlook, Word, Excel and experience of saving important information.
• Knowledge of Industry Best Practice guidance and sustainable forest management, UKWAS and forest certification schemes.

Welsh Language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level

Welsh language levels

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

Please keep reading

We're passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignement, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We are committed to equal opportunities, and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

Unless otherwise stated in the 'Role' section of this advert, Natural Resources Wales is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position. Although we hold a Skilled Worker visa sponsorship licence, it applies only to specific roles that meet both the eligibility criteria and salary requirements set out by the UK Government under the Skilled Worker visa route.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards. Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills.