Tree Health Project Officer - Ips Typographus Response

Government Recruitment Service; Wendover (UT); On-site; USD 53,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Disability Confident employer scheme

Job summary

Government Recruitment Service is seeking an Ips typographus Project Officer to join the Plant Health Operations Team within Forest Services, part of the Forestry Commission. You will help protect England’s trees and woodlands by coordinating surveillance, outbreak response and regulatory activities.

Two roles are available across south-east England, with fieldwork and site visits, line management of Support Officers, and collaboration with Forest Research on pest detection networks and R&D

Responsibilities

• Support the Ips typographus Programme Manager and line manage Ips typographus Support Officer/s to deliver England’s eradication response to Ips typographus.
• Maintain our risk-based surveillance programme for vulnerable spruce stands, with intensified field-work activities during spring and summer seasons.
• Lead the mobilisation of survey teams, prioritise sites according to risk and coordinate resource allocation.
• Collaborate with Forest Research on the management of pheromone trapping detection networks and rapidly respond to trap catches with targeted ground-inspection.
• Oversee inspection requests for spruce felling, movement and processing authorisations, issuing authority letters and maintaining audit-ready records. Ensure every authorisation conforms to regulatory requirements.
• Coordinate the delivery of Statutory Plant Health Notices (SPHNs), ensuring landowners, agents and contractors understand legal requirements, operational timescales and biosecurity obligations.
• Lead and coordinate activities to ensure statutory plant health requirements are implemented effectively and consistently.
• Procure, brief and manage contractors delivering surveillance, sanitation and control measures. Monitor performance against objectives, support budget monitoring and ensure efficient use of resources in the field.
• Drive the proactive spruce removal policy objective in high-risk areas, engaging local landowners and the wider forestry sector. Promote best practice approaches at stakeholder workshops and site visits.
• Lead the gathering, validation and analysis of field data on surveillance, pest distributions, outbreak status and eradication outcomes. Produce clear, timely reports to the Ips typographus Programme Manager that inform tactical decisions and programme review.
• Design and deliver best-practice training sessions for forestry workers, contractors and partner agencies. Assist with the preparation of guidance materials to keep local landowners, the forestry sector and government bodies informed and engaged.
• Support FC and government partnerships on R&D initiatives including remote sensing, debarking-equipment trials and canine detection studies.

Job description

Government Recruitment Service is seeking an Ips typographus Project Officer to join the Plant Health Operations Team within Forest Services, part of the Forestry Commission. You will help protect England’s trees and woodlands by coordinating surveillance, outbreak response and regulatory activities.

Two roles are available across south-east England, with fieldwork and site visits, line management of Support Officers, and collaboration with Forest Research on pest detection networks and R&D