Species Recovery Officer – Carnivore Projects Coordinator

We live and breathe forests.

Species Recovery Officer - Carnivore Projects Coordinator

Salary – £33,854

Contract type – Fixed Term Appointment until March 2029, with the possibility of extension or permanency

Hours – 37 hours per week

Final date to receive applications – Monday 24th August 2026, 23:58

We are Forestry England.

Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.

Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy.

We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.

Forestry England’s Biodiversity Plan sets out a bold ambition of nature recovery in the nation’s forests. Working across five principal focus areas, Forestry England aims to restore resilient biodiversity in the nation’s forests, delivering our vision to ensure that these forests provide the most valuable places for wildlife to thrive and expand in England.

Established in 2022, Forestry England’s Forest Wilding Programme brings together two of these focus areas as part of a co‑ordinated effort to deliver a step‑change in nature recovery. Our species recovery work focuses on the reintroduction of key influential species, such as beaver, wildcat, pine marten, white‑tailed eagle and wood ants. Alongside this nationwide effort, we have established Wild Areas on over 16,000ha of the nation’s forests, bringing innovative approaches together with a sound evidence base to shift our land management to restore and enhance natural processes.

The Forest Wilding Programme currently manages a range of carnivore projects across England. Pine marten recovery is a key strand of work, with reintroduction projects at feasibility and post‑release stages and recovery projects monitoring martens as they naturally recolonise. Two wildcat projects form the remainder of the carnivore activity, both at feasibility phase. This post will play a critical role in coordinating nationally and supporting these projects, working with District teams, project partners, Natural England and academic partners to ensure the successful reintroduction and recovery of carnivores across England.

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Any Forestry England office, with hybrid home working available. Travel across England will be required.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro‑rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

We cannot accept applications via email. Please follow the steps outlined below. Any CVs and/or personal statements sent outside the system will not be considered for shortlisting.

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

You may also be assessed on Experience, Strength based…