Ips typographus Project Officer x2

Job summary

Join the Plant Health Operations Team within Forest Services, part of the Forestry Commission, as an Ips typographus Project Officer. You will help protect England’s trees and woodlands, while supporting wider plant health work across Great Britain, by coordinating surveillance, outbreak response and regulatory activities.

These roles offer varied environmental work and opportunities to develop expertise in outbreak management, regulation and partnership working. You will work with knowledgeable colleagues, manage Support Officers and coordinate contractors, combining office-based collaboration with regular fieldwork and site visits.

About Forest Services and the Plant Health Forestry Team

Forest Services are the Government’s forestry experts. We support the forestry sector and landowners to protect, improve, and expand England’s woodlands through regulation, incentives, and expert advice.

Within Forest Services, the Plant Health Forestry (PHF) Team delivers technical policy advice, operational activities (border and inland), and the Forest Reproductive Materials (FRM) programme. Our work ensures that GB’s treescape is protected from pests and diseases, and that we are prepared to respond to emerging threats.

The PHF Team operates with both England and GB-wide responsibilities:

• England: Inland surveillance, outbreak management, biosecurity promotion, and regulatory implementation, working with Defra and the Devolved Governments as part of the GB Plant Health Service.
• GB-wide: Statutory functions (including border inspections) and technical advice and support on plant health.

Job description

About the Ips typographus Project Team

The Ips typographus Project Team works with landowners, the forestry industry and partner agencies to prevent, detect and eradicate Ips typographus in England. Our work ranges from surveying vulnerable spruce and responding to outbreaks to arranging felling and control work with contractors. We also help landowners manage spruce in high-risk areas and authorise felling, timber movement and processing in line with biosecurity requirements.

Working alongside Forest Research and government partners, we use survey data and pheromone trapping to guide our response and explore new approaches, including remote sensing, debarking and canine detection. Sharing knowledge is an important part of the programme. Through training, practical guidance and conversations with landowners and forestry workers, we help others play their part in protecting woodlands.

About the roles

We are seeking two Ips typographus Project Officers to help detect, contain and eradicate Ips typographus outbreaks across south-east England.

Key work areas

The purpose of the Ips typographus Project Officer is to:

• 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.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• HND-level or equivalent professional qualification in forestry, plant health, arboriculture or a related subject, and/or significant relevant experience in forestry, the timber industry, ecology, or import and export operations.
• Confident communicator with the ability to brief stakeholders clearly and persuasively, build constructive working relationships, and manage sensitive or challenging conversations with landowners, contractors and partner agencies.
• Ability to prioritise multiple workstreams and tasks, managing time and resources to deliver rapid responses to surveillance findings and outbreaks.
• Experience of supervising or line managing staff, including allocating work, supporting development and monitoring delivery.
• Experience of coordinating field operations, with an awareness of seasonal demands and changing operational priorities.
• Practical understanding of health and safety, biosecurity and risk management in field operations.
• Experience of gathering, validating and interpreting operational data, and presenting findings clearly to support decision-making and reporting.
• Strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 applications for communication, data management, collaborative working and report production.
• Proficiency in geographic information systems (GIS) or mobile mapping and reporting tools, such as ArcGIS, Field Maps or Survey123.
• Willingness and ability to undertake frequent travel and regular fieldwork in woodland environments and varying weather conditions, with reasonable adjustments where appropriate.
• High attention to detail and experience of maintaining accurate, audit-ready records.
• Ability to identify common UK tree species.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of managing contractors delivering forestry operations, surveillance, ecological surveys, eradication programmes or related field activities.
• Knowledge of UK forestry and plant health policy, legislation and regulatory processes.
• Experience of plant health surveillance, pest or disease outbreak response, or regulatory enforcement.
• Ability to interpret and apply legislation, operational instructions and regulatory guidance to make consistent, evidence-based decisions.
• Experience of administering statutory notices, licences, permissions, authorisations or similar regulatory documentation.
• Project or programme management skills, including planning work, monitoring delivery and managing risks.
• Experience of monitoring contractor expenditure or operational budgets.
• Experience of delivering training sessions or stakeholder engagement events.
• Experience of supporting research, operational trials or the introduction of new survey or detection methods.