About FLS
Working at Forestry and Land Scotland is all about ‘People, Pride and Purpose.’ Join us and take pride in supporting the economy, protecting and enhancing the environment by managing Scotland’s national forests and land.
Our delivery teams are key to helping us look after the 9 percent of Scotland’s land area in our care and making sure our national forests and land delivers as much as it can.
Each region has a strong focus towards commercial forestry which provides a very interesting and varied role. Forest Management, General Stewardship and Harvesting obligations are an overarching and connecting requirement within each area and role.
Forestry and Land Scotland is increasingly focussed on contributing to Scottish Government efforts to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises. Within our regions, this work includes restoring peatlands, developing renewable energy schemes, species conservation action, and restoring habitats such as native woodlands. We also aim to provide green spaces for everyone to enjoy – our forests are our own natural health service!
About the role
We have four fantastic and rare opportunities to place current Forestry Students on a 3-year contract whilst you continue your studies.
We have 2 positions in the West Region – Lochgilphead and Fort William and 2 positions in the South Region – Newton Stewart and Straiton.
This role will provide you with an excellent opportunity to work, learn, and gain hands-on experience to consolidate your prior learning and continue to work towards gaining your degree qualification.
You will assist the various teams in the delivery, daily planning and supervision of the current operations in areas which may include; ground cultivation and drainage, planting and beating up, supervision of harvesting sites including quality control, stock control and timber dispatches. A key focus will be ensuring all sites and operations are health, safety and environmentally compliant.
Alongside your work you will be given protected time to complete your BSc(Hons) in Forestry. You will also complete FLS learning modules/training over the 36 months to further develop your knowledge and skills.
You will receive support from your designated line manager/supervisor and in addition you will be allocated a personal Work Based Learning manager who will hold regular review meetings with you and your line manager/supervisor to check on progress. You will also receive ongoing support through the development of an individual learning plan to enhance your work-based learning and helping you to gain your degree qualification.
About you
This role is only available to those students who are currently enrolled on the HNC class of 2024/25 studying towards BSc (Hons) Forestry and Treescapes management and for those who are fully committed to complete their full degree programme with SSF.
Please do review the job description for a full list of essential requirements for the role.
What we can offer you
How to apply
If this interests you, please apply and ensure that you provide;
We have provided guidance on what we are looking for when applying with us as well as useful templates for you to use here .
At Forestry and Land Scotland, we take pride in supporting Scotland’s economy, protecting and enhancing our environment, and sustainably managing the nation’s forests and land.
Each of our regions manage unique landscapes, providing essential timber for everyday products and contributing to sustainable land management.
We are looking for skilled Forestry Machine Operators to work within a variety of forest environments, assisting with Scotland’s timber production goals. The Operators are responsible for operating machinery for felling and forwarding, maintaining safety and environmental standards, and supporting stock control.
Responsibilities
Requirements:
All available locations are detailed within the Job Description
Please specify on your cover letter which area you are applying for.
Working at Forestry and Land Scotland is all about ‘People, Pride and Purpose.’ Join us and take pride in supporting the economy, protecting and enhancing the environment by managing Scotlands National forests and land.
Our Nursery Operatives are on the front line of growing our valuable seed into healthy trees. Activities include seed processing, sowing, weeding and plant care, pest & disease monitoring, irrigation and spraying operations before finally sorting the trees into size and category, packing, and dispatching them to our customers. We don’t expect you to be an expert in all of these tasks already, but you must be willing to learn.
FLS Plant and Seed Supply is a dedicated team of 30 people responsible for growing or sourcing the 25 million trees per year required for the forests and land managed by FLS. We do this from the only publicly owned tree nursery in Scotland, Newton Nursery, near Elgin, which is currently being redeveloped with a 12,000sqm glasshouse. More info here: Newton Nursery - Forestry and Land Scotland
To be successful in this role you must have experience of working outdoors in all conditions independently and as part of a team.
For more information about the role and experience required please see the job description and success profile.
We have an exciting opportunity for an Environment Ranger to join the Environment Team in East Region. The job will be based in the Moray beat of East Region and cover a variety of forest and open habitats from the coastal sand dunes and forests of Culbin, Roseisle and Lossie to hills and peatlands of Speyside.
Environment Rangers work with colleagues in regional teams, to inform and build mitigation plans for forest operations. You will also carry out work to enhance designated sites by creating work programmes for conservation benefit, such as Invasive non-native species control.
You’ll spend a large proportion of your time in the field undertaking pre-operational checks such as pre harvesting to identify and protect environmental features, monitoring of habitats, such as Plantations on Ancient Woodland Sites (PAWS) and priority open habitats, whilst reporting on conditions and management needs and will work with other forestry colleagues to programme and deliver this
To be successful in this role you will need relevant knowledge and experience of surveying and monitoring of species and habitats and experince in working on remote sites and across challenging terrains.
Please review the Job Description for more information on this role
The Forest Planner plays a key role in facilitating how we manage our land to meet our economic, social and environmental objectives. You will be responsible for preparing 10 year land management plans that set out how we will care for the forests and land that we manage. These plans then inform our future programmes of work.
The planning and environment teams work closely with other teams and specialists to design sustainable forests of the future, protect and restore semi-natural habitats, respond to climate change and enhance our landscapes. The teams prepare spatial plans, develop work programmes and coordinate and manage data and surveys, as well as contribute to national initiatives and projects to ensure the public land is well cared for.
To be successful in this role you will need relevant knowledge and experience of forest operations, forest management or land management;
We are looking for enthusiastic, practical and self-motivated people to join the Scottish Forestry team as Assistant Woodland Officers.
If you have an understanding of the rural sector, knowledge of Forest/Land management and you’re looking for a career that will provide a mix of home/office working and working outdoors then our Assistant Woodland Officer role could be the role for you. At Scottish Forestry, we are at the heart of the drive by the Scottish Government to increase woodland cover to help tackle climate change and combat nature loss.
We currently have 2 vacancies in our Hamilton office and further opportunities may arise throughout Scotland so we welcome applications which can be considered for future AWO vacancies at our offices located in: Battleby, Dingwall, Dumfries, Hamilton, Huntly and Selkirk.
We have developed a comprehensive training programme for new recruits to provide you with the skills needed to perform your role. As Assistant Woodland Officer, you’ll support the Woodland Officer to carry out grants and regulation work, provide guidance to woodland owners and managers, and promote sustainable forest management. Your time will be split between field visits and office work to assess and process applications.
*Ensure to make note of your preferred office location within the application*
We’re looking for a positive and outgoing person to join our Visitor Services Team in the South Region as a Visitor Services Assistant. The role is based predominantly at Glentress but will also provide support for our work throughout the Tweed Valley.
This is an exciting time to be involved in managing the public forest estate in Scotland. Offering a fantastic range of recreation opportunities across a stunningly diverse landscape the forest estate has truly amazing experiences to offer both visitors and local communities.
The Visitor Services Team is responsible for the development and delivery of a high-quality visitor experience across the forest estate. This includes; planning and managing recreation opportunities, engaging with visitors, facilitating events, education and learning, dealing with public enquiries, and engaging with communities.
To be successful, previous experience working in a visitor services, recreation or tourism/heritage is essential, as is experience providing an excellent customer service and visitor experience.
The post is permanent (Full Time) working 37hrs/week including regular weekend working as part of a planned rota.
We offer flexible working hours and competitive salary alongside a number of other employee benefits, including 27% employers pension contribution, cycle to work scheme and employee shopping discounts.
If this sounds like a role you’re interested in, we’d encourage you to apply with your CV – please ensure you provide evidence of the essential and desirable criteria detailed on the attached job description and success profile document.