Nature Recovery Manager
| Posting date: | 19 May 2026 |
|---|---|
| Salary: | £40,388 to £43,482 per year |
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 10 June 2026 |
| Location: | YO18 7EL |
| Company: | Government Recruitment Service |
| Job type: | Temporary |
| Job reference: | 462475/1 |
Summary
As Nature Recovery Manager in Forestry England’s Yorkshire District, you’ll lead a programme of ambitious nature recovery projects including landscape-scale Wild Areas, pioneering species reintroductions, and the creation nature-rich, dynamic habitat networks. You’ll provide leadership to a small team of specialist project officers, supporting and overseeing effective project delivery, budget development and tracking, risk management, and stakeholder engagement. Your ecological knowledge and experience in project management will support a fast-paced scaling of impactful, evidence-based nature recovery.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
The post will initially be based at Forestry England’s Yorkshire Office in Pickering. It will move to the Dalby Forest Office in autumn/winter 2027. Regular travel around Forestry England’s estate in Yorkshire will be required. There will be occasional trips outside of Yorkshire for Forestry England-wide meetings, which may require an overnight stay.
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
1. Detailed project planning, control and implementation, including:
- Manage district-based forest wilding and other nature recovery projects, applying appropriate project management frameworks in accordance with Forest Wilding and Nature Recovery Programme guidance and principles, to ensure effective and timely project implementation
- Developing and maintaining appropriate project documentation, including project management plans, land management plans, stakeholder management plans, and communications plans
- Managing the delegated forest wilding and nature recovery budgets, under the governance of Forestry England’s national Nature Recovery Programme
- Procuring, commissioning and managing contracts and contractors, especially for practical land management, feasibility studies, and ecological survey and monitoring
- Identifying and managing project risks and issues, managing project scope, overseeing change control, and escalating where necessary with Senior Responsible Owners and the Forest Wilding Programme Manager
- Ensuring projects integrate Forestry England’s principal functions of timber production, nature recovery and engagement with visitors, resolving cross-team
issues at project and district levels - Ensuring forest wilding and nature recovery projects meet the defined project objectives, outcomes and benefits
- Monitoring project progress and performance, including through milestones and gateway reviews, and reporting on these to Project Boards and the Forest Wilding Programme
2. Provide strong technical leadership in ecology and nature-focussed land management, and its integration with forestry, especially through:
- leading and managing district-based forest wilding and nature recovery officers, responsible for delivering wild area and species recovery projects, providing line management, coaching and mentoring, supporting personal and professional development, and promoting a positive and inclusive culture
- Initiate and support the development of appropriate project initiatives, such as strategic land management plans, feasibility studies, and implementation plans, to produce a workable programme of nature-focussed land management
- Working with technical experts, contractors and colleagues to implement the strategic land management priorities on the ground
- Using best practice, technical knowledge and scientific evidence to contribute to the meeting Forestry England’s strategic ambition for nature recovery and resilience in the Nation’s Forests
- Working with the Forest Wilding Programme team to support the implementation of a coherent evidence framework, which both supports our decision making and monitors the outcomes of our land management
3. Develop and manage strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including:
- Supporting Yorkshire’s Strategy and Assurance Team and relevant project boards, in providing confident and coherent leadership and governance to nature recovery projects
- Managing the engagement and communications with colleagues and internal stakeholders of forest wilding across the Forestry Commission family
- Managing the engagement and communications with external partners and stakeholders on district-based projects, especially those with a high-risk factor and
high influence on the outcomes of the projects, through effective stakeholder management and communications plans - Representing Forestry England and the Forest Wilding Programme with relevant external projects, working groups, conferences and other forums, both in district and, where relevant, nationally
4. Work with Forest Wilding Programme team and district colleagues to explore, secure and develop external funding for Forest Wilding and nature recovery projects, for example through:
- UK Government grants, especially Defra’s Environmental Land Management
Landscape Recovery Scheme - Corporate sponsorship
- Biodiversity net gain
- Green finance
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