Reference: E2978
Location: Sandbach, Congleton
Job Category: Environmental and Public Services
Grade: CEC NJC - Grade 7
Salary Min: £30,559 per annum - £33,366 per annum
Hours per week: 37
Weeks per year: 52.143
Employment Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 09/05/2025
An exciting opportunity has become available to work within the Countryside Ranger Service. The position is full time (37 hours) per week – a rota operates within the team to ensure 7 day cover, equating working about 1 weekend in 4, including bank holidays.
About You
This post is part of the Countryside Ranger Team, operating in the south area of the Borough, as part of the wider Green Infrastructure team. This vacancy is for a person to manage a number of countryside sites and newly planted woodlands.
The successful candidate should be able to work confidently alone but also enjoy working as part of a close-knit team.
The post holder will manage a number of countryside facilities primarily, but not exclusively, in the Congleton-Sandbach-Alsager-Nantwich area of the borough.
The post requires good communication skills, the ability to plan and manage your own workload (with support and direction from the manager), excellent record keeping, managing all aspects of Health and Safety and recording as specified.
A good knowledge and experience delivering current best practice conservation management will be expected from this postholder to enable the sites to be managed well.
Good communication skills and visitor management will also be important for the postholder to deliver the outcomes of the role.
Training will be provided where necessary for the role.
The role is diverse with no one day the same. For more information on the role please view the 'In this job you will' section within the attached job description specification document.
Minimum Requirements
The successful candidate will have:
* Experience in countryside recreation and nature conservation site management.
* Experience in procuring and managing contractors.
* Experience in leading, managing, motivating and supervising volunteers.
* A high degree of interpersonal skills and the ability to converse at ease with our visitors and stakeholders.
* The ability to work independently and as part of a small team.
* A flexible approach to work.
In return we are able to offer:
* Enhanced annual leave - Start with an impressive 34 days of annual leave (including bank holidays) from day one, and watch it grow to 39 days after just five years of service.
* Purchase of annual leave – Want more time off? You can purchase up to 10 extra days of annual leave each year, giving you the flexibility to balance work and life just the way you want (Pro-rata for part-time staff).
* Flexible working pattern - Enjoy a 37-hour standard full-time work week with the added perks of flexi-time and hybrid/remote working arrangements where possible. Your work-life balance just got a whole lot better.
* Salary sacrifice green car scheme - Drive green and save green! Lease a brand-new electric or hybrid car through our salary sacrifice scheme. There’s no credit checks, no deposits, just significant savings and exclusive offers on a three-year lease.
* White goods salary sacrifice scheme - Upgrade your home with ease. Purchase home and electronic items through our salary sacrifice scheme, spreading the cost of big-ticket purchases like appliances, computers, and tech gadgets directly from your salary.
* Enhanced public pension - Secure your future with our career average pension, where contributions are built at a rate of 1/49th of your yearly pensionable pay.
* Cycle to work scheme - Save up to 25-39% on the retail price of bikes and safety equipment through Income Tax and National Insurance savings. Get fit and save money!
* Employee assistance programme - Access a completely free and confidential assistance service to help manage, reduce, and overcome life’s challenges, both at work and in your personal life.
* Discounted gym membership - Stay active and healthy with corporate membership prices for Everybody Leisure, including: Gym, Swim and Group Fitness at all 16 facilities, Off-Peak Racket Sports, Athletics Tracks, Sauna/Steam/Spa.
Join us and experience a workplace that truly values and supports you!
Cheshire East is an amazing place to live and work. As one of the largest employers in the borough, we are able to offer you a wide range of challenging and rewarding career opportunities.
At Cheshire East Council we are working for a brighter future – together and our commitment to you is that our workplace culture will provide a shared purpose, a well-led organisation with valued people succeeding together as one team and one council to deliver the best service for our customers and communities.
If you want to be part of our award-winning council and contribute to our ongoing success, have the flexibility and drive to enable us to innovate, are committed to working as part of a team and striving to deliver exceptional service wherever you can, we would especially like to hear from you.
As an equal opportunities employer, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and want our workforce to reflect the diversity of our local communities so that we can all work for a brighter future - together.
Brighter Future
Your job will be developing, managing, and maintaining countryside recreation and nature conservation sites and facilities within the Borough using a range of best practice countryside management techniques, whilst ensuring high standards of service provision and delivery to the public.
In this job you will:
* Develop, maintain and manage countryside recreation and nature conservation sites and facilities by utilising a range of best practice countryside management techniques, delivered on Council managed land and where appropriate with other partnership organisations to ensure that high standards of service provision and delivery to the public are achieved.
* Manage contracts and fundraising by controlling finances; engagement of appropriate professionals; and monitoring work to ensure best value is achieved.
* Lead, manage, motivate and supervise seasonal staff and volunteers, and monitor their activities to ensure the effective, efficient and economic delivery of countryside services.
* Implement projects and community initiatives in order to provide a strategic and cost-effective approach to countryside management and conservation throughout the Borough.
* Devise and implement information, educational and interpretative programmes to promote awareness and understanding of the countryside by the public.
* Prepare, implement and review management plans and work programmes for countryside sites and public rights of way, to ensure the provision of structured and strategic management that fulfils Council policies.
* Upgrade and maintain access to the countryside including public rights of way and permissive routes in order to improve recreation opportunities and ensure that the statutory duties of the Council are met.
* Operate appropriate working practices to ensure that all physical resources including land, vehicles, buildings, equipment and materials, and livestock are maintained and deployed in a safe and effective manner.
* Produce reports and maintain records as required to ensure the communication of information, adequate monitoring of work progress and fulfilment of statutory responsibilities.
* Liaise with other bodies and individuals, including local authorities, parish councils, visitors, residents, farmers, landowners, voluntary organisations, government and non-government organisations connected with countryside management and user groups to foster good relations and achieve effective working relationships.
If you would like to have a brief informal chat please contact Julie Molyneux, Countryside Manager, via julie.molyneux@cheshireeast.gov.uk.
Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.
If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however please do not be discouraged from applying again.
For any technical enquiries please email sourcingteam@ecwip.co.uk.
Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.
Apply here
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