Background East England Forest District, covers an area of 35,000 ha from North Norfolk to Brighton; including Thetford Forest and the outlying beats of Sandlings, Kent, East Sussex, Chilterns and Thames Chase Community Forest. The District has a varied landholding including the largest lowland pine forest in England at Thetford, community woodland on the outskirts of London at Thames Chase, and a range of mixed woodland, many of which are on sites of Ancient Woodland. There are numerous sites of conservation interest designated across the District, including Special Protection Areas to conserve the breeding habitat for the Woodlark and Nightjar, Special Areas of Conservation, Sites of Specific Scientific Interest, Areas of Outstanding National Beauty, Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland, County Wildlife Sites and Scheduled Monuments. The District offers outdoor recreation, leisure and wellbeing activities for hundreds of thousands of people each year at its recreation centres. Forestry England’s whole freehold estate is dedicated for public access on foot, with numerous small carparks and informal access points. East England Forest District produces approximately 120,000m3 of timber, annually. Approximately 70,000m3 is delivered via direct production from Thetford Forest, through thinning and clearfell operations. About the Job As Harvesting Programme Manager you will be part of the East Forest District’s Harvesting team in the Forestry and Land Management department, helping to support our team of managers to achieve our timber sale delivery targets through efficient processes that support good woodland management that delivers against Forestry England’s objectives and our District's Strategy. The job is wide ranging, with no two weeks the same. It is a mix of office and site work with an estimated 40-70% of the time in the office but this is influenced by the frequency of site changes by the DP teams. This post receives pay based on 37 hours a week (Monday to Friday). There will be a requirement within this to work flexibly to meet the needs of the team and occasionally be on call as part of the out of hours emergency roster (approximately 4 weeks a year). You will need be based at the Santon Downham District Office near Brandon to support the Thetford Direct Production team. There will be an occasional requirement for overnight stays to attend meetings and training events in other parts of the country. Job description As Harvesting Programme Manager you’ll support the Operations Manager to prepare, coordinate and deliver the harvesting programme that delivers the objectives of our Forest Plans. The programme includes clearfelling and thinning using a variety of silvicultural systems, and links in with the Civil Engineering programme for FLM. The role acts as a bridge between planning and delivery and requires you to juggle the sequence and range of operations across a large geographic area. Programmes need to be practical and efficient to manage whilst supporting beats to create sustainable, achievable workloads. As part of delivery of this programme you will also lead and direct the Harvesting Business Support team to deliver timber sales support pre and post-sale in line with National policies. In addition to this you will also take plans for the Thetford DP, inhouse and contract, sites and take them from initial planning through to the pre-commencement meeting when you will handover to the DP Manager. This will include working with internal and external stakeholders to deliver robust risk assessments, method statements, contract maps and health and safety compliance monitoring. Your role will include: Implementing the Forest Plans by preparing the felling programme through the management of each 5 year felling period and subsequent annual Market Plan. Work closely with Beat Foresters and the specialist District teams to produce achievable beat programmes that deliver National and District priorities. Ensure quality control of information from mensuration surveys and tariffs through proactive support and audit. Supply and support Foresters with data collection ensuring compliance with internal guidance and the Forest Mensuration Handbook. Plan Direct Production Thetford sites, creating risk assessments, method statements, contract maps, and holding PCMs for felling and thinning programmes. Monitor compliance against these plans. Lead, line manage and support the Harvesting Business Support team. Provide cover for other Harvesting Team Managers and the Operations Manager during periods of holiday and/or other absence to ensure continuity in support and leadership. Act as 24 hour emergency response officer for Thetford as part of the Duty Officer roster (approximately 4 times per year).