Job Introduction
We are Forestry England.
We live and breathe forests.
Job title – Visitor Services Officer
Salary- £26,959 per annum
Contract type – Permanent
Hours – 37 hours per week
Vacancy closes - 24th July 2026, 23:58
Join us. We're foresters, professionals and experts. We are a passionate team who love to share our enthusiasm and want to make a positive difference for you and the environment.
Together, we’re using our scale and expertise to grow the nation’s forests for everyone. We’re already adapting our landscapes for tomorrow, and getting stuff done today, like creating amazing places and experiences for you to enjoy. We're providing vital homes for wildlife, making our air cleaner to breathe and producing sustainable timber.
What you’ll do…
As Visitor Support Officer, you will contribute to achieving an exceptional visitor experience, providing outstanding service so visitors leave with lasting memories. Your work will be primarily at Beechenhurst, a busy visitor site in the heart of the Forest of Dean, you will also work with the wider team to maintain our visitor facilities and trails, making sure our visitors have a smooth, inclusive and enjoyable experience. You will help cultivate a supportive and positive work environment that encourages teamwork, productivity and individual growth. You will take opportunities to promote Forestry England’s work including events, membership, legacy giving and volunteering.
No two days are the same and the demands of the role can vary widely, so you must be resilient, adaptable and prepared to respond to situations and environments that can be challenging and unpredictable.
The role involves working outdoors in all weather’s year around including regular weekends and bank holidays. You will travel around the forest on foot, by bike and in vehicles, both on and off road. Some of the tasks can be physically demanding.
Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.
Where you’ll work…
Based at Beechenhurst, GL16 7EL - working across the Forest of Dean
Benefits…
Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.
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25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
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STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
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free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
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a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.
How to apply…
You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.
You will be assessed on experience and behaviour based questions during your interview.
The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –
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Working together
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Communicating and influencing
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Delivering at pace
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Making effective decisions
Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.
If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email [email protected].
If you're planning to use AI to support your application, please ensure you've read our guidelines here first.
Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.
Nationality requirements…
Read more about nationality requirements here.
Working for the Civil Service…
Forestry England is part of the Civil Service. The Civil Service has a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS). This means candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria during the application process will be guaranteed an interview. We also offer a Redeployment Interview Scheme to current civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the role. This role is also part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans and Prison Leaver Recruitment initiative.
Within Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016, it is essential that applicants should have the ability to provide conversation in accurate spoken English.
Our recruitment process makes appointments based on fair and open competition and merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in in line with/according to these principles and you wish to make a complaint, please email: [email protected].
