Community Ranger (Shropshire Hills)

About the role

Forestry England is looking for a Community Ranger to support the Shropshire Hills area from the Ludlow office. This is a permanent part-time post at 29.6 hours per week, with work arranged over four days each week. The salary is £30,105 full-time equivalent.

The wider West Forest District looks after 38,500 hectares of the nation’s forests across the west and south-west of England, with woods stretching from Shrewsbury to Savernake Forest near Marlborough, as well as sites on Bodmin Moor and in Cornwall’s Glynn Valley.

What the role involves

In this position, you will help keep recreation facilities available and accessible for the community, support opportunities that generate income, respond to local enquiries, and help build stronger communication and relationships with communities and volunteers. A key part of the job is improving the visitor experience through positive engagement and collaboration.

Benefits

Forestry England offers a Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme, with an average employer contribution of 28.97% in addition to salary. Annual leave starts at 25 days and increases by one day for each year of service up to 30 days, pro-rated for part-time staff, plus bank holidays and other set days off. You can also access the STaR employee benefits scheme, which includes discounts on shopping, travel, insurance, fitness, utilities, and wellbeing services such as Headspace. Free parking is available at Forestry England sites, along with free entry to the National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury. The organisation also supports ongoing learning and development through career development support, learning plans, continual professional development, and sponsored membership of professional bodies.

How the application works

Applicants must submit a 200-word statement covering relevant experience and career history, plus a personal statement of no more than 500 words. Assessment will be based on both of these at sift stage, followed by an interview covering experience, behaviours, and strength-based questions.

Interview behaviours

• Seeing the bigger picture
• Changing and improving
• Communicating and influencing
• Working together
• Managing a quality service

Checks and eligibility

Any successful candidate will need to complete a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check. Reasonable adjustments can be requested by emailing the recruitment team. Applicants should also be able to communicate accurately in spoken English, as required under immigration rules. This post is open under Civil Service recruitment principles and includes access to disability confidence, redeployment, and veteran and prison leaver recruitment schemes for eligible candidates.

Additional information

Vacancy closes on Tuesday 7 July at 23:58. If you intend to use AI to help prepare your application, you should first follow the organisation’s guidance. Further details are available through the employer’s application process and recruitment information.