Environmental Scientist

Part of the Forestry Commission family, Forest Research (FR) is a world leader in applied forest science, providing evidence and practical solutions to policy makers, forestry practitioners, land managers and anyone with green space, UK-wide. With climate and biodiversity in crisis, and an increasing number of pests and diseases, our research is more vital than ever before. We advise on how woodlands can help combat climate change. We’re identifying tree species that will thrive in the future and ways of safeguarding those species at risk. Our research supports UK timber production because fewer imports reduce carbon emissions. We provide data on forests in Scotland, Wales and England, and provide evidence of the societal benefits of woodland. We do all this working collaboratively with academia, partners and industry, nationally and internationally.

A key area of FR’s work involves providing evidence to underpin the development of incentive mechanisms that encourage landowners to plant new woodlands. An exciting project in this area has been the development of a Woodland Water Code (WWC). The aim of this project is to provide a quality assurance scheme for woodland water services related to flood management, diffuse pollution attenuation and water temperature cooling.

We are now seeking an environmental scientist to identify and help establish one or more catchment laboratories. The objective is to provide essential data on the long-term water benefits of woodland to underpin the WWC. The post will be part of an interdisciplinary team at FR led by hydrology and economics specialists. The post is funded by the Public Sector Research Establishment Commission for strategic cross-cutting projects.

The postholder will be a member of the Physical Environment Sciences Group (PESG) within the Centre for Forest Protection. We in PESG undertake research to better understand the complex interactions between forests and forest management practices and the physical environment. Our particular focus is on integrated forest monitoring and protecting soil and water resources. We also provide chemical analysis services for soil, water and vegetation samples. The cross-disciplinary nature of our research creates close ties with other FR science groups as well as external partners. Group staff are mainly based at Alice Holt in Surrey (England) and the Northern Research Station near Edinburgh (Scotland), with one member based near Brecon (Wales).

The postholder will assess the suitability of sites for long-term monitoring to provide confidence in verifying water gains through output-based metrics and modelling under the WWC. The sites will target locations most impacted by water pressures and where there is a reasonable likelihood of achieving a sufficient level of woodland creation over time to make a difference and thus be measurable. The aim is to create a network of ‘catchment laboratories’ to serve as a set of demonstration sites to enhance knowledge transfer and understanding, including building confidence of investors in funding woodland water services.

The postholder will work closely with Forest Services and external partners to identify potential candidate sites, assess site suitability against study requirements, and select the best for establishing one of more catchment laboratories. Consideration will be given to both catchment level and nested plot or reach scale study sites (e.g., to measure the effectiveness of riparian woodland buffers). This includes scope to build on and integrate with existing monitoring sites.

Key Work Areas

The post will involve the following tasks:

• Liaise with Forest Services, project partners and other key stakeholders to identify potential candidate catchments, primarily in England.
• Assess candidate catchments in terms of study requirements, including the availability of baseline data, scale of planned and future potential woodland creation, and suitability for piloting of WWC methodology.
• Apply existing models to predict impacts of planned woodland creation on local water pressures. Consider the ability of a monitoring programme to measure changes and validate model predictions.
• Produce a shortlist of preferred catchments and assess partnership support for establishing one or more catchment laboratories.
• Develop study design(s), secure partnership agreement plus in-kind support, and submit funding proposal(s) for catchment instrumentation.
• Collate existing data and commence water monitoring to establish baseline conditions prior to planned large-scale woodland creation.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Please apply at Civil Service Jobs - GOV.UK. You will be asked to:

• Complete a CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role
• Submit a Personal Statement – (limited to 500 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria as outlined in the person specification
• Provide a 250-word statement for each of the following Behaviours: Working Together and Communicating and Influencing.

We will use this information to assess your application against the essential criteria in the person specification.

Shortlist

The panel will select a shortlist of candidates whose applications best demonstrate suitability for the role, by considering the evidence provided against the Essential Criteria set out in the Person Specification. Failure to address any or all of these may affect your application.

Sift will take place on 2 November 2026.

Interviews are planned to take place on 19 November 2026 on MS Teams.

Applicants invited to attend for interview will be required to prepare a short (5 minute) presentation, which will be assessed against the essential criteria for the role: "How to measure woodland water benefits at the catchment scale." The presentation will need to address the following questions:

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of catchment-based studies?
• What innovative techniques could be used to improve water monitoring?

At the Interview stage, you will be assessed on your experience, presentation and the 2 following behaviours: Working Together, and Communicating and Influencing.

If we receive a large volume of applications, then we will sift on CV (Experience) and Personal Statement. However, candidates will be expected to answer questions on all behaviours listed at the interview stage.

Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in Forest Research which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role.

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Visa Sponsorship

FR holds a licence to sponsor Skilled Workers under the Home Office points-based immigration system. Candidates wishing to apply should note that the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship would depend on an assessment of this role against defined criteria, which include:

o Whether the Job role has been identified as being a Critical Role in FR, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan, and / or

o Whether the Job role is a known Capability gap, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan for the relevant Centre, and

o Evidence of significant recruitment challenges in filling the Job role previously

Skilled Worker sponsorship may be available, subject to an application and assessment process and the Home Office points-based system.

For further details, please refer to the Sponsorship for Skilled Workers – guidance for applicants and managers on our website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.