Tree Officer (Oxford)

About the job

Arboricultural Officer Job - Oxford, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire County Council recognises the need for action related to climate adaptation. Proactive tree care, tree retention and canopy growth of our tree assets will enable delivery of key objectives to aid resilience and improve the environmental benefits for residents and visitors across the County. 

About you

Are you an experienced Tree Officer / Arboriculturist who wants a new challenge and the opportunity to deliver and influence tree retention and management across one of England’s most beautiful and diverse treescapes?

Are you recently qualified in arboriculture and are looking to start gaining invaluable experience to utilise and implement the knowledge that you have gained in education? 

Are you passionate about shaping, influencing and creating new opportunities for increasing canopy cover?

If the answer is ‘YES’ to any of the above, then you could be the person we’re looking for to join our growing Tree Service. 

About your role

Your role comes with plenty of variety and is focused on caring for a varied and established tree stock, while identifying opportunities to increase canopy cover. You could be undertaking a variety of functions that include: 

• large-scale street surveys or site specific surveys; 
• ad-hoc inspections; 
• building strong working relationships with tree contractors to enable better outcomes; 
• interaction with the public and Council staff; 
• opportunities to create your own projects; 
• expectation to manage your own time to enable delivery of work; 
• ownership of an area for which there is personal responsibility;
• access to a strong, experienced support network from the team;
• identify tree planting opportunities. 

You will contribute to the proactive tree care of Oxfordshire County Council’s tree stock by promoting the Tree Service and the benefits of trees to residents and stakeholders to ensure a holistic and consistent approach to tree care across the County. You will promote transparency and build trust with our communities.

The role will predominantly cover the area of Oxford City Council.

Preferred Skills

Essential Criteria (EC)

1.    Formal Arboricultural qualification to at least Level 3 or equivalent.

2.    LANTRA Professional Tree Inspection

3.      Demonstrate experience in conducting practical Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) arboricultural surveys; determining 'risk' associated with challenging situations; showing the ability to make informed decisions when surveying trees in terms of current and future management; and prescribing works to manage trees.

4.    Have a detailed knowledge of current best arboricultural practices and associated guidance documents, demonstrating experience of specifying tree works (as per BS 3998:2010) and demonstrate experience of effectively overseeing and managing tree work contractors.

5.      Demonstrate knowledge of legislative requirements for the arboricultural profession, in the context of common, statute, and case law and show a good understanding of the Highways Act 1980 and how this relates to trees.

6.      Demonstrate experience of delivering high quality customer service to a range of customers and stakeholders.

7.      Report writing, data analytic skills and correspondence skills demonstrating the ability to provide clear and coherent information suitable for the audience concerned.

8.      Showcase excellent communication skills utilising a variety of methods, such as face-to-face, email, phone, letter writing and others.

9.      Demonstrate experience of working collaboratively across multiple disciplines within an organisation to provide positive solutions.

10.   Have a full and valid driving license.

11.   Demonstrate the ability to follow clear instruction.

Desirable Criteria (DC)

1.    Experience of working in Public Service / a Local Authority

2.      Demonstrate experience and knowledge of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and tree asset management systems.

3.      Demonstrate a commitment to Continuous Professional Development (CPD) and be a Member of a relevant professional body.

Benefits Offered

Rewards and benefits

• Culture of flexible and agile working;
• May be the opportunity for access to a County work van as part of your role, depending on demand and availability;
• Technology to support agile working, where role permits;
• 30 days’ holiday p.a. plus bank holidays (Increasing to 32 days after 10 years’ service);
• Offer access to a Relocation Scheme, depending on circumstances and conditions, should you need to consider moving closer to or into the County from where you currently live. Further details are available on request;
• Option to ‘buy’ additional holiday;
• Employee Assistance Programme including access to health and wellbeing support;
• Membership of the Local Government contributory pension scheme, with an employer’s contribution of up to 19.9%;
• Enhanced family friendly policies;
• Local and national discounts for shopping and travel;
• Great learning and development opportunities to support your ongoing development.