Environmental Scientist

Benefits

• Professional development opportunities tailored to your role
• Paid professional membership subscriptions
• Mentoring
• Access to Civil Service Learning
• Access to world-class laboratory facilities
• Access to state-of-the-art buildings within forest or science park settings
• Flexible working options such as up to two days flexi leave per month, blended working, part-time working, paid special leave, career breaks, and unpaid leave
• Support for parents and carers to manage work and family responsibilities
• Generous annual leave allowance of 25 days on entry, increasing by 1 day each year to a maximum of 30 days (pro-rata for part-timers)
• 2.5 days of additional leave
• 8 days’ paid bank/public holidays
• Culture which promotes a diverse and inclusive work environment
• Range of wellbeing benefits including Employee Assistance Programme 24/7
• Community feel in workplaces with activities from cookery competitions to Pilates and fell running, plus topical talks at Wellbeing Wednesdays and Feelgood Fridays
• Paid volunteering leave of 3 days per year
• Highly competitive Civil Service Pension of 28.97% of your salary
• Employee benefits scheme offering discounts on groceries, gym memberships, holidays, days out, online retailers and high street shops
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Interest-free loans
• Free parking on-site
• Electric car charging ports
• Maternity, adoption, and/or shared parental leave with up to 26 weeks full pay, followed by 13 weeks statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid leave
• Paternity leave of up to two weeks with full pay

Important Details

• Locations: Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 4LH; Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY
• Work format: blended working (some of the week from home, some from the workplace)
• Schedule: Occasional travel with overnight stays may be required up to 3 times every 6 months
• Application deadline: 2 November 2026
• Team: The post will be part of an interdisciplinary team at FR led by hydrology and economics specialists. The postholder will be a member of the Physical Environment Sciences Group (PESG) within the Centre for Forest Protection. 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).

Application Process

• 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 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
• Interviews are planned to take place on 19 November 2026 on MS Teams
• Prepare a short (5 minute) presentation for the interview: "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?

Visa Sponsorship

• FR holds a licence to sponsor Skilled Workers under the Home Office points-based immigration system. Likelihood of obtaining sponsorship depends on an assessment of this role against defined criteria, which include: whether the job role has been identified as being a Critical Role in FR, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan, and/or whether the job role is a known Capability gap, which has been identified in the Workforce Plan for the relevant Centre, and 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.

Security

• Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.
• People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Nationality Requirements

• This job is broadly open to 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), 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.

About the Company

Forest Research (FR), part of the Forestry Commission family, 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, their research is more vital than ever before. They advise on how woodlands can help combat climate change, identify tree species that will thrive in the future, and safeguard those at risk. Their research supports UK timber production to reduce carbon emissions and provides data on forests in Scotland, Wales, and England, as well as evidence of the societal benefits of woodland. They collaborate 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, including the development of a Woodland Water Code (WWC).