The role
Ensuring the conservation and enhancement of the landscape of Oxford is managed and cared for appropriately is key to Oxford City Council. Trees form an important part of the landscape of Oxford and the historic city has a wealth of trees, many in truly outstanding locations such as the college parks and gardens. There are more than 200 tree preservation orders, 16 conservation areas and 13 listed parks and gardens including trees of a wide range of species in a diversity of habitats. However, there are also areas of the City that would be greatly enhanced by more trees. Development pressures and an aging tree population in the urban environment requires the City Council to apply robust and defensible arboricultural methods and practices to maintain the quality of the local environment.
In support of above we are looking for someone with drive, enthusiasm and initiative who can deliver high quality arboricultural and landscape advice efficiently and effectively. The current post holder is taking a sabbatical so this exciting opportunity is therefore available for a fixed period of one year.
Working in liaison with officers from a range of other disciplines, Councillors, members of other organisations and members of the public the successful candidate will be dealing with applications for work to protected trees, requests for TPO’s, giving advice on planning applications affecting trees and providing other specialist advice as needed.
A professionally qualified arboriculturalist with good oral and written communication skills and the ability to provide clear professional advice to a range of individuals who may have conflicting interests alongside having a passion for the enhancement of the landscape is key. Sound like you? Interested? If yes continue below to find out how you apply.
About us
Oxford City Council prides itself on delivering high quality, cost effective public services. Oxford is a world class city and the Council has high aspirations for its services and employees. We are a multi-award winning Council and in May 2017 we were re-accredited at Gold level for Champion IiP status. Our other awards include the Institute of Revenues Rating & Valuation (IRRV) ‘Excellence in Innovation (General)’ winners 2017, Oxfordshire Environment Partnership (OEP) ‘Best Food Waste Reduction and Collection System’, and several ‘Team of the Year’ national and regional awards across our Service Areas. This builds on our previous success in achieving ‘Council of the Year’ in 2015. We are accredited with the Customer Service Excellence Quality Mark which helps us to ensure that the customer is always placed at the heart of everything we do.
With over 700 staff dedicated to delivering the best service possible to our communities this is an exciting time to be working in Local Government. We focus on improving outcomes for local people and you might be surprised at the range and quality of the services we provide.
We offer a fantastic range of staff benefits that include generous holiday (from 28 days a year plus bank holidays), local government pension scheme, subsidised leisure membership, discounted travel and flexible working in many roles. We offer well-defined opportunities through our learning and development programme. We also have an employee wellbeing programme, an employee assistance programme and support via our dedicated occupational health service.