Forest Operations & Land Management Placement

The role

We are proud to announce that NRW will be hosting two paid placement opportunities starting in September 2026. These are specifically for students undertaking a mid‑year placement whilst participating in an environmental and sustainability related course, such as forestry or forest management, woodland management and conservation, environmental science, environmental management, geography, or a related subject from a higher educational institution.

If successful, you could be appointed to either of the regions. As a result, you could end up working in northeast Wales which covers the beautiful Eryri National Park, or in mid Wales which covers from Aberystwyth to Abergavenny across the Cambrian Mountains and Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Regardless which team you join, this opportunity provides the ability to work alongside our professional teams responsible for managing the Welsh Government Woodland Estate and National Nature Reserves. This placement will expose you to a diverse range of opportunities and land management practices. This could range from harvesting and establishment operations, legal land liability inspections through to ancient monument restoration or specific species management on a nature reserve.

We are looking for someone with enthusiasm and passion for forestry and land management who can demonstrate drive to learn and deliver their work whilst working alongside our teams and wider customers and contractors.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to an NRW office within the place base/location above and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face‑to‑face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact Michael Cresswell at Michael.

Cresswell
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Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams
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Successful applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Appointments are normally made within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

We have been running our paid placement programme in Forest Operations and Land Management since 2020. It is something we’re extremely proud of. We've hosted students from across the UK with various backgrounds and from numerous educational institutions. They have then gone back to complete their studies and are now working across the sector.

This programme will sit you within one of our Land Management and Forest Operational teams. The year will give you the opportunity to develop your skills and knowledge whilst gaining both valuable exposure to our operations, but more importantly giving you experiences you can take forward to kick start your career in forestry or land management. Throughout your year, you’ll shadow and be mentored by experienced staff, put through training and development, and given opportunities to lead certain projects and go out with other teams across NRW.

• Support delivery of work plans, created by the team, which contributes towards the delivery of business plans.
• Assist with monitoring survey work and data collection.
• Maintain records and information in line with regulations/legislation and agreed standards.
• Participate in team meetings.
• Participate in external meetings with other members of the team.
• Interact with peers in NRW to understand and team delivery.
• Contribute towards the team’s delegated responsibility for delivery of work programmes.
• Other work as directed by the line manager.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post.
• Be committed to your own development through the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.
• Required to take part in incident response activities.

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using…