Forest Services (FS) as part of the Forestry Commission (FC) are the Government’s forestry experts. We advise nationally and locally on how to unlock the full potential of woodlands and support the forestry sector to protect, improve and expand England’s valuable woodland assets, ensuring that they continue to provide benefits to people, the environment and the economy.We are looking for a positive and enthusiastic person with substantial experience of leading business system and process improvements to join us. You will work closely with our change and other development teams, and with business experts across FS to define and deliver a portfolio of business improvement projects for our work. You will sit within the Business Transformation Team. Your role will map across to government Digital, Data and Technology as well as Project Delivery frameworks, and you will work as a Delivery Manager and a Business Analyst team leader. If you are passionate about the role of forestry in creating a better future for England, and want to play a key part in that, we want to hear from you.
The overall purpose of the job is to lead on improving business systems and processes for our work. You will lead a small team of business analysts and will be responsible for developing and delivering a programme of improvement projects, in line with agreed FS priorities and working closely with key stakeholders across FS and beyond. KEY WORK AREASYou will: • Develop and deliver a programme of business process and IT system improvements, to fit within and be agreed as part of Forest Services’ (FS’s) wider transformation portfolio• Ensure approval for project finances through Forestry Commission Business Planning processes and (for IT projects) through Government Digital Service (GDS) Spend Control (following appropriate discovery, research and market engagement)• Deliver the agreed projects (as Delivery Manager), working with a team of operational, technical, change and other relevant colleagues across the Forestry Commission and recruiting and managing external specialist resource as required • Develop and manage competitive tenders to select third party contractors to develop and deliver new IT applications (where required)• Develop and maintain effective working relationships across the Defra digital team and with the wider GDS, and ensure that all IT developments comply with all relevant security, user, technical and other GDS requirements and pass through all associated service assessments• Ensure effective transition of IT development projects into business-as-usual IT service management, working closely with FS IT Service Manager and their team• Lead and manage a small team of business analysts (Higher Executive Officers), taking responsibility for active performance and workload management and ensuring professional alignment with the Digital, Data and Technology and the Project Delivery frameworks• Work closely with other development manager(s) to ensure continuing professional development across the teams, to develop and apply common tools and approaches, and to share knowledge, skills and lessons learned• Actively contribute to governance for FSs’ wider business transformation portfolio• Actively contribute to wider Business Transformation Team work as a senior manager within the team