Events and Engagement Officer - Hainault Forest

The Woodland Trust is seeking a part-time Events and Engagement Officer for Hainault Forest, based at the Visitor Centre in Chigwell, UK. The role involves leading visitor engagement and events planning to inspire action towards environmental causes. Responsibilities include event delivery, community engagement, customer service, and collaboration with partners. The position requires travel to the Visitor Centre and includes a commitment to health and safety in public engagement.
The Woodland Trust is looking for an Events & Engagement Officer based at our Hainault Forest Visitor Centre to lead on the events and engagement aspects of our visitor offer.

The Role:
• Based at our Hainault Forest Visitor Centre, the role will lead on the events and engagement aspects of our visitor offer at Hainault Forest, providing a high-quality experience across the forest, and a targeted and innovative programme of events activity across the year.
• The role will engage visitors with the forest in a way that inspires them to take action and connect with our cause. It combines events planning & delivery, visitor & community engagement and communications activity.
• It includes providing an important meet & greet function to visitors as well as signposting, dealing with enquiries, promoting membership and undertaking retail transactions.
• The role will develop and deliver an inspiring and inclusive annual events and engagement plan for Hainault Forest; working alongside partner colleagues at Vision RCL. This plan will identify key activity and audiences to most effectively achieve against our objectives.
• This role is part time, 28 hours per week worked across 4 days on a rota basis, including 2 weekends of every 4.
• You will be expected to travel to and from Hainault Forest Visitor Centre, as your place of work.
• This role may be required to undergo an enhanced DBS check as part of our pre-employment checks or future checks.

The Candidate:
• You’ll have an enthusiasm for the environment and share our core values—Grow Together, Explore, Focus and Make it Count.
• You’ll have hands on experience planning, delivering and evaluating programmes of events tailored to specific audiences, as well as tailoring communications to suit different audiences through multiple channels.
• You’ll have experience of delivering high quality face to face engagement activities and customer service, ideally within a public facing visitor setting.
• You’ll be able to establish relationships with new audiences to create connection and action.
• You’ll have a collaborative approach, with the ability to work with multiple teams, building relationships with both internal and external stakeholders effectively.
• You’ll know about Health and Safety as it relates to public engagement as well as what constitutes a successful visitor experience.
• Your communication skills will be strong, both written and verbal, being able to liaise with internal and external stakeholders, partners, visitors and volunteers using a variety of methods to suit the audience.

Benefits & Wellbeing: Joining our team means you'll be a big part of tackling environmental and climate issues. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:
• Enhanced Employer Pension
• Life Assurance
• Flexible & Hybrid Working Options
• Generous Annual Leave
• Enhanced Parental Pay
• Employee Assistance Programme

About Us: The Woodland Trust is the UK's leading woodland conservation charity and is dedicated to creating a world where trees and woods thrive for both people and nature. Our mission involves engaging and inspiring individuals to contribute toward tackling the nature and climate crisis through the protection, restoration, and creation of essential woodland habitats.

Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion: To achieve our vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. All people, no matter their background, identity, ability, or circumstance, should benefit from trees.
People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply.
Please contact us to discuss any additional support or adjustments you may need to complete your application.

Application Advice: For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, so they do not see your CV until shortlisting is completed. Make sure that your Personal Statement clearly shows how your skills and knowledge link to the specifications in the job description and you share with us your passion for the role.

Even if you don't meet every requirement of the role, we would encourage you to apply.

Apply Now: If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, send in your application today. We might close the job opening early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in process, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will be held in person at Hainault Forest Visitor Centre on Tuesday 18th March 2025.