Tree Surgeon

Organisation: Leicestershire County Council

Work Location: Mountsorrel, Hawcliffe Road, Mountsorrel, Leicestershire LE12 7AH 

Worker Category: Field Based Worker 

Salary: £32,070 – 34,359 per annum (pro-rata for part-time)  plus Market Premia [10% of top of grade]

Working Hours: Full Time, 37 Hours per week  

Contract Type: Permanent.

Closing Date: Sunday 22nd February 2026 

Interview Date(s): TBC [NB interviews will be in person] 

About the Role

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Forestry Tree Surgeon to join our team that is an Arboricultural Association ARB Approved contractor, helping to deliver a best value, customer-focussed service throughout Leicestershire and occasionally, surrounding counties.  

If successful, you will help provide a comprehensive and professional arboriculture service for all trees under the jurisdiction of Leicestershire County Council, and other clients in the private sector in the County of Leicestershire and surrounding counties. 

Activities for this job role are tree works including Crown Lifting, Dead Wooding, Crown Reductions, Pollarding and Felling and occasionally young tree and shrub maintenance; tree and shrub planting; public rights of way maintenance.

You will be required to attend, from time to time, training courses, conferences, seminars or other meetings to undertake Continuous Professional Development relating to Arboriculture Association Standards.

The nature of the work may involve the jobholder carrying out activities outside of normal working hours, including night, weekends and public holidays, in all weather conditions to meet the needs of the service.

This role is a “safety critical post” and, consequently, subject to random drug and alcohol testing in accordance with our policies and procedures. A copy of our Substance Testing Policy, Procedure and Guidance is available upon request.

About You

To apply for this post, you must have:

•    The following qualifications: National Highways Sector Scheme 12 / National recognised Certificate in Arboriculture / Horticulture./ Relevant NPTC, (‘CS’) Units including Maintain & Operate Chainsaw, Tree Felling, Tree climbing, Use of Chainsaw from rope & harness & Conduct Ariel rescue. / Pesticides Application Certificate PA1 & PA6./ Valid Driving Licence. / Mobile Elevated Works Platform license
  
 OR Demonstrable evidence of the skills and experience required, together with a commitment to attain the essential qualifications.

•    Extensive knowledge of forestry and arboriculture specifications, materials, and workmanship requirements and of the primary identification of tree species, including Visual Tree Assessment (VTA) to assess the general condition of the tree, and understand basic fungal brackets.
•    Extensive knowledge of safe working practices when using plant and machinery, of legislation including driver’s hours, PPE and manual handling and Aerial Rescue procedures.
•    Knowledge of Chapter 8 Traffic Management Regulations, RIDDOR Regulation, Noise at Work Regulations and Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 including COSHH
•    The ability to abide by the Industry Code of Practice for Arboriculture – specifically relating to Working at Height Operations, including pruning and free fall dismantling, rigging, crane, MEWP and ladders and be able to carry out safe and effective aerial rescue operations both drills and on live sites.
•    The ability and willingness to work with everyone in the team, to use own initiative in planning and prioritising and to respond confidently to customers & colleagues with understanding & diplomacy whilst maintaining an objective & professional stance
•    Core communication skills both written and verbal, are well organised, are able to prioritise own workload, can remain calm & positive in challenging circumstances and can constructively challenges poor performance and/or behaviour
 

You must also have an understanding of, and commitment to, equality, diversity and inclusion.

In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values and will ask you to evidence when you have demonstrated them as part of the selection process.

Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability.

 

Interested in Flexible Working?

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. This may include requests for term-time working, part-time hours, compressed hours, flexible start and finish times, home/remote working, etc.

Every role within the Council has a defined working style which determines where they can work. The worker category applicable to this post is detailed in the above advert. You can find out more about our worker categories in the Our Working Styles page on our career site.

For more information or an informal discussion, please contact:

Mark Aylott, Supervisor, Forestry 
Telephone: 0116 305 7301 
To contact me by email, please click  here

OR 

John Benson, Works Manager North 
Tel: 0116 305 5365 
To contact me by email, please click  here
 

How to Apply

Leicestershire County Council is an inclusive organisation which is on a journey to embed and celebrate equality, diversity and inclusion at every level. We warmly welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, as having a diverse workforce with different perspectives and ideas is fundamental to our values and enriches the services we offer our communities. We particularly welcome applicants from Ethnically Diverse and LGBTQ Plus communities and people with disabilities to create a balanced workforce and one that reflects the communities we serve. Applicants with a disability who meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above will be offered an interview under the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

To apply for this job, please click on the apply button. You will need to upload a supporting statement as part of your application which explains how you meet the criteria listed in the 'About You' section above. For more information, see the How to Apply section on our career site.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. 

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support. 

By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions.

About Leicestershire County Council

At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. 

Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose.

For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following:

Our Recruitment Process
Our Organisational Values
Our Employee Benefits
Working for Us