Arboricultural Team Manager

Job Description

The starting salary for this position is £40,227 per annum based on a 36 hour working week.Surrey County Council spends around £1 million per year on managing risk from Highway trees. It is reputed to be the most densely wooded County in Southern England with some of the busiest roads outside of London. Responsibility for Surrey Highways resides within the Environment, Transportation and Infrastructure Directorate. The current financial climate means that it is imperative to align finances with a risk focused approach, whilst being aware of the limitations under which the Council delivers a tree maintenance service given the scale of task.Surrey County Council is the Highway Authority for the County of Surrey. It is responsible for the management of risk from some 2 million trees and monitoring their condition adjacent to and on the highway. Cyclical planned inspections are undertaken over the entire highway network of the County.Some of the Services key aims include: Delivering specialist inspections over three and five year cycles aimed at maintaining a safe highway Aligning priorities with risk from actionable defects Creating accurate records of inspection to service defect life cycles Engage with suppliers in delivering works safely in line with specificationsThe Arboriculture Team Manager has a team of two Arb Surveyors, and reporting to the Principal Engineer, the Team Manager will be the designated Highway Arboricultural professional and accountable for all operational aspects of the service, including inspections and contract supervision. Regular contact with Members, customers and contractors will be required, therefore to be successful you will need both excellent communication skills and technical knowledge.The Arboriculture team makes good use of technology in undertaking inspections as well as specialist equipment such as a Tomography and digital Resistograph for detailed tree inspections. A strong commitment to develop new innovative methods of working for the team will be encouraged.Together with, and under the direction of the Principal Highway Maintenance Engineer, you will take management responsibility for the direction, planning and implementation of all Arboricultural functions and activities; therefore you will need to be able motivate and empower individuals and teams to achieve excellence.In this role you will act as the point of contact within Surrey Highways for the promotion and management of highway biodiversity and environmental issues. This will involve representing Surrey Highways at technical meetings and provide management cover as required. This may include representing Surrey Highways within court as an expert witness.Together with the Principal Highway Maintenance Engineer, you will be responsible for managing budget preparation, budgetary monitoring and control. You will also prioritise programmes and projects involving arboriculture assets in order to maintain and improve the highway within Surrey.To be shortlisted to interview for this position your application will clearly evidence: Significant experience of working within the arboricultural business, particularly involving highways and Local Authority land An ability to gain respect and credibility across the range of stakeholders High standards of oral and written communication, presentation and reporting skills HNC or equivalent in Arboriculture and very substantial relevant experience / RFS Prof Dip Arb / BSc Arboriculture as well as evidence of CPDAt Surrey, our values and behaviours are just as important as our skills and abilities. They shape who we are as an organisation. Find out more about the values we follow.For more information please find the full job description below and refer to this before submitting your application. We also invite you to read our Life at Surrey handbook to see insights of the culture at Surrey and how as a valued employee, you can help shape our Council.Additional InformationContact DetailsFor an informal discussion please contact Helen Currie on or by e-mail at .uk. We look forward to receiving your application. Additional InformationThe job advert closes at 23:59 on 16th June 2021.Interviews will take place week commencing 21 June 2021.Flexible working is supported where possible, including working from home or from one of our area offices in Guildford (Merrow) or Godstone and the option of part time hours, term time working or job sharing may be also be available. You will be entitled to 26 days annual leave on joining Surrey (increasing to 28 after two years service), have the option of joining the local government salary-related pension scheme and have access to other benefits including a car lease scheme, a work laptop and mobile phone.Surrey County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all under represented groups.Company InformationOur Values Our values are what support our vision, shape the culture and are crucial in delivering our corporate strategy.