Tree Surveyor - Natural & Historic Environment

Human Resources & Development - Form 35 Version 15- Issued October 2022 JOB DESCRIPTION AND PARTICULARS OF APPOINTMENT ▪ Job Title: Tree Surveyor ▪ Post Number: ▪ Grade and SCP: Grade 9, SCP 23-25 ▪ Directorate: Place Where your role fits at Shropshire Council As Shropshire Council we are rightly proud of our achievements and we have proven to be a resilient local authority in our response to the many challenges we overcome, particularly over recent years. We will be continuing this momentum with ambition and a focus on delivering our four key priorities outlined within the Shropshire Plan: Healthy People, Healthy Environment, Health Economy and Healthy Organisation. We are committed to achieving this by aligning everything we do to our vision 'Shropshire - living the best life'; to tell everyone that Shropshire Council is a great place to be. We will enable a skilled, happy, healthy, diverse, inclusive, empowered, and proud workforce that influences and leads change, addressing any inequalities. As a member of the Tree Team within the Policy and Environment area of the Planning Service, you will support the achievement of these key priorities, making a real difference to the lives of people in Shropshire. Overview of your role You will carry out tree assessments as part of a strategic planned and reactive tree survey programme, using your technical knowledge and expertise to provide professional arboriculture advice, to assist with the assessment and management of Council-owned trees and other trees that could pose a risk to the public highway network and other land for which the Council has a legal Duty of Care. Who will your manager be and what will you be responsible for? You will: ▪ report to the County Arboriculturist, who is in turn responsible for your health and safety, and overall training and development. ▪ contribute to implementing the Council's tree risk management policy (currently under review) by undertaking assessments of tree health, condition and safety and making recommendations for associated tree works. What will you be doing? You will: ▪ Undertake arboriculture assessments in accordance with the Council tree risk management policy and specify works to be issued to the relevant tree owner, be that a council team or service area, or another owner. ▪ Use and maintain accurate, up to date records on the asset management database system, confirm (or a future successor system) to monitor the tree survey schedule, capture tree assessment data and make recommendations for tree works, generate reports, and handle customer enquiries. ▪ Manage your day-to-day workload and co-ordinate with colleagues as necessary to deliver the proactive, systematic tree survey programme of Council-owned and maintained sites, including but not limited to schools, parks, outdoor recreation sites, play areas, cemeteries, closed churchyards, car parks and the public highway network, and carry out reactive assessments arising from unplanned enquiries, reports, and complaints. ▪ Undertake occasional tree assessments for external bodies on an income generating basis, including, but not limited to, academy schools, housing associations and parish or town councils. ▪ Deliver excellent service to all customers in line with Council service standards. ▪ Assist with any other relevant duties that may arise, commensurate with the level of the post. What we expect of you You will: ▪ adopt a customer focused approach when delivering your service, ensuring engagement with service users and maintenance of an appropriate personal profile, ▪ act as an advocate for your service and work collaboratively with colleagues across the whole Council to meet the needs of the people of Shropshire, ▪ meet individual, service and personal development targets agreed through the Personal Development Review Process, learn from experience and be committed to continuous improvement individually and as an employee of the Council, ▪ work with colleagues to meet your team's key performance indicators, support a culture of team working and ensure the team functions successfully in support of the Council's corporate and service objectives. ▪ meet the behaviours and competencies adopted by the Council in the way in which they achieve their objectives and carry out their work. What are your conditions of Service The conditions of service are those laid down by Shropshire Council, which have been adopted and amended as necessary from those laid down by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services. For line management purposes the post is based at Shirehall, Shrewsbury, or the closest Council office facility to your home, but the postholder will normally work in an agile manner, spending the majority of their time working from home or between Shropshire Council's and project partners' offices, or undertaking site visits and attending meetings around the county, as and when appropriate. Your post is subject to the following: ▪ The post is permanent, for 37 hours per week. ▪ Normal office hours are 7 am - 7 pm Monday - Friday and 8 am - 1 pm Saturday with a minimum lunch break of 30 minutes. Occasional evening and weekend work may be required. ▪ The post is subject to the Council's annualised hours scheme as implemented within the specific work area. This post carries eligibility to join the Local Government Pension Scheme. Information about this will be sent with any formal offer of appointment. Annual leave entitlement is a pro rata flat rate scheme of 207 hours (28 days) annual leave plus bank holidays, with five days extra awarded to those staff with five years local government service giving an entitlement of 244 hours (33 days). Two days of an employee's allowance (pro rota for part time staff) must be taken at Christmas for any potential Christmas closures. Employees who work in a building/service which is required to open over the Christmas period, the two days leave (pro rota) can be carried over into your next leave year but must be used by the end of March. The appointment is subject to one months' notice in writing on either side. The appointment is subject to six months' satisfactory probationary service during which time the notice period will be one week on either side. Smoking is not allowed in Council buildings, in Council vehicles or in any Council place of work. It is a condition of your appointment that you provide a suitable vehicle for the performance of your duties and that this is readily available for use during normal working hours. You are entitled to claim for reimbursement of the costs of travel on council business at the rate of 45 pence per mile. What pre-employment checks will we undertake? The appointment is subject to receipt of the following pre-employment checks; 1. Satisfactory employment references 2. Medical report 3. Evidence of the qualifications required for the post/listed on your application form. All applicants who are appointed to this post will be subject to a Basic Disclosure check once the appointment is confirmed. This check will include details of any unspent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Supplying false information or failing to disclose relevant information could be grounds for refusal and could amount to a criminal offence.