Ranger
Permanent, Full Time
£25,959 to £29,820 per annum
Location: Braintree
Working Style: Fixed-base worker
Closing Date: 5th June 2026
The Role
The ranger role is full time Monday to Friday 8am-4pm and covers four sites across north Essex – Great Notley Country Park, which is the ranger’s base site, The Flitch Way, The Black Water Rail Trail and the Colne Valley Linear Park.
The Opportunity
Essex is a diverse county with some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country through to highly affluent communities, which gives us a wide variance in life expectancy and quality. Culture and Green Spaces will deliver exceptional customer experiences, demonstrating the benefit of Essex’s strategic location, with the objective of developing a financially sustainable operation.
The Ranger is responsible for undertaking duties to effectively manage the green spaces across Essex, to enhance conservation across the landscape and horticultural value inline with the requirement to achieve a high quality of land management. In addition, ensuring that the sites are a safe and well-presented environment for the visiting public. Rangers deliver all customer service elements which would include activities, events, community involvement and special interest groups.
Accountabilities
- Support the requirement to build and maintain effective relationships with neighbours, stakeholders and partners by liaising with other landowners and community groups.
- Undertake and participate in a range of projects to contribute to the effectiveness of activities and share knowledge and expertise on all country park activities.
- Contribute to creating a safe environment for visitors by conducting regular checks of the country parks and to ensure it is a clean and safe environment for all visitors and users.
- Responsible for aspects of the day to day operation of the site and its facilities, ensuring the site is well presented and maintained at all times, good repair regimes and clear work programmes are followed.
- Contribute to the management of the land to enhance its nature conversation, habitat and landscape management, historic features and structures, for recreational and amenity value to achieve a high quality of land management to support the sites management plan and contribute to maintaining the Green flag status across all sites.
- Contribute to ensuring country parks meet all legislative requirements including all byelaws, health and safety and other relevant legislation, carrying out regular Health and Safety checks and completing all relevant paperwork/reports in line with the park’s procedures.
- Responsibility for the management of casual staff, volunteers and work experience placements to ensure they are fully supported in their daily tasks.
- Engage with customers to consider and improve the visitor’s experience; dealing with issues and problems involving visitors that occur within a country park.
- Liaise across the Council, such as education and events to help build and run programmes across the service.
- Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are defined annually within the performance management framework.
Experience You Will Bring
- Educated to degree level in countryside management or equivalent by experience in country park management.
- Evidence of continuing professional development and expert knowledge in relevant professional area.
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to demonstrate good customer service.
- Evidence of delivering excellent customer service across a wide range of people.
- Understanding and experience of ecological/habitat management and the Country Parks ethos and commitment to promoting enjoyment of the countryside.
- Evidence of working within a team to achieve joint objectives.
- Experience of planning and managing resources, including staff and services, arranging for purchases as required, in line with procedures and maintaining records.
- Experience of maximising income generation within a country park setting.
Driving and Mobility
The job requires you to be mobile throughout an operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a driving licence and access to a vehicle, or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other means.
DBS
As part of employment with Essex County Council, if your role requires a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please go to https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.
Safeguarding
Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.
If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email jamielea.wallis@essex.gov.uk.
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