Regional Manager

FLS manages nearly 9% of Scotland and East Region is one of five Regions who plan, coordinate and deliver the management of the public forests and land.

East Region extends across 95,000 Ha of public land, from Moray, through Aberdeenshire and Perthshire to the east of Fife. The team comprises 138 staff and is multi-disciplinary, including foresters, civil engineers, land agents, ecologists, administrators, craftspeople and rangers.

The Regional team is supported by national colleagues, including finance, procurement, people and digital teams, as well as technical experts and professionals in land management.

East Region has a commercial income of £22.5m, largely sourced from timber sales and commercial leases. Operational forestry and land management work is largely carried out through contractors, with a smaller amount of in-house delivery through highly skilled teams.

There is a big focus on improving operational effectiveness and efficiency to achieve delivery of core programmes across FLS at a lower cost and improved margins. Business priorities are harvesting and marketing the sustainable timber volume at an improved margin and lowering civil engineering costs; addressing a backlog of woodland re-establishment through increased planting and management of natural regeneration; supporting the reduction of deer numbers to protect and enhance the forest and biodiversity value; and negotiating leases for renewable energy and interconnector projects. In East Region we also deliver Scottish Government funded programmes of peatland restoration and new woodland creation, in particular the very large project at Glen Prosen, and there are plans to re-establish a significant thinning programme. There is an extensive network of recreation facilities and we work closely with local communities.

In addition to leading the team, managing budgets, and coordinating business planning, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with others, influencing corporate direction and priorities as a member of both the Land Management Leadership Team and the Senior Leadership Team.

Our vision is ‘forests and land that Scotland can be proud of’ and our mission is ‘to look after Scotland’s forests and land, for the benefit of all, now and for the future’. We want these to provide a resilient, adaptable resource that responds to the climate crisis, secures high natural capital value, and supports a strong economy, a thriving environment, and healthy and flourishing communities. More information about what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it can be found on our website.