The Heart of England Forest is an exciting and ambitious charity working hard to create a huge new woodland in the heart of the country that will benefit people and wildlife for generations to come. We take our mission very seriously; it has never been more important to invest in our natural environment. Planting trees and creating new woodlands is no longer just a positive ambition for the country, it’s absolutely essential. It is the simplest solution to help mitigate climate change and create new green spaces that can help reconnect people and communities with nature and the natural environment.

THE ROLE

Now is an incredibly exciting time to join the Heart of England Forest as we look to scale our reach and impact even further. We’re looking for a strategic thinker who shares our passion for the natural world who combines strong business and commercial acumen with the experience to lead an organisation through change and growth and deliver on our vision to grow and sustain a new native broadleaf forest for the benefit of people, wildlife and our precious natural environment. 

As our next Chief Executive, you will be leading, motivating and inspiring a passionate and dedicated team of staff and volunteers, supported by an engaged, experienced and enthusiastic Board of Trustees. As well as your sound business acumen you will have an excellent understanding of charity governance and an appreciation of the importance of fundraising and managing complex stakeholder relationships. For those who know us we are an exceptionally well-regarded organisation but many are still not aware of the amazing work we do and the long lasting impact we are having on the environment. At this stage of our development, we are very keen to broaden and deepen our reach into new stakeholder and supporter communities on a national scale.  Our new CEO should be able to inspire and influence others and demonstrate ways of realising our full potential and ambition. 

We’re therefore looking for an established charity or public sector leader with good networks both locally and nationally who has experience of influencing similar sets of key stakeholders across government and with key partners to help raise our profile and income. We have a great story to tell about the ground breaking work we do not only in forestry and biodiversity but also with our education outreach and supported intern programmes so whatever your background, you will be an exceptional communicator and an inclusive leader with proven success in leading growth and change. 

Our current ten-year strategy has five main priorities which you can read more on within the pack but we are now at a stage in our development where our strategic priorities and longer term strategic plan require review to ensure we are making the most of the opportunities for future growth whilst stabilising our operational business model.  As our new CEO you will be integral in developing and implementing a renewed short and long term strategic plan, embedding best practice in everything we do, encouraging a culture of digital transformation as well as ensuring we leverage our land estate to ensure we’re sustainable for the next 100 years.