Candidate Pack: Roaming Ranger

Thank you for your interest in joining Essex Country Parks. We care for more than 1,000 hectares of nationally important landscapes including two SSSIs, ancient woodland, coastal marshes and valuable habitats that support a rich diversity of wildlife.

These landscapes play a vital role in supporting wildlife and connecting people with nature, and our team takes pride in caring for them responsibly.

We are now recruiting a Roaming Ranger to join our small, specialist team. This is a role for a skilled, self-motivated land manager who is equally at home operating a chainsaw, running a tractor or restoring a ditch.

If you are motivated by meaningful conservation work and are looking for a role with variety across ecologically significant and diverse landscapes, we would love to receive your application.

Ricky Hooper, County Parks Manager

The Roaming Ranger is based at Danbury Country Park and works across all three sites below as Essex Country Parks’ wider network of parks and rail trails across the county.

A coastal site with exceptional biodiversity, heritage features and well-loved by visitors.

• Grazing marshes, beaches and open grasslands
• Borrow dyke supporting specialist invertebrates
• Notable bird and moth populations
• A Tudor blockhouse and WWII military structures
• Marine themed childrens play area

A historic and ecologically rich landscape in the heart of Essex (base location).

• Ancient woodland and veteran trees
• Lakes, ponds and wetland habitats
• Formal gardens including an icehouse and a ha-ha from the former Danbury Palace
• Thriving education programme for schools and community groups

A large, open landscape with a focus on habitat creation and species protection.

• Key site for Brent Goose habitat management
• Grassland, wetland and scrub mosaic
• New water vole population
• Extensive coastline and popular walking routes
• Scheduled ancient monument – medieval saltern

The Roaming Ranger is primarily a practical role, based at Danbury Country Park but working across the full 1,000 hectares of Essex Country Parks, including our parks and rail trails. You will be part of a small, skilled team delivering a programme of seasonal land management works throughout the year, as well as responding to emergency and specialist jobs across the county as they arise.

The work is varied. On any given day you might be undertaking chainsaw operations including felling, rigging and climbing; running a tractor with a range of mounted implements; operating a 360-degree excavator; or carrying out habitat management such as scrub clearance, ditch restoration and stock fencing. You will sometimes work independently and sometimes alongside a wider team of rangers and Park Operations Assistants based at individual parks including sites like Cudmore Grove with its specialist coastal habitats and Marsh Farm with its focus on species protection and Brent Goose management.

The work you carry out feeds directly into our land management obligations and grant funding requirements. Accurate record-keeping and compliance with health and safety procedures are therefore important and a working knowledge of relevant IT systems and applications is essential.

We are looking for a self-motivated individual with broad experience across land-based operations and the ability to turn their hand to most practical tasks. A range of relevant National Governing Body (NGB) qualifications is a requirement for the role, but we offer extensive training and qualification opportunities to support your development.

• Access to extensive training and professional development, including tractor operation, mounted implements, mobile elevated work platforms (MEWPs), ATV handling, and 360‑degree excavator qualifications—supporting your growth as both a land manager and team leader.

Few roles offer the chance to shape the future of ancient woodland, coastal marshland, heritage landscapes and SSSI habitats all within a single job.

Please submit:

• Your CV
• A supporting statement demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria. 
  Applications should be sent to xxxxxxxxxx