Programme Lead - Free Trees for Schools and Communities

The Woodland Trust is looking for a Senior Project Lead to manage, develop and fulfil the organisations woodland creation project.

The Role:
•    Deliver the Woodland Trusts free tree packs for schools and communities alongside other new funding schemes against targets and contractual funding requirements.
•    Support the other teams such as marketing and communications, digital and fundraising to develop case studies, create new digital systems and manage marketing and communication material.
•    Ensure adherence to all statutory requirements and update guidance and process as needed.
•    Monitor the effectiveness of the scheme, managing risks and opportunities.
•    Line manage an effective team, ensuring support and guidance is provided. 
•    Manage budgets, forecast future spends, analyse costs and monitor the impact to report to stakeholders.
•    This is a hybrid position with a mix of home working and from our head office in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Head office attendance would be required once a month on average. Occasional travel to other offices and remote locations may also be required.

The Candidate:
•    Experience delivering successful projects with the ability to adapt.
•    Experience managing a budget and forecasting future spends to report to stakeholders.
•    Strong collaboration skills with the ability to build and maintain stakeholder relationships and partnerships. 
•    Experience line managing a team, ensuring efficiency in day-to-day tasks.
•    Knowledge of Microsoft Office and database management.
•    Strong planning and organisation skills with the ability to work in a busy, target-driven environment.
•    Experience representing an organisation internally and externally. 
•    Experience managing and implementing change internally and externally.
•    The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Basic DBS Check, as part of our pre-employment screening.

Benefits and Wellbeing:
Joining our team means you’ll be part of our fight for a greener, healthier planet for people and wildlife. We take good care of our staff, offering support and training opportunities. We also offer:
•    Enhanced Employer Pension 
•    Life Assurance
•    Flexible and hybrid working options (7am - 7pm)
•    Generous annual leave - 25 Days plus Bank Holidays (pro rata for part-time)
•    Buy and sell holiday scheme
•    Enhanced parental pay
•    Employee assistance programme

To support inclusivity and remove barriers for candidates, we publish all salaries upfront and proudly follow the We Show the Salary pledge. The salary listed is the set salary for this role, and we don’t ask applicants to state their current pay or expectations. If you choose to apply, we’ll take that as confirmation that the advertised salary meets your expectations.

About Us:
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity.  We want to see a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature. The Trust engages and inspires people to make a difference by protecting, restoring and creating woodland and getting more trees in the ground.

Our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:
To achieve our mission, we need to better reflect society and the communities we work in. People of colour and disabled people are currently under-represented across the environment and conservation sector. If you identify as a person of colour and/or disabled, we particularly encourage you to apply. 

Application information and advice:
For fairness we keep our candidates’ personal details hidden from the hiring managers, and we do not ask for your CV at application. Make sure that you answer the application questions to show your relevant skills and passion for the role. Even if you don't meet every requirement of the role, we encourage you to apply.

Completed applications will be reviewed by a hiring manager and/or a member of the recruitment team, and you will receive an update on the outcome of your application via email.

Acceptable Use - Artificial Intelligence (AI):
We understand that candidates may choose to use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we ask that any information submitted reflects your own experience, skills and understanding. During interviews, candidates are expected to respond independently without the use of AI tools.

Apply now:
If you're ready to make a difference and grow with us, apply today. We might close advertising early if we get a lot of applications, so it's a good idea to apply soon. If we do close the advert early, and you have an application in progress, we will email you prior to closing to give you time to complete.

Interviews will take place via Microsoft Teams on 5th October 2026.