Job title:
Woodland Enterprise Skills Coach (2 roles available)
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exemptions) Order 1975 applies to this post. Disclosure and Barring Clearance is required prior to employment to this post.
Main purpose of job:
At Little Gate Farm, we support autistic and learning-disabled adults to develop the skills, confidence, and work skills needed for paid employment. As a Woodland Enterprise Skills Coach, you will work within our established charcoal and wood-craft social enterprise at our Beckley farm as part of a newly formed team. You will take shared ownership of running and developing the enterprise, while coaching and mentoring trainees to build practical competence and transferable work skills, over a structured three-year training pathway, supporting their progression into paid employment and long-term independence.
Position reports to:
Head of Little Gate Farm
Staff who will report to this job title:
N/A
Location:
Little Gate Farm, Horseshoe Lane, Beckley TN31 6RZ
Salary:
£12.50 per hour – equivalent to £26,000 per annum
Your usual hours of work will be 40 hours per week working 8 hours per day with core hours between 8.30am and 5.30pm (typically 9am-5pm) Monday to Friday.
The role is based on an 8-hour working day. During the summer months, when charcoal burns are scheduled, some days may start earlier; this will operate on a rota basis across the team, with a maximum of one burn per week.
Probationary period:
6 months
Holiday Entitlement:
5.6 weeks, including bank and public holidays and reservation of days for any Christmas shut down periods
Contract type:
Permanent
Safeguarding requirements:
All employees and volunteers, regardless of their posts, share in the responsibility for protecting our work trainees, young people and students, keeping them safe from harm whilst they are attending Little Gate and for reporting concerns about any person’s welfare and safety. In this post you will be engaging in regulated activity with young people and adults at risk.
DBS requirements;
Child and Adult Workforce, Enhanced with Barred list check
Main tasks of job:
Responsibility to Trainees
- Demonstrate commitment to Little Gate Farm’s ethos, values, and vision.
- Coach and support trainees to develop employability skills, confidence, communication, independence, and professional workplace behaviours using the Skills Builder framework.
- Embed essential employment skills (teamwork, timekeeping, problem-solving, responsibility, quality, professionalism) into all practical activities.
- Work as part of a team to monitor, assess, and review trainee progress, contributing to individual goal-setting and development plans to support each trainee’s journey into employment over a three-year pathway.
- Identify and develop trainees’ strengths, skills, and aspirations in readiness for progression.
- Create a positive, structured learning environment where achievement is recognised and mistakes are treated as learning opportunities.
- Monitor trainee wellbeing, engagement, and progress, maintaining accurate records on the CRM system.
- Contribute to a strong safeguarding culture, following procedures and reporting concerns appropriately.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
- Uphold responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act and associated regulations.
- Follow and contribute to risk assessments and safe systems of work.
- Model safe working practices and ensure trainees are appropriately supervised at all times.
- Promote a culture of safety, care, and professionalism.
Responsibility within the Woodland Enterprise Team
- Work alongside trainees on practical woodland and enterprise activities, including:
- Timber extraction
- Wood processing, firewood production and woodcraft
- Charcoal production and retort operation
- Overseeing product finishing processes, including sorting, packaging, labelling, quality control, and preparation for customer delivery.
- Work collaboratively to run and further develop the woodland enterprise, establishing clear routines, production systems, and quality standards.
- Contribute to product development and innovation, bringing ideas that improve market readiness and efficiency.
- Support trainees to develop safe tool use, technical competence, and pride in high-quality output.
- Plan and deliver inclusive, structured activities that build both practical and employment skills.
- Model a strong work ethic, reliability, attention to detail, and professional behaviour.
- Support trainees to take increasing ownership of their work and standards.
- Maintain clear communication within and between teams.
- Reflect on practice and engage in continuous improvement.
The above is not an exhaustive list of duties, and different tasks may be required as necessitated by the changing role within the organisation and the overall business objectives of the organisation.
Person Specification;
Essential Criteria
Woodland & Production Competence
- Minimum 1 year hands-on practical experience making high-quality wood products and/or working in woodland management (e.g. coppicing, extraction).
- Demonstrable competence working with wood from raw material through to finished, saleable product.
- Confident and safe use of core woodland hand tools (e.g. saws, axes, billhooks), with strong awareness of safe working practices.
- Good working knowledge of wood as a material and how processing affects quality and end use.
- Experience using quality checks or simple quality systems to ensure consistent, saleable product standards.
- Ability to plan, organise, and work in a systematic way, managing tasks from start to finish.
Enterprise & Systems
- Comfortable working with customers and multiple stakeholders, representing the enterprise professionally.
Teaching & Development
- Demonstrable ability to plan and deliver practical learning activities, breaking tasks down into clear, safe steps and adapting approach to different learning styles and needs.
- Experience supporting others to develop skills and confidence through coaching, mentoring, or informal training.
- Ability to use practical work to build employability skills (teamwork, timekeeping, responsibility, communication, professionalism).
Professional & Personal skills
- Able to work independently and take shared responsibility for enterprise and trainee outcomes.
- Hard-working, positive, honest, and highly professional.
- Resilient and able to work under pressure while maintaining high standards of safety and quality.
- Physically able to work outdoors year-round in a rural environment.
- Able to travel independently to the farm site
- Confident IT skills for recording progress and producing documentation and competency in using MS Office programmes.
- Commitment to safeguarding and willingness to undertake an enhanced DBS.
Desirable Criteria
- Sound theoretical understanding of woodland management principles (e.g. coppice cycles, species selection, sustainability).
- Experience contributing to the running of a small-scale production or social enterprise.
- Experience helping to establish systems and ways of working in a new or developing team.
- Experience of charcoal production and retort operation.
- Experience delivering coaching or practical training in a social enterprise, education, or community setting.
- Experience supporting autistic adults and/or adults with learning disabilities.
- Familiarity with Skills Builder or similar employability frameworks.
- Knowledge of Health & Safety and risk assessment in outdoor work.
- Outdoor First Aid qualification or willingness to train.
Qualifications;
Strong Maths and English skills equivalent to GCSE Grade 4 (Grade C) or above, demonstrated through qualifications, training, or relevant experience.
Important Information
Application deadline:
17th February 2026 (23:00 hrs)
Interview date:
25th February 2026
To apply for this role please use this link to complete our application form Little Gate Application for Employment -Woodland Enterprise Skills Coach (WESCFeb26) – Fill out form
Please ensure that you give examples to demonstrate your ability to meet the minimum criteria within the job description.
Our Commitment
Little Gate is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. Please see our application form for more information regarding guaranteed interviews for candidates choosing to share that they have a disability.
Our application and onboarding process will provide an opportunity to request any reasonable adjustments for the interview and/or the role.
We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all underrepresented groups.
Little Gate implements safeguarding protocols in all aspects of their working practices and is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All successful applicants will be subject to an enhanced and barred DBS check, and this may include social media checks. For further details please contact Sally Moseley via email at hrsally@littlegate.org.uk.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exemptions) Order 1975 applies to this post. Disclosure and Barring Clearance is required prior to employment to this post.
Please note, due to a high volume of applications, we are not always able to feedback if you have been deemed unsuccessful upon review. We apologise in advance should you not be contacted.