Grounds Operative - Skilled (14853)

Why Work for us: Employee benefits (southampton.gov.uk)

City Services are currently recruiting an additional Skilled Grounds Operative for the West District.

The West District is complemented by some wonderful green spaces and has a busy District Shopping Centre. We are seeking candidates who take pride and personal responsibility in their work and enjoy working with a team.

The Grounds Operatives are responsible for maintaining the open spaces within the districts including parks, highway and housing area, keeping them clean and tidy to help deliver the outcome "Southampton is an attractive and modern city, where people are proud to live and work". 

In this role you will be responsible for:

• Working with the team and Working Supervisor to ensure relevant works are carried out to the expected standards, providing hands on help with a range of tasks.
• Helping supervise a team of semi-skilled operatives in the Working Supervisors absence, providing hands on help with a range of tasks.
• Ensuring day to day operation and that resources are in place to effectively undertake agreed work programmes to the expected standards.
• Ensuring all work adheres to statutory Health and Safety Regulations and expected standards.
• Helping coach staff to increase the overall ability of the District Team 
• You will be responsible for the security, correct usage and care of all vehicles, machinery, tools and equipment, completing written records of a routine nature, including Time Sheets, Vehicle Log Sheets etc. as required.
• Promptly rectifying or reporting all defects, losses, damage, accidents, hazards and near misses to the Working Supervisor or any other designated person supervising the area of works.
• The post holder will, from time to time when mechanical sweeper duties are not required or possible, be expected to carry out other duties such as working with the team on manual cleansing duties.

To be able to apply for this role you will need to hold 4 of the 5 criteria set when the job role was assessed, this criteria is:

• A current and relevant chainsaw certificate
• A Pa1/Pa6 spraying certificate
• A clean driving license
• A relevant ornamental pruning certificate
• Operating experience of a ride on mower

You will work a regular shift pattern from Monday to Friday.

Contact details for informal discussion:

For further information or an informal discussion, please contact Brian Kneller West District Manager on 023 8083 4286. 

Recruitment contact details:

Email: recruitment@southampton.gov.uk
Tel: 023 8083 4033

Additional information:

• Please note the salary quoted is based on full time hours (37 hours per week)
• The working hours for this role are 39 hours per week.
• This is a permanent position.   
• Please note that appointments are usually made at the bottom of the salary scale.
• This post requires a DBS check.
• For any posts that require a DBS check, if you have lived outside the UK within the last 5 years, you will be required to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct or a police certificate from the country/countries you have resided in. Kindly note that this is at the expense of the candidate, as well as any costs involved for translating into English.

How to apply:

To apply for the position please select the 'Apply for this job' button at the bottom of the page.

The supporting statement section of the application form must be completed, unless there are specific criteria questions for you to evidence against. Applications are shortlisted against the essential and desirable criteria found within the job description for the post. Please refer to the job description when completing your application form and evidence how you meet the required criteria/questions. A CV on its own will not be considered.

Unfortunately we are not able to accept applications that are made through a third party agency. We cannot guarantee that any correspondence sent from third party agencies will be responded to. To ensure your application is received please apply directly through our website.

We are proud to be #DisabilityConfident and support fair recruitment practices. Find out how you can get involved at gov.uk/disability-confident.  No applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment because of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership and pregnancy or maternity, unless a Genuine Occupational Requirement (GOR) applies.

Southampton City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults.  It is committed to delivering services to ensure they are happy, safe and have opportunities to reach their goals as responsible members of our community.  We believe it is always unacceptable for a child, young person or adult to experience abuse of any kind, and recognise our responsibility to safeguard and promote their welfare.  We are committed to following safe practices to ensure this and expect all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.  This commitment is reflected in all our recruitment and selection practices.

As a Corporate Parent we are actively aiming to support all our children in care (looked after children) and care leavers. Any applicants who are children in care or care leavers, who meet the essential criteria for the post applied for, will be guaranteed an interview.