Grounds Person

Birmingham City University is a large and diverse place to study right in the heart of the city and we currently have an exciting opportunity for a Grounds person/Gardener to join our dynamic team. The role will suit a person who has a keen interest in sports grounds maintenance.

Working within a small team, you will be responsible for grounds maintenance of Birmingham City University sports fields and external grounds and spaces to provide a welcoming, safe and professional environment for staff, students and visitors to the University.

Main Responsibilities:

• Maintaining sport fields and amenity grass areas to specified standards in accordance with the ground’s maintenance programme.
• Carrying out other general grounds tasks including line marking, turf care and pitch maintenance, pitch renovation, grass seed sowing etc
• Preparing and maintaining artificial sports pitch.
• Assisting with the erection and dismantling of outdoor sports equipment.
• To demonstrate knowledge and competence in the use of standard horticultural machinery and equipment including tractors, ride on mowers, power tools and associated plant.
• Other general tasks may include hedge cutting and pruning, tree pruning, maintenance of paths, removal of grass clippings and leaves etc.
• To be aware of and, encourage biodiversity within the working environment.
• To ensure all tools are used, maintained and stored safely.
• To use appropriate chemicals safely for the control of weeds, pest and disease.
• To be responsible for his/her safety while working on University sites, and to comply with all instructions under the University Health and Safety Policy.
• To assist site staff in responding to situations during adverse weather conditions along with gritting and the clearance of snow and ice from roads and paths.
• To drive University vehicles in travelling to and from sites.
• Ability to work on own initiative and also in a team environment
• Working to daily schedules and prioritising tasks in order of emergency or workload
• Ability to make decisions where Health & Safety is paramount for the safety of people
• Ensure that appropriate training for compliance purposes is adhered to so that it ensures the employee is able to make decisions effectively as a duty of care to themselves or other people e.g. ability to assess equipment is in working order before self-use or the ability to raise an alarm in an emergency

Skills and Experience:

• Knowledge and previous experience of grounds maintenance using associated machinery is highly desirable
• NVQ Qualifications in Horticulture (Sports turf) or equivalent required
• Pa1, Pa2 and Pa6 preferable
• Require basic knowledge of MS Office package for completing forms, templates on University IT equipment.
• Must have full UK driving licence