Cemetery Grounds Operative

Hull; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 26,000 - 27,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

LGPS pension

Annual leave package + public holidays

Career development opportunities

Supportive culture

Job summary

Hull City Council is seeking a Cemetery Grounds Operative to provide a high quality horticultural service in the cemeteries and crematorium. You will respond sympathetically to bereaved families and perform a range of grounds tasks with care and professionalism.

Grade 4 duties include operating multiple mowers, licensing to drive up to 3.5t vehicles and mentoring Grade 3 staff and volunteers. The role emphasizes safety, teamwork, and adherence to regulations under the Bereavement Services Team.

Qualifications

• Experience in grounds maintenance and horticulture is preferred.
• Ability to drive up to 3.5t vehicles.
• Understanding of burial and cremation legislation.
• Commitment to health and safety responsibilities.

Responsibilities

• Undertake grass cutting duties in the cemeteries and crematorium.
• Maintain rose/shrub beds, including cultivation and pruning.
• Plant annual bedding, shrubs and trees with care.
• Shape and trim hedges; clear sites after tasks.
• Collaborate with Bereavement Services Team and report breaches.
• Apply herbicides using handheld or boom sprayers.
• Keep all machinery and depots clean and secure.
• Maintain good relations with clergy, funeral directors and memorial masons; provide customer service.
• Grade 4 duties: operate with multiple mower types; drive up to 3.5t; mentor Grade 3 operatives and volunteers.
• Follow national cemetery specifications and regulations.

Skills

Grass cutting

Hedge trimming

Planting pruning

Machinery maintenance

Customer service

Health & safety

Teamwork

Tools

Pedestrian mower

Ride-on mower

Sprayers

Boom sprayer

Job description

## Cemetery Grounds OperativeApply: HU5: Full time: Posted Today: End Date: 12 October 2026 (17 days left to apply): JR0001038**Number of Vacancies:**1**Time Type:**Full time**Worker Type:**Regular**Proposed Interview Date:**Tuesday, October 27, 2026**Hours of Work:**37**Hiring Manager:**Ash Anderson**Contact Number:****Job Description Summary:**This is a Full Time, permanent position. Pay award pending. To provide and promote a horticultural service which is customer focussed to the needs of the bereaved in the cemeteries and crematorium ROLE AND PURPOSE Grade 3: To provide and promote a horticultural service which is customer focussed to the needs of the bereaved in the cemeteries and crematorium. To provide a personal sympathetic and client focussed response to requests for the Section’s services. Grade 4, all of the above plus: To understand and apply relevant burial, and cremation legislation, where applicable. To be able to drive 3.5cwt vehicles.**PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTABILITIES:****Grade 3**1. To promote and safeguard the welfare of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults *(Service Area to include where appropriate)*2. Undertake grass cutting duties in the cemeteries and crematorium, using pedestrian and hand held mowers.3. Perform general maintenance work to rose/shrub beds, including cultivation, removal of litter, weeds, debris and trimming back of bed edges, during spring/winter. Perform pruning of roses/shrubs removing all dead, broken and deceased branches cutting back to outside buds to encourage plants to produce a good crop of flowering buds4. Undertake planting of annual bedding, shrub roses and trees, all plants to be handled with care and planted using good horticultural practices. Undertake shaping and trimming back of hedges using hedge trimmers, including clearing site after completion of task.5. To work alongside members of the Bereavement Services Team to foster good team working and inform the senior grounds operative, cemetery supervisor and other personnel of breaches in the rules and regulations appertaining to the cemeteries and crematorium especially memorabilia and unsafe headstones.6. Perform chemical applications to areas indicated using selective, total control and feeding using both hand held and boom type sprayers to control weed growth.7. To keep clean and in good working order all machinery and equipment and ensure that they are kept secure at the end of each working day including the depots and associated buildings.8. To maintain good working relationships with the clergy, funeral directors, memorial masons and provide a first class customer focussed service for the bereaved.9. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and associated legislation places responsibilities for health and safety on Hull City Council, as your employer and you as an employee of the council. In addition to the Councils overall duties, the post holder has personal responsibility for their own health, safety and wellbeing and that of other employees; additional and more specific responsibilities are identified in the Council’s Corporate H&S policy.**Grade** **4****, all of the above plus:**10. Undertake grass cutting duties in the cemeteries and crematorium using pedestrian, hand-held and ride-on type mowers.11. Licenced to drive a variety of vehicles up to 3.5kwt. Ability to mentor Grade 3 Cemetery Operatives, work placements and volunteers.12. To work as advised to all national cemetery specifications, standards and adhere to all relevant regulations and codes of practice in respect to all burials and grounds maintenance activities.NC2954.Cemetery Grounds Operative.docx**Compensation Grades:**GRADES 4.**Pay Ranges:**£25,583.00 - £26,403.00**Job Classifications:**3- Not Politically Restricted - Designated As Not Politically Sensitive (Politically Restricted Posts), Casual - (Travel Allowance Policy), No - (Childcare Disqualification Requirement), No - (Statutory Post)**Benefits of Working of Hull City Council:** - A competitive salary - An excellent pension through the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) - Initially 23 days annual leave depending on length of service. You will also get eight public holidays per year, and three additional days off, one in May/August and one during the Christmas/New year period - Career development and learning experiences from a range of training courses and learning methods - Supportive and forward-thinking culture - Great career development opportunitiesPlease ensure that you complete and submit your application by midnight prior to the closing date. Please ensure that your application demonstrates how you meet the essential criteria against the person specification as listed in the job description.We are committed to increasing the diversity, equality, and inclusion within our workforce to represent the people we serve and build an environment in which everyone can feel like they belong. We encourage people from all backgrounds to apply.We adopt a ‘name blind’ approach to shortlisting. Recruiting managers will not have access to personal information, including your name and contact details, until a shortlisting decision has been made. Equality monitoring information is not accessible by recruiting managers at any stage.We reserve the right to amend the dates associated with this advert, which may include closing the advert early where required.The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.Online searches, including social media, may be carried out as part of the recruitment process.