Cleansing Manager

Bridgwater Town Council; Bridgwater; On-site; GBP 37,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Bridgwater Town Council is seeking a confident Cleansing Manager to lead our frontline cleansing service. You will ensure teams have the people, vehicles, and equipment needed to deliver a reliable, safe, high‑quality service across Bridgwater.

This hands‑on role involves planning rotas, monitoring performance and safety, and using data to drive improvements in efficiency and service delivery. A full UK driving licence is required, with some evenings and weekends expected.

Qualifications

• Experience of leading operational teams in frontline services.
• Able to plan and manage rotas, workloads and service cover.
• Experience of managing attendance, performance and return‑to‑work meetings.
• Strong lead‑in health and safety practices, risk assessments and PPE knowledge.
• Ability to interrogate data to identify efficiencies and improve service delivery.
• Comfortable managing budgets, procurement and contractor relationships.
• Full UK driving licence and flexibility to work some evenings/weekends.

Responsibilities

• Lead, support and develop frontline cleansing teams.
• Plan rotas, workloads, leave and seven‑day service cover.
• Oversee litter picking, bin emptying, road sweeping, fly‑tip removal and needle collections.
• Manage performance, attendance and appraisals; conduct return‑to‑work discussions.
• Plan routes and use data to improve efficiency and service delivery.
• Respond to resident enquiries, complaints and service requests.
• Arrange cleansing for Council and community events.
• Maintain health and safety standards, PPE and safe systems of work.
• Supervise vehicles, sweepers and maintenance; report defects.
• Monitor costs, contractors and resources; assist with budgeting and procurement.
• Prepare committee reports and support contractor relationships.

Skills

Strong leadership

Plan rotas

Health and safety

IT skills

Budget awareness

Education

Management or health and safety qualification

Tools

IT skills

Job description

Working hours: 37 hours per week. Some evening and weekend flexibility will be required to support our seven-day service.

Salary Scale SCP: 24-28 (£36,581 - £40,444 per annum), plus NJC annual pay award and Local Government Pension Scheme.

We’re looking for a confident, practical and people-focused Cleansing Manager to lead our frontline cleansing service.

This is a hands‑on management role where no two days will necessarily look the same. You’ll be responsible for making sure our cleansing teams have the people, vehicles, equipment and support they need to deliver a reliable, safe and high‑quality service across Bridgwater.

You’ll lead the Cleansing Assistant Supervisor, Cleansing Operatives and Road Sweeping Operatives. You'll be planning rotas and workloads, maintaining service cover and making sure standards are consistently met.

As Cleansing Manager, you will:

• Lead, support and develop our frontline teams;
• Plan rotas, workloads, leave and service cover across our seven-day operation;
• Oversee litter picking, bin emptying, road sweeping, fly-tip removal, needle collections and other cleansing activities;
• Manage performance, attendance, one‑to‑ones, appraisals and return‑to‑work meetings;
• Plan and optimise routes to improve efficiency and service delivery utilising data to inform decisions.
• Respond to operational issues, resident enquiries, complaints and service requests;
• Plan cleansing arrangements for Council and community events;
• Maintain high standards of health and safety, including risk assessments, PPE and safe systems of work;
• Oversee vehicles, sweepers, equipment, maintenance and defect reporting;
• Monitoring operational costs, contractors and resources; and
• Writing committee reports and assisting with budget management, procurement and contractor relationships.

Identify opportunities to improve the service and how we work.

The ideal candidate will be:

• You don’t necessarily need to come from a local authority background.
• You might currently work in street cleansing, waste, environmental services, highways, grounds maintenance, logistics, facilities, fleet or another frontline operational service.
• What matters is that you have experience of leading operational employees and understand what it takes to keep a busy service running efficiently.
• You’ll need to be comfortable organising people and resources, solving problems, making decisions and having clear conversations when standards aren't being met.

You’ll also need:

• strong leadership and communication skills;
• experience of managing rotas and allocating work;
• experience of managing attendance and performance;
• a good understanding of health and safety in an operational environment;
• good organisational and IT skills;
• financial awareness for budgeting and an understanding of value for money;
• the ability to interrogate data to identify efficiencies
• a full UK driving licence; and
• flexibility to support the service when required, including some evenings, weekends and emergencies.
• Experience within cleansing, waste, grounds, highways or environmental services would be an advantage, as would a relevant management or health and safety qualification, but we’re equally interested in applicants with strong transferable operational management experience.

Interview date: Friday 13th November 2026

Appointment subject to satisfactory references and pre‑employment health checks