Depot Assistant

Suffolk County Council; Bury St Edmunds; Remote; GBP 28,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Generous pension scheme

Life assurance

Employee discounts & benefits

Cycle to Work & staff schemes

Rail and bus discounts

Health & Wellbeing initiatives

Leisure centre membership

Culture of learning

Job summary

West Suffolk Council is seeking a Depot Assistant to join the depot team in Bury St Edmunds on a permanent basis. The role involves bin repair and cleansing, depot housekeeping and baling cardboard for onward sale.

Forklift and telehandler experience is preferred, with a background in a busy vehicle/transport environment essential. Your focus will be on delivering reliable service under pressure, staying highly organized with attention to detail, and contributing to continuous improvements

Qualifications

• Experience in operating forklift truck and telehandler is preferred.
• Experience in a waste industry environment and working in a busy vehicle/transport setting.
• Drive to improve service delivery, work under pressure, stay highly organized with attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Repair and cleansing of returned wheeled bins.
• General depot housekeeping and baling of loose cardboard for onward sale.

Skills

Forklift operation

Telehandler operation

Job description

• West Suffolk Council

• Address: Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP33 3YU

• Salary:Starting from £28,153 - £29,542 per annum, plus excellent employee benefits package

• Hours:37 hours per week

• Contract:Permanent

• Reference:0013

About the role

West Suffolk Council continues on a journey of ambitious change and are committed to being more commercial. We have a vacancy for a full time Depot Assistant to supplement the Depot team.

Ideally, you will have experience in operating a forklift truck and telehandler. You will have worked in a waste industry environment, with experience of working in a busy vehicle / transport environment.

Duties for this post include repair and cleansing of returned wheeled bins, general housekeeping of the depot and baling of loose cardboard to provide mill sized bales for onward sale.

What you will need:

The drive and desire to improve the service we deliver, along with the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines, be highly organised, with an attention to detail and accuracy are all vital for this role.

Please refer to the job description and person specification for full details of this exciting opportunity.

Why work for us? Our benefits include:

• holiday entitlement of 25 days, increasing to 29 days after 5 years (pro rata if part time) plus bank holidays (with an option to buy up to 10 extra days each year subject to approval)

• generous pension scheme – contribute between 5.5% and 6.8% (depending on your salary) and the council will contribute 16.4%

• life assurance – a payment of three times your annual salary

• access to a unique employee benefits package which includes discounts and cashback on supermarkets, high street shops, holidays, mobile phones, electrical goods, savings and loan schemes and many other products and services

• salary sacrifice benefits including Cycle to Work scheme, Tusker Leased Car Scheme and SmartTech (buy the latest tech products interest free and repay through your monthly salary)

• rail and bus staff discounts

• a range of Health and Wellbeing initiatives including an employee assistance programme

• discounted membership at Abbeycroft Leisure centres

• a culture of learning inspiring staff to focus on continuous learning.

For more information

For an informal discussion and further information please contact Andrew Hobbs, Senior Business Development Advisor, on 07939 808222.

Alternatively, please download the Job Description (pdf), Person Specification (pdf) and Core Values (pdf).

Closing date:

11.55pm, 15 November 2026

West Suffolk Council has been rated in the top 10 district councils for climate action (Climate Scorecards 2023) and as a member of UK100 has demonstrated its commitment to a rapid transition to Net Zero with Clean Air in our communities. The council has declared a climate and biodiversity emergency and is committed to working towards net zero emissions by 2039.