Grounds Maintenance Operative

TN United Kingdom; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 25,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading university in Newcastle upon Tyne is seeking a Grounds Maintenance Operative to join their dedicated team. The role involves maintaining high-quality playing surfaces and supporting various sports facilities. Ideal candidates will have a passion for outdoor work, experience with horticultural machinery, and a commitment to teamwork and safety.

Benefits

Generous holiday package

Pension schemes

Health and wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience in sports grounds maintenance including marking pitches and mowing.
• Experience of driving a range of vehicles, e.g., tractors and vans.
• IT literate and able to complete COSHH and risk assessments.

Responsibilities

• Line marking grass and artificial pitches for various sports.
• Cutting grass pitches using a variety of machinery.
• Drive a tractor to carry out seasonal tasks such as aerating and fertilising.

Skills

Attention to detail

Communication

Teamwork

Problem-solving

Education

Level 3 qualification in relevant subject

NPTC PA1 and PA6

NPTC PA2

Tools

Powered horticultural machinery

Tractors

Ride-on machinery

Job description

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Grounds Maintenance Operative, Newcastle upon Tyne

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Client:

Newcastle University

Location:

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

a99a5efc745b

Job Views:

3

Posted:

19.05.2025

Expiry Date:

03.07.2025

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Job Description:

Salary: £24,344 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

The Role

You will be joining the Grounds Maintenance Team, which sits within the Estates and Facilities department. You will be part of a small team with a sports grounds maintenance focus and will report to the Senior Supervisor. Your job is primarily to help deliver high quality playing surfaces for a variety of users, with additional responsibility to maintain the surrounding areas of the facilities.General jobs will include driving a range of vehicles, predominantly tractors, grass cutting, strimming, line marking, setting up pitches ready for play, weed treatment, leaf clearance, general grounds maintenance tasks, and winter maintenance duties when required. We are also responsible for all the external cleaning tasks such as litter picking and bin emptying.

We work 37 hours per week Monday - Friday. Our working hours are 8.00am until 4.00pm. There may occasionally be a requirement to work overtime in times of peak demand. There is no charge for parking at the sports grounds. You will be based at Cochrane Park Sports Ground but will travel to additional nearby sports facilities using University vehicles.

There may be opportunity for additional income by working with our colleagues in sports to provide assistance in setting up sports pitches and providing customer service to users of our sports grounds outside of usual grounds maintenance hours i.e. evenings and weekends.

We are seeking people who can work well as part of a small but highly dedicated team, has exceptional attention to detail and a willingness to learn. This position would be perfect for someone who loves the outdoors, has a passion for sports, enjoys driving a range of tractors and vehicles and likes to work in a neat and tidy manner and achieving instant visual results.

To be highly successful in this role you should be an enthusiastic individual with the ability to work on your own, using your own initiative as well as working closely with the existing team.

To apply please either upload your CV and answer the mandatory application questions relating to your experience. If you do not have a CV please ensure you complete the education and employment history sections on the application form. Any requested additional documents required as part of your application, should be included within the same file as your cover letter. The total file size must not exceed 10MB.

Informal enquiries should be sent to Dean Murray, Assistant Grounds Manager at [emailprotected] or phone [phone].

Key Accountabilities

• Line marking grass and artificial pitches for a variety of sports
• Cutting grass pitches using a variety of machinery including ride-on machinery, tractors with attachments and pedestrian mowers
• Drive a tractor with a variety of attachments to carry out seasonal tasks such as aerating, seeding, fertilising, topdressing, scarifying and weed killing
• Set up sports pitches for play as required including regularly using tractors and attachments to install and remove rugby posts on artificial pitches
• Use specialist equipment to create and maintain cricket wickets during the summer
• Operate, maintain and clean machinery, vehicles and equipment used for general grounds maintenance tasks such as grass cutting, litter picking hedge trimming, weeding and planting
• Empty external litter bins when required
• Drive a range of university vehicles to travel between multiple sites
• Assist in winter maintenance program by clearing snow and ice from paths and roads when required
• Ensure of a clear understanding of general and in-house health and safety rules and regulations including risk and COSHH assessments
• Complete all mandatory and specialist training courses to facilitate safe working to the required standards

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Previous experience of sports grounds maintenance including marking pitches, mowing, aerating, fertilising and weed control
• Experience of using a range of powered horticultural machinery
• Experience of driving a range of vehicles e.g. tractors and vans
• The post holder needs to be personable and a good communicator
• Previous experience of maintaining artificial playing surfaces
• Turf Management knowledge including weed and disease identification
• IT literate
• Experience of completing COSHH and risk assessments
• Experience in the higher education sector

Attributes and Behaviours

• Able to carry out demanding tasks, often in extremes of weather
• Willingness to carry out paid overtime on occasion to meet business need i.e. special events or times of peak demand
• Willingness to attend internal and externally provided courses and apply the knowledge gained at these courses
• Plans workload and tasks in a systematic way to ensure time is used effectively
• Uses initiative to solve problems
• Sees other departments and colleagues as ‘customers’ and follows through on their enquires and requests delivering high quality results in a timely manner
• Willing to help others, share workloads and get involved with team tasks
• The post holder needs to be personable and a good communicator of both written and in person channels of communication

Qualifications

• Full clean driving licence
• Level 3 qualification in relevant subject
• NPTC PA1 and PA6
• NPTC PA2

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silverAthena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC. We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.