Green & Clean Operative

Portsmouth City Council; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 24,000; Full time

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council is hiring for a dual grounds maintenance and cleaning role. You will perform gardening and cleaning tasks year-round, including mowing, weed control, hedge trimming, and seasonal planting to enhance Portsmouth’s appearance.

You will work across sites such as high-rise blocks, sheltered schemes, playparks, and carparks. The role is physical and may involve stairs, lifting and using a range of tools, with full training and potential qualification opportunities.

Qualifications

• Motivated, hard-working and conscientious.
• Team-player with good self-awareness and collaboration skills.
• Confident, calm and diplomatic in challenging situations.
• Able to communicate in English at ease with customers and colleagues.
• Flexible to move between teams and sites on short notice.
• Full UK driving license.

Responsibilities

• Carry out gardening and cleaning throughout the year in all weathers.
• Grounds maintenance tasks: weed spraying, grass mowing, hedge trimming, etc.
• Complete seasonal planting projects to improve the city’s appearance.
• Carry out cleaning tasks at sites including high-rise blocks, sheltered schemes, playparks and carparks.
• Use and maintain gardening and cleaning equipment; training and qualifications may be provided.
• Demonstrate health and safety awareness and promote safe methods of work.

Skills

Motivated

Hard-working

Conscientious

Team player

English speaking

Good listener

Flexible

Time management

Honest

Driving license

Safety aware

Job description

This is a dual grounds maintenance and cleaning role. The balance of duties will change according to business needs, and you will be expected to carry out both types of work as required. This will involve:

• Carrying out gardening and internal and external cleaning throughout the year working in all weathers.
• Grounds maintenance such as weed spraying, grass mowing, hedge trimming etc.
• Completing seasonal planting projects to improve the appearance of our city.
• Carrying out cleaning tasks at various sites including high-rise blocks, sheltered schemes, playparks, and carparks.
• This is a physical role involving using stairs, emptying full bins, and manoeuvring cleaning and gardening equipment.
• Potentially carrying out specialist cleaning tasks, such as steaming, jet-washing, and buffing in addition to normal daily activities.
• Carrying out landscaping jobs including clearing overgrown areas.
• Using equipment such as strimmer's, pedestrian mowers, hedge cutters, ride-on mowers, and hand tools correctly
• Carrying out regular care and maintenance of all gardening tools; full training, including the potential to gain qualifications, will be provided.
• Demonstrating a good understanding of Health & Safety practices and being able to demonstrate safe methods of work when cleaning which promotes the health and safety of yourself and others.
• Dealing with customer feedback which will involve speaking to residents as well as reporting bulky items, communal repairs, and anti-social behaviour issues to the relevant departments.

Skills

You need:

• To be a motivated, hard-working, and conscientious individual who can use initiative when necessary and take pride in the work.
• To be a team-player with good self-awareness, supporting others in meeting the Green & Clean purpose.
• To be a confident and calm person who can be diplomatic in challenging situations.
• To be able to make good decisions, take responsibility for actions and learn from any mistakes made.
• To have the ability to converse at ease with customers and colleagues in accurate spoken English.
• To be able to communicate effectively and be a good listener.
• To be flexible and able to adapt to changing work situations as you may need to move between different team and sites, sometimes at short notice.
• To have good timekeeping as you may be a key holder; as well as the ability to prioritise tasks and carry out your workload in an organised and methodical way.
• To be an honest person with a positive attitude and good work ethic.
• A full UK driving license.