Grounds And Pitch Care Operative

Ad Warrior Ltd; Cirencester; Sur place; GBP 27 000 - 31 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is seeking a Grounds and Pitch Care Operative to maintain our sports grounds to the highest standards. The role is primarily outdoors, physically demanding, and requires independent work while collaborating with colleagues across the University.

You will perform mowing, marking, aeration, fertilising, scarifying, seeding and top dressing, as well as maintaining artificial playing surfaces and grounds machinery, to ensure safe, match-ready surfaces for

Qualifications

• Experience in sports turf or grounds maintenance.
• Understanding of pitch renovation and maintenance practices.
• Organised, proactive and flexible with work.

Responsabilités

• Mow, mark, aerate, fertilise, scarify, seed and top-dress pitches.
• Maintain artificial playing surfaces and related equipment.
• Keep maintenance records and safety checks up to date.
• Coordinate pitch usage with RAU Sport and users.

Connaissances

Sports turf maintenance

Pitch renovation knowledge

Organisational skills

Teamwork & collaboration

Formation

Sports turf management qualification

Description du poste

Grounds and Pitch Care Operative

Location: Cirencester

Salary: Grade 5: starting from £26,707 progressing to £31,236 per annum

Term: Full-time, permanent, 35 hours a week - some weekend work required.

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) is committed to providing an outstanding environment for learning, sport and wellbeing. As part of the University's long-term investment in its campus and sporting facilities, we are seeking a Grounds and Pitch Care Operative to help maintain and develop our sports grounds to the highest possible standards.

This is an exciting opportunity for a motivated and practical individual to play a key role in the care and development of the University's natural and artificial playing surfaces. Working throughout the seasons, the successful candidate will help ensure that our sports pitches provide a safe, high-quality experience for students, staff, visiting teams and commercial users. The role is largely outdoors, involves physically demanding work and requires confidence in working independently, while also collaborating closely with colleagues across the University.

The successful candidate will undertake a wide range of grounds maintenance activities, including mowing, marking, aeration, fertilising, scarifying, seeding and top dressing, alongside the maintenance and cleaning of artificial playing surfaces. They will also be responsible for maintaining sports equipment and grounds machinery, carrying out routine safety and condition checks, and ensuring all playing surfaces remain safe, fit for purpose and match ready.

Working with colleagues from RAU Sport, the Students' Union and external users, the postholder will help coordinate pitch usage and maintenance programmes to maximise the quality and availability of facilities throughout the year. They will maintain accurate maintenance records, contribute to effective campus-wide grounds maintenance, and ensure all work is carried out in accordance with the University's Health and Safety procedures.

We welcome applications from individuals with experience in sports turf or grounds maintenance who have a good understanding of pitch renovation and maintenance practices. Applicants should have experience of maintaining sports grounds to a high standard, be physically able to undertake the demands of the role, and demonstrate excellent organisation, initiative and a flexible approach to work. A qualification in sports turf management, spraying certificates (or progress towards obtaining them), and experience of working collaboratively with sports teams or facility users would be advantageous.

Closing date: 25 October 2026

Interviews: 06 November 2026

The RAU is an equal opportunities employer and we particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are underrepresented within the RAU at this level.