Parks Estates Manager

Bristol City Council; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 71,000 - 79,000; Full time

Job summary

Bristol City Council is recruiting a Parks Estate Manager to lead the management and maintenance of Bristol’s parks and green space estate. You will oversee grounds maintenance, tree management and the teams delivering these services city-wide.

You will drive resource planning, champion public health standards, and foster local ownership and volunteering to protect and improve green spaces for residents and visitors.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in leading operational teams and resources.
• Excellent understanding of health and safety requirements.
• Public sector experience preferred.
• Hybrid working arrangements experience a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead multiple teams and resources to deliver grounds maintenance and tree management.
• Deliver services meeting quality and safety targets for all green spaces.
• Collaborate with communities, citizens and partners to improve green spaces.
• Adapt resources to changing specifications and performance targets.

Skills

Leadership

People management

Health & safety

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Professional qualifications in environmental management or horticulture

Job description

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Job details

Job reference VAC008889 Date posted 30/09/2026 Application closing date 14/10/2026 Location Bower Ashton Depot Kennel Lodge Road Bristol BS3 2JT Salary TP1: £70,919 - £78,556 Package Flexible working hoursPension schemePaid expenses Contractual hours 37 Basis Full time Job category/type Management, Parks and Gardens Attachments Person Specification.pdf Job Description.pdf

This is a career defining opportunity to lead the management and maintenance of Bristol’s rich and diverse parks and green space estate. Receiving over 17 million visits a year the city’s 430 public parks and green spaces are an incredible resource for both residents and visitors. Our allotment and community food growing spaces cover over 220 hectares and cater for over 400 independent growers, and our dedicated teams manage over 54,000 trees across the city.

As Parks Estate Manager you will control, develop and organise multiple teams and resources to deliver sustainable, high quality and safe public parks and food growing spaces that meet public expectations on quality and safety. Working with your management team, you will deliver grounds maintenance and tree management services for all green spaces in the city, ensuring resources adapt to deliver changing specifications and performance targets.

You will work innovatively with communities, citizens and partners to maintain and improve green spaces and green space assets encouraging volunteering and local ownership.

To be successful, you will need to be a highly driven and results-focussed individual, you will be an adaptable and focused leader with excellent people skills.

You will have significant experience in leading operational teams and resources, ideally augmented by professional qualifications in environmental management or horticulture.

You will have an excellent understanding of health and safety requirements, and of the challenges and practicalities of working in the public sector.

Why Bristol City Council?

At Bristol City Council, we go that extra mile for our people; we offer a work environment which is fast moving and supportive, giving you the chance to use your skills and develop new ones within a high-profile organisation. For the majority of our roles hybrid working arrangements are available, giving teams the opportunity to work in a way that suits them, balancing service need and individual choice - mixing both home and office working.

Join us and you’ll receive an excellent rewards package including flexible working and flexitime, membership of the Local Government Pension scheme, and a generous annual leave allowance. In addition, you’ll be working in a supportive environment where you’ll have the chance to make Bristol a better place and contribute to its future.

We're a Disability Confident employer which means we value recruiting and retaining disabled people. Any job applicants who consider themselves to be disabled and meet the essential criteria in the Person Specification are guaranteed an interview. We'll make reasonable adjustments throughout the interview process and provide continued workplace support throughout your career.

For further information, please refer to the Job Description and Person Specification or alternatively, please contact Richard Fletcher [e-mail]

At Bristol City Council, we value having a workforce as diverse as the city we serve. We therefore welcome, develop and promote people from all sections of the community. Appointments will be made on merit.

The personal information section (including your name) you’ll complete as part of the application form will not be visible to hiring managers, but is used confidentially to make sure that everyone is treated fairly.