Senior Gardener

Connect Housing Association Ltd.; Dewsbury; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 29,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company vehicle provided for work use

Up to 9% employer matched pension

BUPA Health Cash Plan

Employee Assistance Programme

MyPlace benefits

Travel season ticket loans

Job summary

Connect Housing Association Ltd. is seeking a Senior Gardener to lead hands-on gardening across multiple estates and support the Gardening Team daily. You will plan, assign tasks, and ensure high standards of maintenance while mentoring apprentices and coordinating with residents and contractors.

The role requires practical gardening skills, a proactive attitude, excellent communication, and a strong commitment to safety and reliability for outdoor work year-round across West Yorkshire.

Qualifications

• Takes pride in delivering high-quality grounds maintenance services.
• Enjoys supporting and encouraging others to perform at their best.
• Has a practical, positive and proactive approach to work.
• Communicates well and builds positive relationships with residents, colleagues and contractors.
• Is organised, reliable and committed to working safely.
• Is comfortable working outdoors in all seasons.
• Can travel to locations across West Yorkshire.

Responsibilities

• Carrying out a full range of gardening and grounds maintenance duties, including mowing, planting, pruning and seasonal works.
• Organising and allocating daily tasks across the Gardening Team.
• Supporting and mentoring colleagues and apprentices, helping them develop their skills and confidence.
• Monitoring quality standards and ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently and to agreed timescales.
• Building positive relationships with residents and responding to gardening-related enquiries.
• Maintaining tools, machinery, vehicles and equipment, ensuring all checks and records are completed.
• Supporting wider Landlord and Property Services activities when required.

Skills

Grounds maintenance

Mentoring

Communication

Organised

Safety aware

Outdoors all year

Travel across West Yorkshire

Job description

Do you take pride in creating attractive outdoor spaces and enjoy helping others get the best from their work?

We're looking for a Senior Gardener to play a key role in maintaining and improving the outdoor environments across our neighbourhoods.

This is a hands‑on role where you'll combine your gardening expertise with day‑to‑day support for the Gardening Team, helping to ensure our estates remain safe, welcoming and well cared for for residents.

If you enjoy variety, working outdoors, sharing your knowledge with others and seeing the results of your work every day, we'd love to hear from you.

What you'll be doing

As a Senior Gardener, you'll spend most of your time out on site, helping to keep our estates looking their best while supporting the day‑to‑day coordination of the team.

Key responsibilities include:

• Carrying out a full range of gardening and grounds maintenance duties, including mowing, planting, pruning and seasonal works.
• Organising and allocating daily tasks across the Gardening Team.
• Supporting and mentoring colleagues and apprentices, helping them develop their skills and confidence.
• Monitoring quality standards and ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently and to agreed timescales.
• Building positive relationships with residents and responding to gardening‑related enquiries.
• Maintaining tools, machinery, vehicles and equipment, ensuring all checks and records are completed.
• Supporting wider Landlord and Property Services activities when required.

A typical day in the life of a Senior Gardener

No two days are the same.

You might start the morning by meeting with the team, planning the day's work and allocating jobs across different sites. From there, you'll head out to carry out a mix of practical gardening tasks, from maintaining communal green spaces and planting seasonal displays to tackling larger improvement projects.

Along the way, you could be:

• Showing a new colleague how to safely use equipment.
• Carrying out site inspections and identifying areas for improvement.
• Talking with residents about gardening requests or estate enhancements.
• Working with contractors and colleagues to resolve issues quickly.
• Delivering a toolbox talk or sharing good practice with the team.
• Checking machinery and arranging repairs when needed.
• Supporting larger projects to improve the appearance and environment of our neighbourhoods.

By the end of the day, you'll see the difference you've made through cleaner, greener and more welcoming outdoor spaces for our residents and communities.

What we're looking for

• Takes pride in delivering high-quality grounds maintenance services.
• Enjoys supporting and encouraging others to perform at their best.
• Has a practical, positive and proactive approach to work.
• Communicates well and builds positive relationships with residents, colleagues and contractors.
• Is organised, reliable and committed to working safely.
• Is comfortable working outdoors in all seasons.
• Can travel to locations across West Yorkshire.

At Connect, you'll be part of a team that makes a genuine difference to the places people call home. You'll have the opportunity to use your skills, share your experience with others and help create outdoor spaces that residents can be proud of.

• Company vehicle provided for work use
• Up to 9% employer matched pension
• BUPA Health Cash Plan. Get cash back for your dental, optical, podiatry treatment and much more, including cash back on your prescriptions.
• Employee Assistance Programme: get free confidential advice and support 24/7, with free counselling sessions available too.
• MyPlace benefits: retail discounts and offers ongoing training and development and support with role-related professional subscriptions and qualifications
• Travel season ticket loans

As an equal opportunities employer we recruit based on experience, attitude and values. Connect are committed to ensuring our workforce reflects the communities we serve and actively works to promote equality, diversity and inclusion.

We encourage applicants from underrepresented groups to apply. We are proudly a Disability Confident employer. We are happy to support you with any reasonable adjustments that you might need throughout the recruitment process.

A basic DBS check will be carried out on the successful candidate.