Senior Gardener

Kirklees Council; Kirklees; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 30,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous annual leave

Friendly supportive team

Ongoing training and careerDevelopment

Excellent pension scheme

Flexible working policies

Job summary

Kirklees Council’s Parks and Greenspaces Team is seeking a Senior Gardener to maintain and improve green spaces across the district. You will work with a team on recreation grounds, parks, housing areas and schools, and may supervise staff.

You should have horticultural maintenance skills, ride-on mower experience, driving licence, relevant qualifications, and be prepared for a DBS check and flexible, weatherproof work.

Qualifications

• Experience in a similar role with knowledge of Health and Safety requirements.
• Ability to communicate positively with members of the public.
• NVQ Level 3 in horticulture or equivalent qualification.
• FEPA Pesticides Application 1 and 6a qualifications.
• Full UK driving licence and ability to pass Kirklees Drivers Assessment.
• Willingness to undertake enhanced DBS check.

Responsibilities

• Maintain general green spaces such as recreation grounds, housing areas, parks and schools.
• Prepare winter sports pitches, fine turf and horticultural planting areas.
• Supervise a team of staff and organise workloads to meet deadlines.
• Motivate a team and communicate with customers, colleagues and stakeholders.
• Interpret site plans and work safely with equipment in all weather.

Skills

Experience in similar role

Horticultural/landscape maintenance

Ride-on mower operation

Full UK driving licence

Interpret site plans

Health and safety awareness

Willingness to undergo DBS check

Education

NVQ Level 3 in horticulture

FEPA Pesticides Application 1 & 6a

Driving licence categories C & E (Driver CPC) or willingness to train

Job description

If you love the outdoors, whatever the weather, and would take pride in making improvements to the Kirklees environment then we would like to hear from you.

The Team

We are the Parks and Greenspaces Team and it's our job to maintain the parks and recreation fields, crematoria and green and urban spaces around homes across the district.

Our Gardeners are the public face of the team in the community so we're looking for helpful, positive and friendly people to join us in our work to keep Kirklees clean, safe and accessible for all members of our community.

The Role: Senior Gardener

As a Senior gardener you will be part of a team undertaking a broad range of horticultural and landscape maintenance operations within a geographical area. You may also be required to supervise a team of staff.

Your team will undertake general maintenance of green spaces, such as recreation grounds, housing areas, public parks and schools, including the maintenance and preparation of winter sports pitches, fine turf and areas of horticultural interest such as shrub beds, herbaceous planting and annual bedding.

We are looking for people who can work with a minimum of supervision, organising their own and team workloads to meet deadlines and who have the skills to motivate a team, are reliable and won't let their team down.

You will be able to build and maintain effective working relationships and communicate effectively with customers, colleagues and stakeholders using a variety of media.

This is a physically demanding role, so you need to be fit enough to work with the equipment safely, bend, lift, work at heights and walk for considerable periods in all weathers – if a job needs doing the team do it regardless of the weather conditions!

Requirements for this job:

• Experience of working in a similar role, knowledge of the Health and Safety requirements applicable to this type of work and the ability to communicate positively with members of the public.

• Ability to carry out a broad range of horticultural/landscape maintenance operations.

• Recent experience of ride on lawn mowers and associated machinery.

• Hold a full UK driving licence in order to drive appropriate vehicles and have the ability to pass the Kirklees Drivers Assessment. Also, ideally hold categories C & E on a driving licence with driver CPC or a willingness to undertake training to achieve this.

• NVQ Level 3 within horticulture or equivalent qualification, or willingness to undertake training relevant to the post.

• Food and Environmental and Protection Act (FEPA) Pesticides Application 1 and 6a qualifications.

• Ability to interpret and implement site plans.

• Willingness to undertake an enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check. Please note that a conviction may not exclude candidates from appointment but will be considered as part of the recruitment process.

You will be contracted to work on any 5 days out of 7 days (Monday to Sunday).

For a full list of the role requirements please see the attached Job Profile.

What can we offer?

• Generous annual leave entitlement

• Friendly and supportive team environment

• Ongoing training and career development

• Excellent pension scheme

• A range of family friendly policies, including flexible working