Cemetery Caretaker

National Cemetery Administration; Kent (WA); On-site; USD 85,304,000 - 99,372,000; Full time

Job summary

The Cemetery Caretaker at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington performs a range of manual labor tasks requiring physical strength.

Duties include operating small tractors and riding mowers, digging graves, preparing sites, transporting caskets, tidying the grounds, and cleaning headstones and surroundings. Work schedules may include Mondays through Fridays with occasional weekends and federal holidays, with overtime as needed.

Responsibilities

• The Cemetery Caretaker performs jobs requiring manual skills and physical strength.
• Operates small tractors and riding lawn mowers; transplanting shrubs; digging graves to proper level; cutting sod; tamping and leveling dirt with tools; digging and squaring graves with pneumatic equipment, picks and shovels.
• Assists in lifting and placing caskets on lowering devices; loads/unloads materials; aligns headstones; clears debris using power equipment; weeds, mulching, fertilizing; pruning shrubs; removes snow and ice; cleans headstones.
• Overtime, weekends, and holidays may be required to meet cemetery needs; may be called back for emergency overtime; compressed/flexible schedule not available.

Job description

• Hiring Agency: National Cemetery Administration
• Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

This position is located at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington.

Key Responsibilities

The Cemetery Caretaker performs jobs requiring mainly manual skills and physical strength.

Performs a variety of tasks, such as operating small tractors and riding lawn mowers; transplanting shrubs; digging graves to the proper level; cutting and removing sod, tamping and leveling dirt using hand and power tools; digging and squaring graves using pneumatic equipment, picks and shovels; assisting in lifting and placing caskets on lowering devices; loading and unloading materials; aligning headstones; cleaning and clearing cemetery grounds of debris using power trimmers, chainsaws, axes, shovels, rakes, blowers, vacuums etc.; weeding, mulching, and applying fertilizer; pruning shrubs and low level dead branches; removing snow and ice; cleaning headstones using sprayer and hand brush; and cleaning service and administrative areas.

Work schedule: May be required to work Monday through Friday to include occasional weekends. Due to the mission of the National Cemetery, the cemetery cannot be closed for more than 2 consecutive days at any given time. Additionally, when a Federal holiday falls on a Monday or Friday, staff may be required to work on that holiday or a Saturday. All staff is required to work Memorial Day each year.

Staff will be required to work overtime, weekends and holidays when necessary to meet the needs of the cemetery. Occasionally staff may be called back to the facility to perform emergency overtime work. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available Position Description Title/PD#:Cemetery Caretaker/PD136120 -WG-06 The full performance level of this position is WG-06.

Relocation Expenses: Not Authorized Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Which agency is hiring for this position?

This position is with National Cemetery Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.

What is the salary for this position?

The posted pay range is $29.77 – $34.68/hr.

What is the application deadline?

Applications close on 2026-09-30.

How many openings are available?

There are 2 openings for this position.

Who is eligible to apply?

This position is open under the 'Fed Transition' hiring path.