Ground Maintenance Operative

Overview

Buckinghamshire Council’s Street Scene Team delivers street cleansing and grounds maintenance services across Aylesbury Vale and is currently recruiting for skilled and experienced Grounds Maintenance Operatives.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

About the role

The Street Scene team, covering Aylesbury Vale, is looking for front-line staff who are committed to providing high quality services and are able to help deliver our future plans.

Grounds maintenance services are focused on providing quality and safe green spaces to local communities. Having a number of Green Flag status parks, we work closely with our Council colleagues to deliver the operational services in line with park management plans.

If you enjoy working outside, have an eye for detail, take pride in your work and the local area, then this could be just the job for you!

You will be responsible for providing front line grounds maintenance services. You will be reliable, have a ‘can do’ attitude and a commitment to working safely.  There are excellent training opportunities available, and the Council are committed to supporting continuous personal development.

All personal protective equipment and clothing will be provided. Working mainly independently, you will deliver a range of street cleansing duties, including:

• Grass cutting
• Shrub bed maintenance, both within formal and informal areas.
• Hedge cutting
• Weed management
• Operating, maintaining and cleaning grounds maintenance and horticultural equipment, including hand tools, strimmers, hedge-cutters, pedestrian and ride on mowers, and any other machinery required to undertake allocated tasks
• Compliance with all relevant legislation and in particular the control of Vibration at Works Regulations 2005 and PUWER Regulations 1998
• Maintaining and preparing sports pitches, i.e. grass cutting, line marking and erecting sports equipment when required
• Maintaining artificial sports pitches
• Horticultural operations such as planting, pruning and maintenance of trees, shrubs and other tasks as required 

The work is outdoors all year round, and work will take place in all weather conditions.

Fixed

As a ‘fixed’ worker, you’ll spend most of your time in the same location, which will likely be a fixed office or location where your role is performed. Typically, you’ll be based in the same location as the rest of your team, because you provide a particular service from that fixed location or need access to information there.

About you

You are required to have grounds maintenance experience, including use of relevant machinery and equipment such as ride on mowers, and hand operated equipment. Experience of working on a Local Authority contract, or in house service, is advantageous.

You should have good communication skills; be able to apply initiative to your work; follow instructions; and be a fast learner and a good team player.

A Horticultural qualification such as NVQ Amenity Horticulture (or equivalent), Pesticide (PA1 and PA6) or any horticultural LANTRA or NPTC qualifications would be advantageous.

A full UK driving license is essential.

Other information

Average 40 hours per week (seasonal variances)

Winter hours – 07:30 – 15:00

Summer hours – 07:30 – 17:00

Benefits / Training Opportunities

A well as secure, long-term employment, Buckinghamshire Council provides a wealth of benefits:

• Local Government Pension scheme
• 25 days annual leave + 8 bank holidays. Annual leave rises to 30 days with 5 years continuous local government employment
• Discounts on local restaurants, gyms, leisure facilities, eye tests, childcare, MOT’s and more
• Car loan scheme
• Overtime readily available
• A highly competitive salary

Technical training opportunities include:

• PA1 & PA6 (Chemical spraying qualification)
• Road traffic management
• Risk assessment training
• Manual handling training
• Emergency first aid at work
• Forestry first aid
• Applicable LANTRA / NPTC courses

For further information regarding the role please contact Street Scene Operations Manager Tomas Crowford – 01296 585117 or via email [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Our Communities directorate works across the county to deliver a number of the key customer-facing services that our residents, businesses and visitors rely on every day. 

This directorate includes a wide range of services, including:

• collecting and disposing of waste and recycling
• maintaining our roads and Rights of Way network and parking
• ensuring the delivery of school transport, and supporting sustainable travel including public bus services and School Crossing Patrollers
• managing Country Parks
• leisure facilities, museums, theatres and libraries, as well as developing our Cultural Strategy
• Licensing, Environmental Health and Trading Standards
• Cemeteries and Crematoria

The customer is central to how we develop and deliver all of these services, which help promote our rich and vibrant culture and special environment. 

We are looking for enthusiastic, ambitious and committed individuals to join our team and help us to continue to make Buckinghamshire a great place to live, work and visit. This is an exciting time for us as we bring together the services previously run by five separate councils before Buckinghamshire Council was created. Whilst making major changes to contracts affecting residents across Bucks, we continue to focus on delivering great customer service. You will join us on our journey of continuous improvement - whether that’s through developing strategies and ways of working or delivering services on the ground, every person in Communities is a valued member of the team.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/