Gardener Team Leader

Job introduction

• Are you keen to have a positive impact on the future of urban parks and green spaces?
• Are you a natural leader with a focus on efficiency and driven to achieve quality standards?
• Does the combination of working both indoors and outdoors appeal to you?

This is an exciting opportunity for dynamic individuals with initiative to experience working in the parks department of a vibrant, diverse and iconic city.

We are seeking natural team leaders who are dedicated about improving green spaces within an urban environment to be key players within the Cityparks department. The right candidates will have a tenacious motivation to embrace their role, excellent communication, competent IT skills and the ability to lead and support amenity gardening teams. Their roles will require real drive to enhance the quality of green spaces in Brighton & Hove.

Contract: permanent, full-time

Interview date: TBA

For an informal discussion, email cityparks@brighton-hove.gov.uk and leave a message for an Operations Manager to contact you.

To Apply: as part of your application, you will need to answer some branching questions. To help you, some guidance has been attached to the advert below.

About the role

We are seeking dynamic, highly organised and efficient amenity horticulture team leaders who can demonstrate the following qualities:

• Extensive experience of leading and training a team in the amenity horticulture sector to carry out a diverse range of operations in green open spaces to a high standard: maintaining highway verges, sports grounds, fine turf facilities, planted areas, heritage squares and parkland.
• The ability to prioritize varied and demanding workload to specific deadlines and frequencies planning effectively and motivating staff to ensure targets are met.
• A conscientious approach to personal health and safety and that of colleagues and the public in the workplace, ensuring that all Health and Safety legislation, risk assessments and safe systems of work are followed.
• Extensive knowledge of horticultural machinery and equipment to ensure staff are always operating equipment safely and correctly.
• A proven competency using IT management systems to both capture data to monitor and review staff performance and maintain training and H&S records.
• The ability to communicate effectively with colleagues, elected representatives, contractors, stakeholder groups and members of the public.

Please read our Apply for a job at the council pages carefully. They give you all the guidance you need to complete your application as well as information on what will happen after you’ve submitted your application and at interview.

As part of your application, you will need to complete your education and work history and provide answers to some shortlisting questions. Your answers to the shortlisting questions are the most important part of your application as they will be used in the shortlisting process to assess whether you meet the essential requirements for the role that are set out in the person specification and to decide whether you should be offered an interview. Before you start your application, please read our guidance here Shortlisting questions guidance as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is less than 37 hours or term-time only.

We are a workplace that supports flexibility and employee wellbeing in the way we work whilst providing the best service for our customers. Team and service working arrangements are designed to support both employee work life balance and team collaboration. These would be part of your individual working arrangements alongside any personal preference agreed with your manager in advance of joining. Your contractual location will be the designated council office for your team and travel to and from your contractual location would be at your own expense.

For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us

Company information

Encouraging a diverse workforce

Our city is known and loved for its diversity. Not only is the mixture of people, culture and skills vital to the economic and social development of the city, it's what makes Brighton & Hove such a great place to live, work and visit. We are committed to developing and retaining a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities we serve so we welcome applications from individuals from all backgrounds. In order to achieve our aims of proportionate representation, we particularly encourage applicants from a BME or White Other background as well as those who identify as disabled, male or trans.

Find out more about our commitment to being a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone can achieve their potential by reading about our fair and inclusive actions, our anti-racism strategy and the work we are doing to encourage a diverse workforce (brighton-hove.gov.uk).