General Operative

General Operative (Groundworks & Drainage repairs)

Do you take pride in supporting high-quality drainage and groundwork repairs that improve people's homes and communities?

Are you confident working independently while also contributing as part of a wider team?

Do you enjoy providing excellent customer service when working in and around residents' homes?

Are you hardworking, practical, and able to complete tasks safely, efficiently, and to a high standard?

We are a busy Housing service, responsible for repairing and maintaining homes across the city. This role plays a vital part in ensuring residents live in safe, healthy, and well-maintained properties by supporting the delivery of high-quality drainage, groundwork, and external repair works, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction and value for money.

You will support our Groundworks and Drainage teams in delivering essential repairs and maintenance to council homes and communal areas across the city. Working alongside skilled operatives, you will assist with a wide range of drainage and external repair works, from investigating blockages and repairing drainage systems to reinstating pathways, concrete, and landscaping following repairs.

You will also be expected to communicate effectively with residents, colleagues, and planning teams, keep accurate records of work completed, and manage materials, tools, and vehicle stock responsibly.

Contract type: This role is permanent

There is full information about the role below and attached but, if you would like an informal discussion, please contact Josh Lee on 07785 432256 or email josh.lee@brighton-hove.gov.uk

About the role

In this role, you will support the delivery of a wide range of drainage repairs, maintenance activities, and groundwork projects across council housing stock, helping to ensure residents live in safe, healthy, and well-maintained homes. Your work will take place within occupied and void properties, as well as external communal areas, where you will assist with drainage investigations, excavation works, repairs, and reinstatement activities. Day-to-day, you will travel between jobs, assess work requirements on arrival, and work alongside colleagues to deliver quality repairs and maintenance services.

You will work both independently and as part of a wider team, collaborating with specialist operatives, contractors, and support teams to provide an efficient and responsive service. This includes communicating clearly with residents, keeping them informed about work taking place, and always maintaining a professional and respectful approach when working in and around people's homes. You will also complete risk assessments, maintain accurate records of completed works, manage materials and vehicle stock, and follow all health and safety procedures.

The role includes supporting drainage investigations and repairs, assisting with excavation works to access underground drainage systems, repairing gully surrounds and inspection chambers, clearing blocked drains, and carrying out reinstatement works including concrete, paving, pathways, and hard landscaping. You will also undertake general labouring duties including loading and unloading materials, transporting tools and equipment, preparing work areas, and maintaining safe and organised sites.

We are looking for someone with experience in groundworks, drainage, housing maintenance, construction, or a similar environment. You will bring a good understanding of safe digging practices, and health and safety procedures, together with the ability to carry out physically demanding work in a variety of environments and weather conditions. You should be comfortable using hand and power tools, able to record information using electronic systems, and capable of working both independently and as part of a team. Strong communication skills are essential, as you will be working with a diverse range of residents and colleagues and will often need to adapt your approach to meet different needs.

We are committed to creating an inclusive service that meets the needs of our diverse communities. You will play an important role in delivering services fairly and respectfully, recognising that every resident's circumstances are different. Our teams actively review how we work to ensure we are accessible and responsive to all, and we encourage feedback from residents to continuously improve our services. We foster a supportive and inclusive working environment where everyone feels valued and able to contribute.

In return, we offer a competitive salary, a council vehicle and fuel provided for business use only, generous annual leave entitlement, and membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). You will also have access to ongoing training and development opportunities, full PPE and equipment, and opportunities to develop specialist skills in drainage and groundworks. Working for the council provides a strong sense of purpose, as your work has a direct and meaningful impact on the quality of residents' homes, neighbourhoods, and communities across the city.

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).

Why work for us?
As a council, we want to:
• be connected
• be confident
• be innovative and creative
• be diverse and inclusive
• be healthy and psychologically safe
For more information about our values and the benefits of working at the council, visit Why work for us which gives details of our wellbeing support, our benefits including leave and pensions as well as details of our training and development.

How to apply
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 provide your education and career history and answer some application/shortlisting questions. Your answers to the application/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 Shortlisting questions guidance (brighton-hove.gov.uk) as this gives important advice which will increase your chance of success in the shortlisting process.

AI advice for candidates
We are interested in hearing about your experience and skills in your own words. While we value people who know how to use AI, we ask that you minimise using it in your application.

We are keen to hear how your experience and skills align to our values and the skills and experience needed to perform well in our roles with clear real examples from you. To support you in this, we have guidance on using the STAR model which can help you ensure you are telling us your whole story. We also provide clarity on the skills we are looking for in our adverts and in the job description/person specification attached to each job advert.

All the applications we receive are read by at least two hiring managers and we do not use AI in this process. Our experience of reading applications is that those that have heavily used AI contain generic paragraphs that are strikingly similar to other applicants’ responses. This makes it extremely difficult to differentiate between applications, and doesn't give us enough evidence of your individual skills. There is a risk that we will therefore not be able to shortlist you. Instead, we recommend you ensure your application stands out by presenting clear examples of your actual skills and experiences in your own words.

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is term-time only. For part time applicants, where your working week is less than the council’s basic 37 hour week, contracted overtime rated pay will not form part of your working hours. This is because overtime rated pay is payable for hours worked more than the council’s basic 37 hour week. Your starting salary will be pro rata based on the basic annual salary elements of pay between £28,153 to £28,608.

Please note that this post is subject to a Basic Disclosure Criminal Records Check.

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.