Gardener

Guidant Global is recruiting for Gardeners on behalf of their client, to carry our grounds maintenance and horticultural operations throughout the Brighton and Hove area. This position starts on Monday 30th September and requires your commitment for 37 hours per week, for 2 to 3 months.

Purpose of the role:

• Undertake grounds maintenance and horticultural operations to a high standard whilst adhering to all quality and Health & Safety requirements. Work will be predominantly focused in public parks, outdoor sports grounds, school grounds, landscaped areas and other public open spaces, using a wide range of horticultural tools, equipment and vehicles.

Responsibilities of the role:

• Identify the most common horticultural pests and diseases and take appropriate remedial action
• Be appropriately qualified to carry out chemical pest and weed control
• Work alone, under minimum supervision or as part of a team to carry out a full range of grounds maintenance and horticultural operations in order to contribute to the enhancement of the city environment and provide customer satisfaction for visitors and users of the outdoor facilities
• Apply your plant knowledge to effectively undertake advanced horticultural operations that include seasonal pruning, soil bed preparation, planting (trees, herbaceous and bedding plants) and grass turfing
• Carry out routine maintenance of all sports surfaces to ensure the readiness of facilities for public use, to include fertilising, scarifying, aeration, marking out and over marking, sweeping, erecting / dismantling and maintenance of apparatus
• Operate a range of horticultural machinery, including specialist machines e.g. cylinder mowers, rotovators, scarifiers, turf-lifters, over-seeders, motorised sprayers, and to undertake checks and basic maintenance to ensure their safe operation
• Driving, of vehicles and other ride-on horticultural machinery, e.g. transit vans, tractors, ride-on mowers
• Carry out vehicle pre-use checks, accurately filling in the check-book, and reporting defects to the Team Leader and Fleet Workshop Fitter
• Identify hazards and take remedial action, and report hazard to Team Leader
• Carry out basic hard landscaping works e.g. small scale concreting and slab laying
• Carry out daily, visual playground checks for apparatus damage and/or hazardous debris and complete reports to ensure that they are maintained in accordance with agreed standards. Carry out basic maintenance to sand/bark pits and hard surfaces within playgrounds.
• Effectively assist more senior staff with advanced activities when situation demands
• Take due care of your own health and safety and that of others
• Other duties as reasonably required
• Working effectively to ensure productivity is maximised
• Providing a positive customer experience including a professional, helpful approach with service users and all other internal and external customers, exhibiting a professional appearance and attitude, displaying BHCC uniform or carrying ID cards when attending to works, maintaining condition of vehicles, driving and parking courteously
• Attend and actively participate in all meetings and training sessions as required
• Working well as part of a team, linking with and supporting other colleagues, teams or contractors to ensure successful completions of works

Certification and/or experience ideally required:

• NVQ Level 2 certificate in horticulture, or equivalent qualification, or a comparable level of experience within the industry
• Good knowledge of Health and Safety in relation to grounds maintenance and amenity horticulture
• NPTC PA1 & PA6A Spraying Certificate
• Safe Use of Ride-On Mowers LANTRA Certificate
• Safety Awareness Training Certificate

Please note that the role of Gardener is a physically demanding role, requiring manual handling, load lifting and some excavation work. The role will involve using noisy and vibrating machinery. You will be required to work outdoors in all weather conditions.

Guidant Global is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.