Waste, Recycling and Street Scene Officer

• Job_description_-_Waste__Recycling_and_Street_Scene_Officer_-_Feb_2026
• Employee_profile_-_Waste__Recycling_and_Street_Scene_Officer

Please visit our website to apply using our online application form

Working hours: 37.5 hours per week (banking 30 minutes per week towards the shut down between Christmas and New Year)

Are you passionate about delivering excellent customer service, supporting your community, and helping to keep our town clean, safe and sustainable? Harlow Council is seeking a proactive, organised and community‑focused Waste, Recycling and Street Scene Officer to join our Environment Client Team.

In this varied and rewarding role, you will be the first point of contact for residents and businesses on all waste, recycling and street scene enquiries. You’ll carry out inspections, support key environmental projects, keep essential records up to date, and help ensure that our services run smoothly and efficiently.

What you’ll be doing

You will play a vital part in supporting waste, recycling and street scene services by:

• Handling enquiries, complaints and service requests from residents in person, by phone and through digital channels.
• Maintaining accurate manual and digital records, spreadsheets, logs and case files.
• Supporting the team with proactive tasks including visits, inspections, data entry and technical admin work.
• Giving advice to residents and businesses on the waste hierarchy, recycling and waste reduction.
• Visiting properties and communal areas to check compliance, gather information and support problem‑solving.
• Working with partners, contractors and internal services to resolve issues and improve service delivery.
• Contributing to projects, promotional activities and community engagement initiatives.
• Supporting the administration of licensing applications and specialist services such as assisted collections and clinical waste collections.

What we’re looking for

Skills and Experience

We’re seeking someone who is comfortable working both independently, using your own initiative, and as part of a busy team. You will also be organised and accurate with your work, with excellent IT skills. You will have administrative experience, ideally in a front‑line service environment, and be able to prioritise your workload and meet deadlines.

You will also have experience of dealing with challenging or distressed customers and diffusing difficult situations, remaining calm under pressure.

You will also have a full UK driving licence and have access to a vehicle or other suitable transport.

Why join Harlow Council?

You’ll be part of a friendly, supportive team making a real difference to the community. You’ll have opportunities to develop new skills, work on meaningful environmental projects, and contribute to improving the town’s waste and street scene services.

We offer an excellent benefits package including dynamic working, flexitime scheme, pension scheme, generous annual leave entitlement, health and wellbeing initiatives, employee assistance programme, development opportunities, and employee benefits scheme.

For an informal discussion about this post, please contact Jon Grundy on 01279 446857 or Michael Taylor-Wells on 01279 446108.

Harlow Council is committed to equal opportunities and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. We offer flexibility with purpose through our Dynamic Working approach. While office-based work is the norm, most full-time employees attend the workplace at least three days a week (pro rata).

We also support a range of flexible arrangements to help balance work and personal life. Our excellent benefits include the Local Government pension scheme, generous annual leave, wellbeing initiatives, and development opportunities.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we guarantee an interview to disabled candidates who meet the Essential Criteria on the Employee Profile.