Team Leader - Rapid Response Crew

About the job
Salary: £26,409 - £28,624 a year
Hours per week: 37
Contract type: Permanent

Are you passionate about greenspace and ready to take the next step in your career? Luton Council's Parks and Countryside Service is looking for a dedicated and experienced Team Leader to join our new rapid response crew and help us to respond to varied maintenance requests across our parks, streets and wildlife site portfolio to keep our community's green space tidy, well managed and beautiful!

As a Team Leader in our Rapid Response Crew you will be responsible for leading a team of employees engaged in a wide range of grounds maintenance tasks across amenity horticulture, sports fields, housing amenity areas and on some of the town's wildlife sites . Work will involve shrub pruning, hedge cutting, some minor tree maintenance tasks such as removing stakes and trimming branches overhanging paths and dealing with litter. This is a role where you will be able to use your expertise to schedule and prioritise work to ensure that the service meets with our customer requirements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Maintenance: Demonstrable experience in undertaking grounds maintenance/aminty horticulture duties within a greenspace sector environment.
• Machinery : Experience in using a wide range of machinery and tools, including grass-cutting machinery.
• Team Leadership: Ability to lead and motivate a team, challenge poor performance, and influence positive changes.
• Communication: Good communication skills, able to interact with the public/customers in a polite and helpful manner.
• Organisation Skills: Demonstrable organisation skills, able to prioritise work and react to changing work demands at short notice.
• Accuracy: Ability to accurately record information and log sheets.
• Health & Safety: A strong understanding of the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974
• Pesticides Certification: Must hold or be successful in obtaining a pesticide spraying certificate within the probation period.
• Physical Capability: Able to walk across often uneven ground while undertaking duties.
• Driving License: Full valid driving license to transport employees and equipment and operate associated vehicles and machinery.

About you
To be successful in this role you must meet the below criteria.

• Experience: Demonstrable experience in a grounds maintenance/greenspace sector and in a supervisory role.
• Basic Literacy Skills: Ability to follow verbal and written instructions.
• Discrimination Awareness: Some understanding of the effects of discrimination in service delivery and on the people, you are working with.

Why Join Luton Council?

• Impactful Work: Make a positive impact on the local environment and community.
• Supportive Environment: Work within a supportive team dedicated to excellence.
• Career Growth: Opportunities for professional growth and development.

Ready to lead our Rapid Response Team and make a difference in our community? Apply now .

Luton Council is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
About us
Our ambitious Luton 2040 Vision - that no-one in Luton will have to live in poverty - is at the heart of everything we do. We recognise that our people are remarkable, talented, committed and passionate about serving our residents.

The people of Luton depend heavily on this council - and that means our workforce! Are you ready to realise the remarkable and help us deliver our vision?
Application Process
Because of the nature of this job, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare all unspent cautions and convictions; and also any adult cautions (simple or conditional), and spent convictions that are not protected as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020). A person's criminal record will not in itself prevent a person from being appointed to this post. Applicants will not be refused posts because of offences which are not relevant to, and do not place them at or make them a risk in, the role for which they are applying. However in the event of the employment being taken up, any failure to disclose such offence, as detailed above, will result in dismissal or disciplinary action by the Authority.
Benefits
We offer a range of excellent staff benefits which include:

- From 25 to 32 days' annual leave: linked to length of service and grade
- Buying annual leave scheme: buy up to 20 days additional annual leave
- Career Pathways: step up in your career or move into a specialist area
- Pension scheme: with generous employer contributions of up to 20.2 per cent (at July 2023) and 3x salary death in service grant
- Generous relocation package: up to £8,000 (subject to eligibility)
- Employee Assistance Programme: a free, 24/7 confidential counselling and wellbeing support service available to all employees, their partner or spouse and dependent children over 16 still living at home
- Work/life balance: flexible working options including working from home where possible. We welcome requests for flexible working arrangements including part-time hours and alternative working patterns
- Training and support: unlimited access to development courses, mentoring and support and clear career pathways
- Staff offers: includes discounts on your MOT, gym and fitness, restaurants and salons
- Arriva Travel Club: great value savings on local bus travel