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Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: Scale 5£32,535 -£34,488

Contract Type: Full time - Permanent

Working hours per week: 36 Hours

Application Deadline: 13/08/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): TBC

Reference: 2192

About Us:

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

About the role:

The role involves maintaining cemetery grounds, crematorium surroundings, and associated buildings to a consistently high standard. This includes ensuring that all external and internal areas are kept safe, functional, clean, and well-presented for visitors, mourners, and staff.
Key responsibilities include the upkeep of lawns, graves, pathways, memorial areas, and landscaped features, as well as the routine inspection and maintenance of buildings, infrastructure, and site equipment. The post-holder will ensure that all areas are free from hazards, compliant with health and safety standards, and accessible to the public.

Working collaboratively with wider site staff, suppliers, and local stakeholders, the Grounds Person will contribute to the smooth day-to-day running of the crematorium. Flexibility will be required, with duties adapting to seasonal changes, special events, and the evolving needs of the business.

We are a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

To undertake the maintenance of the cemetery grounds and its surrounds including grass cutting, hedge trimming, planting, pruning, seeding, turfing, ground levelling, leaf clearance and weed control.

To operate, clean and maintain a wide range of plant equipment and vehicles including mechanical diggers, dumpers, mowers etc in compliance with manufacturers’ recommendations

To respectfully scatter or inter, cremated remains and assisting families with the interment of contained cremated remains in shallow graves.

To uphold and comply with the statutory provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any other associated legislation.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Experience of grounds maintenance in a professional context.

Ability to cope/deal with trauma.

Sympathetic to bereaved persons.

Numerate & literate.

Ability to undertake practical tasks

Experience or prepared to be trained in checking vehicles & machinery and basic maintenance

Experience or prepared to be trained driving digger/dumper/ride on mowers with commitment to completing relevant COTS/LANTRA Excavator & Dumper courses

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory DBS check;
• Suitable driver’s license;
• As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.

How to Apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Ian Sheppard Head Of Parks and Open Spaces at Ian.Sheppard@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

Fraud Awareness Notice
The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).

We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.

If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.

If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk