Full time / 37 Hours Per Week / Fixed Term for 24 Months

Would you like to take the first step on a rewarding career working in bereavement services? Do have an interest in working outdoors, and a caring and respectful personality?

Join us as an apprentice cemetery operative and you’ll be working across our cemeteries, helping our team to maintain over 150 acres of cemetery grounds and assisting with the preparation of graves for the 1,000 burials we undertake annually.

You’ll primarily be based at Gilroes Cemetery but may work at any of the four cemeteries in the city, and you will be expected to work outdoors in all weathers. Reporting to a Cemetery Team Manager, you will be part of a small and dedicated team based at the cemetery, with a normal starting time at 7.30am.

This is a career graded role (LG Grade 1 – Grade 4) and you’ll be supported to gain new skills and experiences on your way to becoming a fully qualified skilled cemetery operative who can undertake grave digging and exhumation duties. Progression through the career grade will be by satisfactory performance, agreed at annual appraisals and through on-going supervision and learning.

What you’ll be doing

As an apprentice cemetery operative you’ll be able to learn both on the job, and through college-based training by undertaking a NVQ Level 2 in Horticulture. The NVQ must be completed within 24 months.

Your working day will normally include a range of grounds maintenance operations such as mowing, hedge cutting, weeding, pruning and maintaining flower beds to ensure our cemeteries look their best for our visitors. You’ll also be keeping the cemeteries clean and tidy by litter picking and emptying bins.

In addition to the grounds maintenance tasks, you will assist our skilled cemetery operatives to prepare graves for burials and their subsequent aftercare.

You’ll learn how to use and maintain a wide range of hand and power tools, including a ride on mower, pedestrian mower, strimmer, hedge cutter, pesticide sprayer etc. You’ll be able to drive our fleet vehicles to enable you to work at any of our cemeteries.

During your apprenticeship you’ll attend college days to undertake learning involving both theory and practical work. You’ll need to maintain an evidence-based portfolio of work to be reviewed regularly at supervision and undertake a final assessment to pass the apprenticeship course.

What you’ll need

You’ll need to be committed to further learning and undertaking a NVQ Level 2 in Horticulture. You must have English and Maths skills to be able to undertake the apprenticeship and produce your written portfolio of evidence and complete routine paperwork.

You must have a full driving licence so that you can use all our plant and vehicles and be able to get to work and college as required. Evidence of a basic mechanical understanding and practical abilities related to maintenance activities.

You must have good communication and interpersonal skills and be able to demonstrate the tact and sensitivity required to work in a cemetery and with bereaved families.

Ideally you’ll have experience of working outdoors, being part of a team, and working in a paid or voluntary capacity with members of the public.

What we can offer you

As well as the satisfaction of helping to improve thousands of lives across Leicester, you can look forward to a work environment that encourages a healthy work/life balance. You’ll enjoy generous annual leave, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme and the option of flexible working. We’ll also give you the chance to develop your skills and expertise with a variety of training and development opportunities. In addition, you can choose from a number of flexible benefits, including discounts on city buses and trains. For an illustrative value of your benefits package, take a look at our benefits calculator.

Join us

We’re committed to recruiting a diverse and highly-talented workforce as we continue to build a council that is fitting and representative of our great city. That’s why we’ve designed our recruitment process to put you at your ease, make you feel welcome and bring the best out of you. We’ll do all we can to make our recruitment process as fair as possible. To help you with your application, take a look at the ‘our approach to recruitment’ page.

If you’d like to have a chat before applying, feel free to contact Alan Brown (Bereavement Services Manager) on 0116 454 4925 or email [email protected]

Assessment/Interviews will take place on 6th October 2023.

Location : Leicester

Closing Date :27/09/2023

HOW TO APPLY

Click Here to Submit your CV and Application on Company Website