Join our compassionate team as a Bereavement Services Grounds Operative with Cheltenham Borough Council, where you'll play a vital role in creating peaceful, well-maintained spaces for reflection and remembrance, while making a real difference to our community.
Location: Bouncers Lane Cemetery & Crematorium, Cheltenham, GL52 5JT. Occasional work at other sites will be required
Salary: £26,824 to £28,142 per annum
Job Type: Full Time, Permanent
Working Hours: 37 per week
Closing Date: Tuesday 25th November 2025
Come and work for an award-winning organisation!
We are an ambitious and forward-thinking council. We are committed to making Cheltenham a better place to live and work, enabling communities and businesses to thrive whilst protecting what is good about our town.
We aim to be an employer of choice where everyone is treated fairly and feels valued and respected. We aim to provide a stimulating and rewarding working environment that encourages our people to work together, provides opportunities for them to reach their full potential and achieve a healthy work/life balance.
Working at Cheltenham Borough Council means working as part of a committed, professional, and friendly team.
Bereavement Services Grounds Operative - The Role:
We currently have an excellent opportunity for the right person to join our Bereavement Services grounds team. If working outside in all weathers, while completing a wide variety of physical tasks is what you find rewarding, we would love to hear from you.
From maintaining memorial gardens to supporting funerals with respect and care, you’ll be part of a service that works hard to deliver high standards to the bereaved.
Bereavement Services Grounds Operative - Key Responsibilities:
- All grass care, maintenance and landscaping works
- The planting and maintenance of trees, hedges, shrubs, annual bedding schemes the general maintenance and upkeep of all cemeteries under management of Bereavement Services
- The sweeping of hard surfaces, the removal of any moss/weeds, clearance of leaves/litter, removal of old floral tributes and the emptying of litter bins
- To carry out memorial safety checks within all sites, making safe as required
- To fix /remove all memorials, tablets and plaques, making repairs to kerbing as required
- To carry out all aspects of grave digging duties
- To prepare chapels for funerals and attend to each service’s requirements such as playing recorded music if needed using the AV equipment
Bereavement Services Grounds Operative – You:
- Must be a proactive team member with a positive attitude and customer focussed approach to service delivery
- Ability to undertake all grass care and grounds maintenance operations
- Ability to communicate with the bereaved in a calm, polite and sympathetic matter
- Ability to undertake physical manual activities e.g. grave-digging, grounds maintenance and hard landscaping works and able to undertake heavy manual works on a daily basis
- Ability to meet and liaise with ministers, organists, mourners and all other visitors to the Cemetery & Crematorium
- Ability to maintain a high-quality service and be an ambassador showcasing the values of the authority
Bereavement Services Grounds Operative- Benefits:
- An excellent pension scheme. You will be eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
- A generous holiday entitlement of 26 days (pro rata) rising to 31 days (pro rata) after five years (excluding Bank Holidays)
- A flexible and agile working environment. We aim to provide opportunities to work from home or elsewhere and offer flexibility in working hours
- A comprehensive programme of learning and development
- Two days (pro rata) paid time off for volunteering
- Enhanced maternity and paternity schemes
- Access to free counselling services
- Upon successful completion of your probation period, you will then have access to our Healthcare Cashback Plan
- A cycle to work scheme
- Low-cost town centre parking
- A commitment to employee wellbeing
Closing date: Tuesday 25th November 2025
To submit your application for this exciting Bereavement Services Grounds Operative opportunity, please click on ‘Apply’ now