Parks Officer - Southwark Council : Job Details

What does a Parks Officer do at Southwark Council?

This is an important role, supporting the maintenance, development and improvement of our green spaces which are highly valued and at the heart of our communities. The Parks Officers for the North helps to ensure that Southwark Park, Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park and 56 other satellite parks and open spaces.

Key priorities include:

Monitoring of the grounds maintenance contract for the North area to ensure a high standard of maintenance: working in partnership with other council teams and contractors who manage trees and other environmental assets; working with cross council teams to respond to the climate emergency; driving further improvement across the service; and helping to keep Southwark at the forefront of London’s green space provision.

The role will require significant energy and enthusiasm; you will have the ambition to ensure that our parks and green services remain vibrant, enticing, and outstanding.

About Southwark:

We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities.?Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.

With 30 Green Flags, an excellent team and an extensive investment programme there has never been a better time to seize the opportunity to work in this award winning service. With its vibrant, energetic feel, Southwark is a very attractive place to work if you relish the opportunities and challenges of managing award-winning green space services in a fast-paced, dynamic, inner city setting.

About You:

Do you share Southwark’s passion for providing top quality green spaces and commitment to caring for the environment and tackling the climate emergency? Do you have the skills and experience to help shape our services so they make a meaningful impact on the quality of our residents’ lives? Are you excited about the potential that these services offer, and are you driven to work together as a team to build on great practice to deliver something outstanding?

We are looking for a dedicated and energetic individual to support the management of our green space provision in the north of the borough and to help us protect and shape our services for future generations. We want someone who has the drive to build on what’s good and to have the ambition to help to make it even better.

We are looking for someone who has operational knowledge of parks and practical experience of supporting service improvement in a customer-focused environment. Ideally, you will hold a recognized horticultural qualification, with experience in some of the following services areas – parks operations and contract management, horticulture, tree services, ecology and how all of these can contribute to tackling the climate emergency.

Additional details

- This is a full-time, permanent post

- 36 hours Monday to Friday

- The post holder may be required to work outside of normal working hours to meet theneeds of the service

- The post holder may be required to work in other operational areas to meet the needsof the service.

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Nicola Cheetham on .

Benefits and more information:

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

https://minisites/southwark-council/life-at-southwark-benefits-and- more/

Recruitment timetable

Closing date for applications – 19 Feb

Interview date – 5 March

*Please note, we reserve the right to close applications prior to the closing date indicated above - please apply as soon as possible - we look forward to receiving your application.

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

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Attachments

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