Caretaker (Hudnall Park)

Job Title: Caretaker (Hudnall Park)
Starting Salary: £24,404 opportunity to progress to £24,790 pa
Hours: 37
Location: Berkhamsted - Hudnall Park
Contract Type: Permanent
Directorate: Resources

About the team

This role is essential to support our outdoor education centre, the services we provide for children & young people and our diverse grounds consisting of around 85 acres.

Hudnall Park is a beautiful site, in constant use during Spring and Summer. We are developing an ambitious strategy to increase activity at the site, with the intention of utilising it all year round. This role is important to the success of that development. The centre comprises of a number of staff including those managing the site itself and various projects; alongside a number of instructors/delivery staff.

The post holder will engage with other teams from the county council, external providers/contractors, children, young people and families on a daily basis.

The winter months are invariably quieter, with core maintenance being updated and planned during those months.

If you have the following attributes, you would be a good fit for this role:

• proactive
• have a range of practical skills
• good with people
• a great team player
• interested in supporting safe and enjoyable opportunities for children and young people.

About the role

This role is part of our core staffing and essential to the development and maintenance of Hudnall park. The post holder is responsible for the preparation and maintenance of the site to ensure the look and feel of it reaches the highest standard in readiness for site visitors. You will undertake a range of tasks including (list not exhaustive):

• Prepare the house and grounds for overnight and day activities e.g. helping with bedding being washed and bed linen changed in line with alterative group visits.
• Cleaning carpets, furniture etc.
• Ensure that all external providers on site are supported and assisted e.g. caterers, cleaners, contractors.
• Provide a friendly approach to visitors and guests on site.
• Assist with health and safety responsibilities and risk assessments.
• Maintain site to a good order, recognising when issues need action and undertaking routine repairs/decorating e.g. cleaning of windows/sills and interior glass doors and ironmongery, painting and basic decorating.
• Using on site equipment/machinery to perform initiative responsive maintenance as required and arrange for timely servicing including Polaris ATV, John Deere mower, strimmer etc.
• Regular checks on plumbing, central heating etc; raising any issues in a timely manner.
• Assist with population of maintenance schedules for centre plant in accordance with manufacturers guidance and training provided including John Deere ride on mower, Mechanical strimmer, Polaris ATV etc
• Providing 'on call' back up when required (as part of a rota system).
• Opening and closing of the site during weekend activities when required.
• Undertake any training required for performance of duties.

On site training will be provided liaising with your direct line manager

About you

Essential:

• Driving Licence
• Evidence of working with small tools/machinery
• Negotiation skills
• Proactive
• Self motivated
• Calm and organised under pressure
• Good communicator
• Team player

Desirable:

• Any Maintenance & Electrical qualifications would be beneficial.
• Attention to detail.
• Previous experience working in a children's setting.

For the right candidate, this is an interesting and rewarding role. Hudnall Park helps to improve lives for many children, young people and families in Hertfordshire and beyond and no day is the same. This can be challenging at times, so you must be ready for anything!

• HCC supports personal development.
• HCC has a strong Diversity and Inclusion policy.
• Excellent inhouse training provision.

This job role is within the Operational Sevices, level OPS4 job profile. Please locate this via:

Job profiles - Operational services

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Debbie Barker, debbiebarker@hertfordshire.gov.uk , for an informal discussion about the role.

Interview Date: to be confirmed

Benefits of working for us

How to apply

As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Driving required
You'll need to have the ability to drive and/or travel around Hertfordshire, either using your own mode of transport or a company car to travel to other locations.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required). Further information about the legal requirement can be found here.