Gardener in Sheffield

This role is for you if you:

• Love working outdoors in all seasons
• Take pride in making parks, gardens and public spaces look their best
• Care about Sheffield’s communities and the people who use our green spaces
• Enjoy practical, hands-on work and being part of a busy team
• Have a good eye for detail and a positive, can-do approach
• Want a varied role where your work makes a visible difference every day

About the Role

As a Gardener, you’ll help care for, maintain and improve Sheffield’s parks, gardens, open spaces and public realm. This is a hands-on role at the heart of our communities, where the work you do can be seen and enjoyed by residents, visitors and families across the city. From grass cutting, planting and pruning to sports pitch maintenance, shrub bed care and keeping sites clean, safe and welcoming, you’ll play an important part in making Sheffield’s green spaces places people are proud of.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Carrying out a wide range of gardening, horticultural and grounds maintenance tasks across Sheffield.
• Maintaining grass, shrub beds, hedges, planted areas, sports pitches, paths and other outdoor spaces to a high standard.
• Using hand tools, powered equipment and grounds maintenance machinery safely and responsibly.
• Helping to keep parks and public spaces clean, tidy, attractive and safe for everyone to enjoy.
• Supporting seasonal work such as planting, leaf clearance, pruning, watering, edging and preparation of beds and borders.
• Working positively with colleagues, supervisors, volunteers and members of the public.
• Following safe systems of work and helping the service deliver reliable, high-quality grounds maintenance across the city.

What We’re Looking For

• Practical experience of gardening, horticulture, landscaping, grounds maintenance or similar outdoor work.
• A good understanding of safe working practices, particularly when using tools, machinery and equipment.
• The ability to work well as part of a team and follow instructions, while also using your initiative when needed.
• A positive attitude, reliability and pride in doing a good job.
• Good communication skills and a respectful, helpful approach when dealing with colleagues and members of the public.
• Commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
• A full clean driving licence is essential for the post.

Our Values

We’re looking for someone who shares our values:

• People are at the heart of what we do
• We believe in openness and honesty
• Together we get things done

Why Join Us?

• Make a real, visible difference to Sheffield’s parks, gardens and neighbourhood green spaces.
• Join a friendly, practical and supportive service that takes pride in the city.
• Enjoy a varied outdoor role where the work changes with the seasons.
• Build your horticultural and grounds maintenance skills through experience, training and teamwork.
• Be part of a service that helps make Sheffield cleaner, greener, safer and more welcoming.

Sheffield City Council is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and values a workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome applications from all backgrounds and will support reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process.

Further information on this post can be obtained by contacting:

E-mail – dave.rice@sheffield.gov.uk

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.