Highway Steward

We are seeking a motivated and customer-focused individual to join the Local Highway Operations Service as a Highway Steward. This role involves managing county-wide safety inspections and safety response services to ensure the highway network remains safe and accessible for all users.

Through regular inspections and repairs, and by enforcing highway legislation, you become a dedicated guardian of our roads. This role is truly about embodying passionate stewardship-responsibly and proactively responding to highway matters to keep our roads safe and dependable for everyone

If you have excellent communication skills, attention to detail, and thrive in a fast-paced environment, we want to hear from you!

Salary: £31,586 to £34,314 per annum

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Location: Jobs Depot, Hickstead, West Sussex, BN6 9HD

Interview Date: week commencing Monday 30 June 2025

A typical week requires attendance to the office and site visits but working from home can be agreed when required. This is led by the needs of the service. Final arrangements to be confirmed with the successful candidate.

The role requires flexibility, you will be expected to cover other areas across the whole of the county or focus on other tasks within the role when required to ensure the efficient operation of the service and teams.

You will also need to be able to travel independently around and outside of the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

About the Job

As a Highway Steward, you will play a vital role in caring for and safeguarding the safety of our community\’s highway network, ensuring that all residents of West Sussex can travel securely and confidently.

Our work in Local Highway Operations Service and any given day can often feel quite different from the next! There will be some key responsibilities likely to feature in this role, including:

• Committed to providing a professional, customer-focused service by maintaining and ensuring the safety of the highways, addressing a variety of long- and short-term issues, and implementing practical and cost-effective solutions.
• Responding to customer enquiries and ensuring timely understanding and resolution of issues including working proactively with community groups who wish to undertake work on the highway to improve the places and spaces they live in.
• Use your own initiative when performing your responsibilities, which may involve physical activities such as conducting walking and cycling inspections. Responsibilities also include lifting manhole covers, trimming vegetation, and clearing debris from gutters and gully tops.
• Conduct inspections of the highways to assess whether a road or footpath poses safety risks and to determine the necessary repairs.
• Take responsibility for the complete query cycle: coordinate visits and inspections, follow up each visit with a formal, professional response within agreed-upon timeframes, and arrange for any necessary repairs to be completed by a contractor if required.

If you enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and relish being part of a close-knit team, supporting colleagues to deliver better outcomes for the residents of West Sussex. we want to hear from you!

Required Qualifications and Skills

• BTEC / Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) in Construction, Engineering, or a related field, or A-levels, or equivalent experience.
• A full, valid UK driving licence.
• Basic theoretical knowledge of engineering / civil construction for planning improvements and repairs to the highway, including the Highways Act and NRSWA, and other relevant pieces of legislation, including health and safety, for enforcement work.
• Proficiency in IT skills for operating a handheld data collection device, as well as expertise in all Microsoft Office applications.
• Strong customer focus with the ability to collaborate effectively within a team to deliver a high-quality Highways network and enhance the visibility and importance of Highways maintenance within the Area.
• Proven successful experience of working collaboratively as part of a team, driven by a genuine commitment to achieve objectives within agreed and necessary timescales.
• Strong problem-solving skills: able to anticipate and identify issues, develop effective solutions, make sound and pragmatic decisions, and efficiently utilise available resources such as contractors and Senior Highway Officers.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

From flexible working (where possible) to access to our Employee Assistance Programme, we aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

A laptop and mobile will be supplied if applicable to your role. You will benefit from 25 days annual leave, rising to 28 days after 5 years\’ service plus the opportunity to buy additional leave and an excellent local government pension scheme

A range of discounts give our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform.

For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Rewards and Benefits page.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is EIE01421.

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role. Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to right to work within the UK, satisfactory references, and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our application help page.

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