Assistant Cemeteries Manager
Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest
Salary: SO2 £37,443 - £39,254
Contract Type: Full time Permanent
Working hours per week: 36
Application Deadline: 18/10/2024
Proposed Interview Date(s): 21st,22nd & 29th October 2024
Reference: 1475
About Us:
Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work.
We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents.
London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London's Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.
The Council's preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.
About the role:
Under the direction of the Cemeteries Manager this role is responsible for the delivery of high-quality bereavement services for the London Borough of Waltham Forest, through effective leadership and development of staff, allocation of workload, management of facilities and by creating strong professional relationships with all stakeholders.
>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<
Key Responsibilities:
1. Assist the Cemeteries Manager in the management and operation of the cemeteries to deliver a high quality and compliant service.
2. Act as duty manager as necessary.
3. Assist with the delivery of the Cemetery Rules & Regulations.
4. Management, appraisal and development of the operations and administration teams.
5. Assist the Cemeteries Manager with identifying areas for improvement to the service including efficiencies and savings.
6. Manage, motivate, and lead staff working within the cemeteries team to allow them to perform at their best.
7. Conduct appraisals, reviews and training with staff as required.
8. Assist the Cemeteries Manager with recruitment, development, and retention of staff.
9. Develop strong professional relationships with all key stakeholders, including Volunteers, Friends of Groups, Neighbourhood Officers and partners such as the Police, and other Council departments ensuring effective partnership working.
10. Act as first point of contact for any service compliments, comments, or complaints, and provide the Cemeteries Manager with the relevant updates as required.
11. Working with the Cemeteries Manager and Cemeteries Supervisor and Admin staff, ensure all documentation conforms to current legalisation, statutory guidance, and best practice.
12. Working with the Cemeteries Manager, Cemeteries Supervisor and staff, identify areas for improvement including areas for savings and efficiencies and to ensure implementation of best practice throughout Chingford Mount and Queens Road cemeteries.
13. Full understanding of the burial process, including administration, Sexton duties, laying ashes to rest and after interment memorialisation.
14. Working with the Cemeteries Manager and Supervisor to ensure interment processes and equipment are maintained to meet all the requirements of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, monitoring the repair and maintenance logged as completed by the Cemeteries Supervisor.
15. Working with the Cemeteries Manager ensure delivery of a full Planned Preventative Maintenance schedule for the complex, arranging contractors and engineers as required and in line with corporate guidance.
16. Working with the Cemeteries Manager and Cemeteries Supervisor, ensure all burial documentation conforms to current legalisation, statutory guidance, and best practice.
17. Full understanding of the burial process, including administration, grave identification, and attendance at burials within LBWF Council Cemeteries.
18. Train to undertake Memorial Safety Testing duties and supervision in Cemeteries and if required, Closed Churchyards.
19. Liaise with suppliers to obtain quotes for goods. Raise and process purchase orders as required in line with corporate policy.
20. Update pricing structures on the back-office systems when schedules of fees are approved.
21. Responsibility for ensuring that any information collected, recorded, analysed or reported whilst undertaking the duties of this post is reliable, accurate, timely and in accordance with the principles of the Council's data quality strategy.
22. Working with the Cemeteries Manager, undertake delegated duties related to ensuring Health and Safety matters on site are managed in an effective and compliant manner, ensuring the Cemeteries are safe for all visitors and staff.
23. Undertake Fire Marshal training and assist the Cemeteries Manager to ensure the Cemeteries meets all requirements of the Fire Risk Assessment.
24. Lead on projects to improve data management, planning, and running of the Cemeteries and improvements to service and delivery.
25. Assist the Cemeteries Manager with the ongoing requirement to manage Environmental issues in line with the Council's policies and procedures. To assist in planning and deliver major environmental initiatives.
26. Undertake keyholder duties, including receiving out of hours calls from the Council CCTV control room, or attending site in the event of emergencies.
27. To undertake any other duties as required by the Cemeteries Manager.
Qualifications and Requirements:
To be considered for this position, you should meet the following requirements:
- Degree or equivalent or vocational qualification in relevant subject or area.
- Maths and English Language GCSE grades A-C or equivalent.
- Evidence of Continuous Professional Development.
- ICCM accredited qualifications.
- Experience of working with Microsoft Office programs and other databases.
- Three years' experience of working in a cemetery or with the bereaved.
- A minimum of three years management and supervision.
- Experience of managing contractors.
- Experience in applying for funding grants or developer contributions.
Terms and conditions:
Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
Satisfactory declaration of interest;
As a public authority, we must ensure that members of staff in public-facing roles are able to speak fluent English. This means that they must have a command of spoken English, with confidence and accuracy, sufficient for the effective performance of their role. This requirement does not refer to any particular English language qualifications, regional or international accents, dialects, speech impediments or the tone of conversations. It does not require staff to speak only in English.
How to Apply:
Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the 'Apply' button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.
To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.
We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.
For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Tusar SenGupta, Cemeteries Manager at tusar.sengupta@walthamforest.gov.uk or 02085245030
If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.
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