Gardener / Grounds Person

About the role

The University of Queensland is looking for a Gardener / Grounds Person for its St Lucia Campus. The role sits within the Grounds team and involves caring for the landscaped gardens, lawns and outdoor spaces across more than 100 hectares of campus, including established gardens, heritage landscapes, sporting areas and contemporary campus spaces. You will take responsibility for a designated area of campus, with a mix of tasks such as turf maintenance, garden care, irrigation repairs and landscaping.

Key responsibilities

• Maintain gardens, lawns, pathways and surrounding areas to a high standard through mowing, edging, brush cutting, weeding, fertilising, watering, pruning and general grounds care.
• Restore and enhance outdoor spaces by repairing turf, aerating and top dressing lawns, controlling pests, refurbishing gardens and landscaping around new and existing buildings.
• Install, replace and repair irrigation components, drainage, mulch, tree guards and other landscape infrastructure.
• Maintain a safe work environment by caring for grounds maintenance equipment, completing required records, contributing to risk assessments and following safe operating procedures.

Required profile

• Qualifications and training equivalent to a Certificate III in Horticulture, or an equivalent combination of relevant experience and education or training.
• Substantial experience in maintenance gardening, with a genuine interest in plant identification, plant health and landscape presentation.
• Practical experience maintaining, fault-finding and repairing grounds maintenance equipment.
• Ability to work safely and productively with minimal supervision and to contribute positively to a collaborative team.
• Strong communication skills and sound judgement and professionalism.
• Unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of the appointment; employer-sponsored work rights are not available.

Required skills

• Current open Queensland driver's licence.
• Current commercial operator's licence for chemical application, with knowledge of equipment calibration and the safe application of chemicals.

What we offer

• Base salary in the range $70,319 to $77,400 plus 17% superannuation (HEW Level 3).
• Up to 26 weeks paid parental and primary care leave, 17.5% leave loading, flexible start and finish times where operationally suitable, and a condensed fortnight.
• Purchased leave, health and wellbeing programs, a Study for Staff program, on-campus childcare, affordable parking and salary packaging.

Applications close on Sunday 8 November at 11:00pm AEST. Applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter through the university's Talent Acquisition team, stating the job reference number in the subject line.