ECR000605
Grade 6 (£28,598 to £31,022 per annum plus standby payments).Annual pay award pending.
Average 37 hours a week. Weekend working when required
Permanent
Kutton Lane Depot, Newcastle-under-Lyme
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a qualified arborist to join our arborist team.
This is a varied role in an arboriculture team looking after Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council's tree stock throughout the borough.
- The role will include tree planting, coppicing, felling, dismantles, rigging, reductions, pollarding, veteranisation, crown lifts etc and emergency call outs (on a rota basis).
- The Arboriculture team has a focus on delivering excellent service standards to tight deadlines in this essential, high-profile service area.
- The service makes a real difference to the way the Borough looks and reduces the risk associated with tree health and locations.
The arboriculture team is part of our Sustainable Environment Directorate. We are an award-winning service, regularly achieving green flag status for several of our parks and achieving gold status in Britain in Bloom
Have you a proven track record with two years minimum experience as a practicing arboriculture operative with the necessary qualifications which demonstrate your ability to undertake the role? Are you a team player who is willing and able to work as part of a team and be flexible to undertake other tasks as the service area requires? Are you an individual who has health and safety at the core of everything you do in the work-place. If so, we want to hear from you.
You must have a positive ‘can do’ attitude with a proactive solution-based approach for this varied role for where there is only room for team players. An ability to communicate clearly and accurately with operational colleagues, managers, customers is essential. The post holder is required to hold a full current valid driving licence to drive vehicles between 3,500 and 7,500kg (MAM) (with a trailer up to 750kg). Alternatively you will have the ability to gain this level of licence within 12 months of your employment commencing.
We know that services at the frontline improving the environment are changing, and that providing ‘green skills’ for staff is an investment in the future. The culture here is all about getting the best out of our team by providing a range of benefits to everyone. We expect good teamwork, and focus on being accountable, respectful of everybody and achieving our goals.
This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and, as such, appointment will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of criminal records via the Disclosure and Barring Service before the appointment is confirmed. This will include details of cautions, reprimands or final warnings, as well as convictions.
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a borough with big ambitions. We’ve already started our transformation, however, we still need to find better ways of doing things because we are determined to do the very best we can for our communities.
If our vision is to be the best, then we need the best people working for us. Our people are at the heart of what we do and have the freedom to innovate, grow and develop. We recruit people who share our vision and values; people who have the drive to deliver our ambitious council plan.
Our historic borough is a place of marked contrasts. We are the home of a world class University at Keele, a leading light known internationally for its research and sustainability record, which stands side by side with former mining communities including some which register amongst the most deprived areas in the country. Our borough is also a mixture of urban centres, affected by some of the same social issues facing our neighbouring city, Stoke-on-Trent, but also outstanding rural landscapes in our less populated villages. Our plans and priorities aim to address the needs of all our communities.
We reward our people with a competitive range of benefits including:
- access to the local government pension scheme
- minimum 24 days annual leave plus 5 extra days after 5 years' service
- flexible working options and family friendly policies
- local and national high street discounts
- wellbeing support including £12.50 per month Jubilee2 membership
- green travel scheme including cycle to work and electric car salary sacrifice
- free employee 24 hour employee assistance and counselling services, flu vaccination service and health checks
- development and training opportunities
Should you wish to have an informal discussion in relation to this opportunity contact Jen Hough, Arboriculture Manager on 717717 ext 4628
5pm on 30 August 2026.
Should we receive a large number of applications, then this post could close sooner than the date stated.
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted within two weeks of the closing date.
Anticipated week commencing 16 September 2026.
While we value diverse backgrounds and experiences, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship. Applicants must be able to prove they have the Right to Work in the U.K.
We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible for everyone. This includes making adjustments or changes for disabled people, neurodiverse people or people with long-term health conditions. If you would like us to do anything differently during the interview or assessment process please contact our People team ([email protected]).
Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council is committed to the employment and career development of disabled people, armed forces and care leavers. As such we offer an interview guarantee scheme where you meet the minimum criteria for the role. By minimum criteria we mean you must provide us with evidence in your application and supporting information which demonstrates that you generally meet the level of skills and experience defined in the person specification and as indicated by the Disability Confident symbol.
Our application form has recently been updated to make it easier to apply, please be aware that you are not able to save your application part way through so please ensure you have all information to hand.
- Make a note of the details of the post you are applying for.
- Read through the job description and person specification.
- Review our values and behaviours.
- Ensure that you have relevant job application information to hand i.e. employment details, qualifications and training, professional memberships (if applicable) and the details of two referees.
- If you have a CV you can cut and paste information easily into the form.
- The supporting information section of the application is your opportunity to share with us your key achievements and highlight any relevant experience. We’d like you to tell us; who you are, your values and strengths, why you feel you are suitable for the role and finally, your career goals.
- We’d suggest typing your supporting information firstly to a Word document and then copy and paste to the supporting information section of the online application. This way you won’t lose valuable information if the page times out.
- At the end of the form you can choose to save a copy of your application, we advise doing this.
- If you are interested in more than one role, you will need to submit a separate form for each job.
Contact our People team if you have any questions regarding the online application form or require further support ([email protected])
