Senior Groundskeeper

TX-HHSC-DSHS-DFPS

20h•Onsite

About The Position

Join the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and be part of a team committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of fellow Texans. At HHSC, your contributions matter, and we support you at each stage of your life and work journey. The state supported living centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile or who have behavioral problems. The centers provide campus-based direct services and supports at 13 centers located throughout the state. The Groundskeeper III, Senior Groundskeeper, performs highly complex senior-level groundskeeping work at a State Supported Living Center or State Hospital. This role involves maintaining and improving the appearance of grounds and flower beds for the facility, including mowing, weeding, fertilizing, and ensuring the effective operations of sprinkler systems. It also includes removing, planting, and trimming trees and shrubs. The Senior Groundskeeper assigns and prioritizes the work of other groundskeeping staff to accomplish daily and weekly tasks most effectively, serves as a team lead on groundskeeping projects, and maintains the schedules for routine work. The position safely and efficiently operates power- and gas-operated equipment to complete duties and trains others to use the equipment. It ensures groundskeeping tools, supplies, and equipment are well maintained and accounted for, performs minor repairs on equipment, ensures parking lots, roads, fences, and sidewalks are free from obstructions and in good repair, and minimizes the presence and impact of nuisance animals. The Senior Groundskeeper also performs some maintenance duties as needed in conjunction with maintenance staff and other duties as assigned to ensure the overall safe operations of the facility. As needed, the role involves working some weekend and/or after-hours callouts to respond to situations impacting safe facility operations. The position works under general supervision of the Maintenance Technician Supervisor or other appropriate staff, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment.

Requirements

Knowledge, skills and ability to safely fell and remove large trees in and around buildings and other infrastructures.
Knowledge, skill and ability associated with minimizing the presence of nuisance animals such as rodents, snakes and feral cats.
General knowledge of horticulture and landscape design; and the skill and ability to apply that knowledge to landscape projects.
Skill in safely operating power equipment such as mowers, power clippers, tractors, chain saws, backhoes, and/or pruning shears, and a variety of hand and power tools used in construction/repair and ability to teach/train others to safely use this equipment.
Ability to meet facility driver requirements.
Ability to speak and read English.
Ability to read, understand and apply a variety of inter-related instructions such as those found in guidelines, regulations and policies.
Ability to perform basic mathematical computations.
Ability to communicate effectively.
Ability to follow written and oral instructions.
Ability to train and lead others.
Ability to stand/walk for extended period of time.
Ability to work in hot and/or cold conditions.
Ability to work harmoniously and productively with co-workers and residents.
Ability to lift and carry 50 to 100 lbs.
Ability to withstand long periods of standing, bending and walking.
Ability to maintain and care for hand and power tools and equipment.
Ability to teach other groundskeepers to detect diseases in plants and grasses.
May require a valid driver's license.
Must possess valid Texas driver’s license or obtain it no later than 90 days after hire date.
Eligible driving record required based on HHSC Fleet Management policy.
Experience in groundskeeping work.
Applicants must pass a fingerprint criminal background check, pre-employment drug screen, and registry checks including the Client Abuse/Neglect Reporting System (CANRS), Nurse Aide, Medication Aide and Employee Misconduct and HHS List of Excluded Individuals/ Entities (LEIE).
Males between the ages of 18 – 25 must be registered with the Selective Service.
All State Supported Living Center Employees are subject to Random Drug Testing.
All applicants must be at least 18 years of age to be considered for employment at a state-operated facility.

Nice To Haves

Chemical application (herbicide) license is preferred.
Pesticide license is preferred.
Prefer nine (9) months of work experience in professional groundskeeping.
Graduation from a standard senior high school or equivalent is generally preferred.

Responsibilities

Attends work on a regular basis and may be required to work a specific shift schedule or, at times, even a rotating schedule, extended shift and/or overtime in accordance with agency leave policy and performs other duties as assigned.
May serve in an on-call status on a rotating schedule as required to meet operational needs of the facility.
Performs grounds keeping maintenance duties at the facility including mowing, trimming, fertilizing, removing and planting trees and shrubs.
Ensures the safe and effective use of gas- and power-operated tool to complete work efficiently.
Trains other staff to use tools commensurate with skill and ability.
Implements the daily, weekly and monthly scheduling of work in the grounds section/department such as schedules for treating insects around buildings, trimming of hedges, litter control, and mowing.
Assigns, prioritizes and leads the work of other groundskeepers to ensure all tasks are completed as required on a daily, weekly and monthly basis in accordance with the groundskeeping schedule.
Designates and assigns mowing and weed eating areas (zones of the campus) to other groundskeepers.
Oversees the quality of work for other groundskeepers and assists as necessary assuring proper results.
Reports any significant issues to the supervisor for handling.
Initiates and executes projects for facility beautification, such as designing and planting new flowerbeds, with the approval of the supervisor.
Ensures sprinkler systems are in working order.
Operates tractors with implements such as front end loaders and backhoes for digging out tree stumps, cleaning up debris, moving large amounts of gravel, sand, mulch and other landscaping materials, and to help dig out areas for tree planting or if there is a water line break.
Ensure roads, parking lots, and sidewalks are safe and free from debris and reports any major issues to supervisor.
Assists with conducting sidewalk surveys and documents on a plot plan as is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Intermediate Care Facilities (ICF) in an effort to reduce slips, trips and falls.
Works beyond normal duty hours during inclement weather to remove ice/snow from sidewalks, roadways, clear debris from catch basins during heavy rain, and other related duties.
Minimizes the presence and impact of nuisance animals, including snakes, rodents and feral cats.
Takes action to safely and humanely trap and remove live animals, disposes appropriately of dead animals and takes proactively measures to abate future issues.
Performs general maintenance, repairs and construction work for the facility in collaboration with maintenance staff commensurate with skills and abilities.
If the facility has a cemetery, performs cemetery duties to include maintaining grounds, setting head stones, excavating graves for funerals, setting up casket devices and tents.
Maintains burial logs, ensures proper lifetime retention of logs in a secure location with backup log on server.
Actively participating and/or serving in a supporting role to meet the agency’s obligations for disaster response and/or recovery or Continuity of Operations (COOP) activation.