Grounds Maintenance Team Leader

One of the UK’s leading providers of housing, care and community services, Sanctuary Group employs around 13,000 people and manages more than 100,000 units of accommodation throughout England and Scotland, including general rented, retirement living, supported housing, student and key worker accommodation and care homes. Sanctuary also provides a range of other services including maintenance, care and telecare, all of which are delivered by our dedicated employees who are completely committed to customer service.

Grounds Maintenance Team Leader

Canterbury based, covering sites in the South East and Kent

£29,362

• £30,908 per year

40 hours per week – Monday to Friday – 8am to 4:30pm

We have an opportunity for a Grounds Maintenance Team Leader to join our Estates Team. As part of a team of 14, you will be working in a team of two with occasional lone working. You will be responsible for carrying out grounds maintenance, cleaning and caretaking.

This role is to provide an effective estate maintenance service and supervisory support that meets contract and customer expectations by applying appropriate horticultural practices. This will involve tasks such as but not limited too lawn maintenance (using a range of equipment including ride ons), weed control, bed and hedge maintenance, flytip collection and removal and working at height.

This role requires a UK driving licence and willingness to drive large wheelbase vehicles.

The role of Grounds

Maintenance Team Leader will include

Providing supervisory support in keeping estates well maintained and clean in accordance with appropriate horticultural practices

Providing accurate and timely information on progress and advice and ensure accurate daily work records are completed

Responding positively to complaints and breakdowns in service delivery to meet customer expectations and escalate complaints as appropriate

Ensuring tools and equipment are maintained in good condition and continue to be suitable for required tasks

Using equipment and materials in a safe manner as instructed

Carrying out all hazardous tasks such as spraying, in accordance with supplier guidelines and in a safe manner, ensuring relevant records are maintained to comply with health and safety and legal requirements

Skills and experiences

NVQ3 or equivalent in Horticulture or similar discipline

Pesticide Application Certificate PA1 – PA6 (or equivalent)

Some practical experience of operating machinery and recent experience of undertaking a similar role

Some experience in supervising others

Some experience interpreting written instruction and maintaining simple written records

This role will involve driving on company business. In order to drive a company vehicle, drivers must hold a full valid UK driving licence

About us

We provide in-house repairs and maintenance for a wide range of properties, as part of a not-for-profit organisation. We foster a diverse and inclusive culture. Our customers are at the heart of all we do, and colleagues help make a real difference to people’s lives.

Our Benefits

As part of our commitment to making Sanctuary a great place to work, where your wellbeing is of genuine importance, we have developed an attractive employment package. The package recognises your contribution, supports your physical, mental and financial health and gives you the flexibility to tailor your employee benefits by offering:

25 days annual leave plus public holidays

A pension scheme with employer contributions from Sanctuary

Life Assurance

Employee Advice Service including counselling

Cycle to Work scheme

Voluntary health plans

Employee discounts

Wellbeing support and tools

Employee recognition scheme

Staff Networks, with a shared interest in inclusion, and who provide invaluable support to colleagues

£29,362 per annum (rising to £30,908 per annum after 12 months, subject to satisfactory performance)

Closing Date

2 June 2026

If you're unsure about any details, have questions about the role or want to discuss a need for adjustments, our fantastic talent team will be happy to help you – propertyservices.rec@sanctuary.co.uk

We reserve the right depending on application numbers to close or extend the closing dates for positions; we would therefore recommend an early application.

View more detail about what it’s like to work for our organisation, and what we offer on our Sanctuary careers pages at - http://www.sanctuary.co.uk/join-our-team

Inclusion is one of our core values. Our goal is to be a diverse, inclusive organisation where our people thrive and meet our customers’ needs with fairness and empathy. We know having a range of ideas and opinions makes a difference. We encourage and welcome applications from people from diverse backgrounds to support this mission. We will make adjustments throughout your application process, in line with Sanctuary’s commitment to our Disability Confident employer status.

Proud member of the Disability Confident employer scheme

Disability Confident

About Disability Confident

A Disability Confident employer will generally offer an interview to any applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the job as defined by the employer. It is important to note that in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. For more details please go to Disability Confident.