Job description

Post title: Cemetery & Crematorium Operative

Service area: Environment and Regeneration

Grade: Scale 4/5/6

Reports to: Burial Supervisor and Crematorium Manager as required

Your team: Cemeteries

Number of supervisees: 0

Our ambition

We’re determined to make Islington fairer. To create a place where everyone, whatever their background, has the opportunity to reach their potential and enjoy a good quality of life.

We also have an ambitious goal – to be the best council in the country– with every employee clear about the part they play and inspired, focused and supported to give their very best.

We want to build an organisation where employees feel valued, inspired and empowered to help us achieve our goals and provide the best services possible to our residents.

Our values and behaviours

‘Be Islington’ is about setting a clear challenge about what it means to be an Islington employee and sets the standard for every new recruit.

We ask our employees to ‘Be Islington’ – playing their part in working together for a fairer borough and to always be collaborative, be ambitious, be resourceful, and be empowering (‘CARE’).

Our commitment to challenging inequality

We are committed to tackling inequality, racism and injustice and creating a fairer borough for all. In order to do this, we need to set the example by being a fair employer and creating a workplace environment, which is free from discrimination, racism and inequality. Our approach needs to be proactive, consistently learning to create a fairer workplace and foster a culture, which empowers all staff to challenge inequality.

Fairness is at the heart of what we do. We want to celebrate and embrace our differences by:

• Ensuring our workforce is representative of the people we work on behalf of, our residents
• Creating equitable working environments and diverse teams
• Understanding our residents in order to design and deliver services that help tackle inequality and improve life chances for our residents
• Getting to know people and their differences
• Interpreting issues and concerns from a cultural perspective and address situations or problems from the points-of-view of multiple cultures
• Supporting people with long-term health conditions and/or disabilities
• Recognising the value of flexible working to support staff where possible

Key responsibilities

Islington and Camden Cemetery Services are an integral part of the Public Protection

Division. The main emphasis is to provide a high quality service for the residents of Islington and Camden boroughs as well as other service users.

The post holder will be responsible for:

Burial Operations

• the preparation, readying and making good afterwards, of graves and ash plots.
• site maintenance across all cemetery grounds.

Crematorium Operations

• operating cremators and related equipment, this will include maintaining records,

data and other duties to ensure the smooth running of the crematorium.

• c.

Additionally, the post holder will be responsible on a rota basis for:

• Working outside normal hours and weekends as part of a rota according to the business

needs of ICCS. This can include grave digging, cremating, grounds maintenance and the

cemetery bus service.

Duties and Responsibilities for progression to Scale 5

ALL THE ABOVE PLUS:

• To carry out and monitor cremations and the cremation process in accordance with

the ICCM Code of Cremation Practice.

• Processing, storage and disposal of cremated remains in accordance with the ICCM

Code Cremation Practice.

• Carry out daily and weekly checks and maintenance on cremators and ancillary

equipment in accordance with manufactures schedules.

• To undertake other duties commensurate to the grade of the post.

Duties and Responsibilities for progression to Scale 6

ALL THE ABOVE PLUS EITHER;

a)    Burial Operations team

• To carry out all duties associated with the grave selection process in accordance with

ICCS standards. This includes the pre – preparation, organisation, site visit and

associated administration tasks.

• To carry out daily work planning and work allocation, to check that all relevant documentation matches and confirms instructions issued by the cemetery office.
• To monitor and direct work in progress for whichever location or locations the Burials and

Grounds Supervisor determines and to ensure burial spaces are completed to set standards.

• To carry out and maintain accurate records management.
• To contribute to the overall management by deputising for burial management when required.

OR;

b)    Crematorium Operations

• To train and mentor staff as part of the Crematorium Technicians Training Scheme under the direction of the Crematorium Manager.
• To carry out daily work planning with the relevant teams to ensure all bookings are accurate.
• To contribute to the overall management of the Crematorium by deputising and carrying out additional tasks, including liaising with manufacturer/suppliers, as required by management.
• Assume burial operation duties at least once a month.

ADDITIONAL:

• To use and assist others in the efficient and effective use of information technology

systems.

• To achieve agreed service targets and objectives, and personal appraisal targets,

as agreed by the line manager.

• To undertake training and constructively take part in meetings, supervision, seminars

and other events designed to improve communication and assist with the effective

development of the post and post holder.

• To carry out duties and responsibilities in accordance with the council’s commitment

to customer service excellence and ensure compliance with the customer care

standards.

Compliance

Ensure legal, regulatory and policy compliance under GDPR, Health and Safety and in area of your specialism identifying opportunities and risks and escalating where appropriate.

Work style

Frontline Role consisting of a 35 hour week. 8am-4pm Monday to Friday.

Flexibility required to accommodate the business needs of ICCS. Some weekend / overtime hours may be required.

Person specification

You should demonstrate on your application form how you meet the essential criteria.  Please ensure that you address each of the criteria as this will be assessed to determine your suitability for the post.

Essential criteria

Qualifications

Experience

Skills

Special requirements of the post

(Insert any special requirements of the post. Delete if this does not apply.)

Our accreditation,

Our accreditations include: the Healthy Workplace award, Timewise, London Living Wage Employer, Disability Confident Committed, The Mayor’s Good Work Standard, Stonewall Diversity Champion, and Time to Change.