Grounds Technician

Reed College is looking for a Grounds Technician to join our Facilities team to provide important maintenance of our beautiful campus. The Grounds Technician performs preventative and basic maintenance and repair of College grounds including lawns, irrigation systems, equipment, plant and paved areas and natural areas of campus. 

Reed College offers an exceptional benefits package, including comprehensive and low-cost medical and dental insurance for you, and a 60% discount on medical and dental insurance for your dependents, 403(b) retirement plan with 10% employer contribution (after one year of service), educational assistance for employees and their children, 22 days of paid vacation, paid holidays, and many other campus amenities. This is a full-time, non-exempt, 40 hour/week role with typical work hours of 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. , M-F, with a one half-hour unpaid lunch. 

The starting pay for this position starts at $21.25/hour. This position is represented by Teamsters Local Union No. 305.

Who You Are

• You are interested and able to spend your workday engaged in physical work and in a variety of weather conditions.
• You think that working with plants, turf, trees, shrubs and flowers is satisfying. 
• You are comfortable using and maintaining hand tools, power tools, tractors, sweepers and other equipment used in landscape maintenance.
• Safety is essential and you take precautions to make sure the area around you is safe. 
• You enjoy being part of a team but you are also able to work independently to meet your assigned goals.
• You like working in a diverse environment and you enjoy interacting with people who have different backgrounds than you.
• You enjoy learning about, maintaining, troubleshooting in-ground irrigation systems
• You are a strong listener and can follow verbal and written instruction. 
• You are able to establish and maintain effective working relationships with college staff, students and the general public.
• You are interested in obtaining and maintaining an Oregon Pesticide Applicators License (paid for by the college if hired).
• Take pride in and enjoy a clean, orderly work environment.

What You'll Do

• Utilize tractors, riding mowers, blowers, sweepers and other power equipment to maintain campus grounds
• Maintain and rejuvenate landscape providing improvements to beds, turf, trees and hardscape
• Provide maintenance and control of invasive plants  using an IPM process
• Work with student employees, including assigning them work in order to assist in completion of tasks
• Plant, cultivate and maintain turf areas, shrubs, perennial plants and trees using gardening implements and power operated equipment; repair established lawns and turf areas as needed
• Maintain hard surfaces on college property including roads, parking lots and sidewalks
• Remove litter from campus including leaves, branches, and trash
• Support a variety of campus facilities needs including clearing of ice and snow as needed
• Ensure proper hydration of lawns, trees, and plants
• Maintain sidewalks, driveways, parking lots and other features; performs general cleaning and snow removal
• Performs aeration, thatching and overseeing of established turf areas. Prepares and applies fertilizers, herbicides, or insecticides to grass, shrub, or trees, by spraying or spreading in accordance with active pesticide license.
• Perform regular and seasonal maintenance and repairs on irrigation systems including any necessary winterizing procedures

Minimum Qualifications

• 6 months of landscape, grounds maintenance, or relevant work experience.
• Holder of an active applicators license or the ability to acquire within 6 months of hire