Groundsperson | Vacancies | Ipswich School

Estates Team Site Manager (live in)

Full-time, permanent, mainly evenings, weekends and out of hours calls 

Ipswich School has been listed as one of the top 130 schools in the country and is one of the foremost independent schools in East Anglia.  We were established prior to 1399, moving to our present site in 1852.  The school is co-educational with pupils aged between 3 months and 18 years. 

We have a variety of buildings across a number of sites. The Senior School building on Henley Road is Grade II listed with formal grounds to the frontage. More recent additions include a state-of-the-art Music School located within the Senior School grounds, astro-turf sports pitches at our Sports Centre in Rushmere, and Anglesea Heights, a former hospital site adjacent to the Senior School, which was partially refurbished to provide boarding accommodation in 2020. 
 

The Estates Team at Ipswich School

The School benefits from a dedicated team of Estates staff who work to maintain and continually improve the School's building and grounds. 

The Estates team comprises of a grounds team, who maintain the School's gardens and sports pitches, a dedicated facilities team who support colleagues throughout the year, carry out general repairs, and work with contractors to complete building projects, and a larger cleaning team. 

The Post 

We are seeking a proactive, friendly, and technically skilled professional to act as the primary site lead and deputy to the Estates Manager during out-of-hours operations. This role is critical to the smooth running and safety of the School across all its sites.

The successful candidate must be a self-starter and highly organised, capable of working on their own initiative and making high-stakes operational decisions independently when the Estates Manager is off-site. Live-in accommodation is provided on the main Henley Road site to support the rapid-response, leadership, and effective undertaking of this role.  The role is varied and interesting and is crucial to the smooth running of the School.

Duties and Responsibilities

The main requirements of the role, which are flexible in line with the requirements of the role and the needs of the School are to:

Security

Technical Maintenance and Compliance

Events and Lettings 

Estate Appearance

Porterage

Inventory & Stock

Health & Safety

This list is not exhaustive and duties may be changed or added to as determined from time to time and will be reviewed annually.
 

Working Hours 

Important Note: due to the nature of this role, flexibility with working hours is essential and you will be expected to work the hours that are required to fully discharge the responsibilities of this ‘live-in’ role. In view of this, your working hours may be subject to change each week to meet the needs of the School. However, it is anticipated that the working hours will be spread across 6 days over a 7 day week.  A rest day will be included on any day Monday - Friday.  Monday - Friday will include predominantly evening working until 10.30pm.  In addition you should expect to work from 4.00 pm to 10.00 pm on Saturdays, and 9.00 am to 6.00 pm on Sundays. 

You will be a named keyholder and liaison person for outside organisations, such as the police, fire service and alarm companies in relation to intruders on site, alarm call-outs and other incidents involving the emergency services which may occur outside of the working hours outlined above. 

Salary and Remuneration 

You are required to reside in a school property for the proper performance of your duties. Accommodation is provided by way of a service occupancy agreement. The property comprises a three bedroomed cottage located on the school site with access onto Henley Road. The property is within a short walking distance of Christchurch Park. Council tax and utility bills are paid by the School. Personal use of heat and lighting is reportable by way of P11d each tax year. 

The remuneration package for this post totals £28,572 per annum.  The value of the accommodation offered is calculated to be in the region of £4,050 per annum so the actual salary payable will be £24,522 per annum.  This will be paid equally over twelve months each academic year.  The value of the accommodation, and salary arrangements will be reviewed annually, with the first review for this post being in September 2026.  The position is classified as a Support Staff position for pay and pension purposes.

Salaries are paid monthly in arrears on the last working day of each month by BACS.  Pay is reviewed annually on 1 September (and/or in April in line with the review of the National Living Wage).

You will be entitled to 20 working days’ paid holiday per year, plus public holidays. The holiday year runs from 1 September to 31 August. One extra day’s holiday may be taken for each completed 2 years’ of service, up to a maximum of 5 extra days.  This brings the total holiday allowance up to 25 days after 10 years’ service.  Annual Leave should be spread across the year with no more than 4 weekends to be taken off.

After 3 months’ service and/or in line with workplace pension legislation, you will be entitled to join a defined contribution pension scheme (with 10% employer contributions), and you will benefit from 3x salary death in service cover.

After 3+ years’ service with the School you will be entitled to generous fee remission. 

Uniforms are provided and should be kept clean and tidy and worn at all times.

PPE clothing is supplied and is to be worn at all times when completing hazardous works.

Staff are able to use the School swimming pool and fitness gym free of charge (in compliance with appropriate rules and regulations).

Meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are included when on duty in this role, in the main dining hall during term time only, when the kitchen is in operation.

You will have access to Smarthealth, the School’s wellbeing app for staff which offers 24/7 GP access and mental health support.  We also offer a Cycle to Work Scheme.

The School runs an appraisal scheme for its support staff to assist in the review and development of their role and you will participate in this scheme.  Any additional training requirements would be assessed as part of this process.  The school may fund the undertaking of external qualifications as appropriate.  

Closing Date And Interview Arrangements

Email

We would encourage you to download the full job description for this role from our website: https://www.ipswich.school/vacancies. Please apply using our application form. We cannot accept a CV in place of a fully completed application form for a role that involves working in a school environment.

Completed application forms should be returned by by noon on 23 March 2026 to: Director of HR, Ipswich School, 25 Henley Road, Ipswich, IP1 3SG or via email.

Candidates may be contacted or invited to interview prior to the closing date, and we may close this vacancy early if suitable candidates apply. Therefore, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. 

Please advise us of any special requirements you may have if you are called for interview. If your special requirements mean that you need to submit this application in a different format, please contact us.

We will acknowledge safe receipt of all applications, but if we have not been in touch with you further, then we regret that your application will have been unsuccessful, but we would like to thank you for your interest in this vacancy and Ipswich School.

Please Note

Ipswich School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the job, including checks with past employers and an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure and Barring Service.