Maintenance Technician General Grounds

This position is responsible to perform maintenance of the grounds, ensuring an attractive and safe grounds area/s for the public, faculty and staff. This position is responsible for up keeping lawns, trees, shrubs, flowerbeds, athletic fields, and other landscaping elements of Saint Martin's Abbey and Saint Martin's University. The work in this position involves the use of large and small equipment, including tractors, mowers, loaders, trenchers, chainsaws, weed-eaters, and other maintenance equipment. This position performs routine do semi-skilled grounds construction and maintenance work.

Saint Martin's University is more than just a place of learning-it's a welcoming community where students, faculty, and staff come together with purpose and heart. Founded in 1895 by the Benedictine monks of Saint Martin's Abbey, we are grounded in the timeless Benedictine values of community, hospitality, and balance. These values, combined with a Saint Martin's liberal arts education, shape our approach to education and daily life, encouraging students to think deeply, act with compassion, and serve with purpose.

As part of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, we honor the integration of faith and reason, the dignity of every person, and a shared responsibility for the common good. Our mission is to form graduates who are not only intellectually curious and ethically grounded, but also deeply committed to building a more just and equitable world. At Saint Martin's, we care about the whole person.

Our supportive campus culture is built to help students thrive-academically, personally, and professionally. We pay special attention to the needs of those who have been historically underserved, and we work intentionally to create an inclusive, respectful, and compassionate environment for all.

We warmly invite mission-driven individuals to join our community-not just to work here, but to be part of something meaningful. Together, we educate students who go on to make a positive difference in their lives, their communities, and the world.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS & RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential Functions & Responsibilities - Essential functions, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act, may include any of the following representative duties, knowledge, and skills. This list is ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY, and is not a comprehensive listing of all functions and duties performed by incumbents of this position. Employees are required to be in attendance and prepared to begin work at their assigned work location on the specified days and hours. Factors such as regular attendance at the job are not routinely listed in job descriptions, but are an essential function. Essential duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following.

Groundskeeper

• Cut lawns, using power mower. Trim and edge around walks, flower beds, and walls, using clippers, weed cutters, and edging tools. Prune shrubs and trees to shape and to improve growth or remove damaged leaves, branches, or twigs, using shears, pruners, or a chainsaw. Clean equipment using appropriate materials.
• Plant grass, flowers, trees, and shrubs, using shovels, hose or sprinkler system.
• Rake and bag leaves. Clean grounds and removes litter. Clean equipment using appropriate materials.
• Spray lawn, shrubs and trees with fertilizer, herbicide, and insecticide using sprayer.
• Drive truck and load fallen limbs and roadside trash onto truck, and delivers refuse to landfill.
• Returns all equipment to the designated location at the maintenance facility and cleans the maintenance areas.

Grounds maintenance

• Operate snow removal equipment to maintain streets, sidewalks, and driveways. Spread salt on public passageways to prevent ice buildup.
• Cleans out drainage ditches and culverts, using shovel and rake. Performs ground maintenance duties, using tractor equipped with attachments, such as movers, lime or fertilizer spreaders, lawn roller, and snow removal equipment.
• Sharpen tools, such as weed cutters, edging tools, and shears, using sharpener. Make minor repairs on equipment, such as lawn mowers, spreaders, and snow removal equipment, using hand tools and power tools. Replace worn or damaged parts, such as hoses, wiring, and belts in machines and equipment, such as vehicles, riding mowers, etc.

Other duties

• May makes minor repairs to fences, gates, garden walls, and walks, using carpentry and masonry tools. May assist in the painting of fences and outbuildings. May assist in the repair of streets and sidewalks with asphalt, cold patching materials, and concrete, using shovel, hand roller, trowel, level, and long-handled tamp.
• Reports observed maintenance needs to lead/senior groundskeepers and/or director, facilities management. Makes log entries as required in preventative maintenance logs.
• May assists in the maintenance of building plumbing and electrical systems, including the replacement of worn or defective parts, such as switches and fuses.
• May operate machinery to dig trenches for water and sewer pipe.
• May set up or removes folding tables, chairs, barricades, traffic cones or similar objects.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

COMPETENCIES

• Ability to read and understand basic operating and maintenance manuals, simple instructions and short memos. Ability to keep and maintain accurate written records and time sheets.
• Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to members of the campus community and the general public.
• Operate power-driven machinery and hand tools in a safe manner. Demonstrates safe, efficient mechanical operation of tractors and other motorized equipment.
• Knowledge of fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides used in grounds care and gardening. Demonstrates knowledge of horticulture to ensure the successful growth of plants, trees and shrubbery.
• Knowledge of methods and materials used construction/maintenance work.
• Knowledge of the principles of operation of diesel and gasoline engines.
• Mechanical aptitude; knowledge of maintenance tools.
• Maintains awareness of proper safety precautions at all times.
• Constantly observes condition of property and immediately reports and/or initiates action to correct unsafe conditions. Maintains safety of self, personal protective equipment and clothing at all times.
• Positively motivates student workers.
• Communicate effectively with staff, faculty, students and management with the ability to work well with other people of diverse background.
• Must be able to work well in a stressful environment with little or no supervision.
• Demonstrate strong multicultural knowledge, awareness, and skills needed to perform the tasks of promoting diversity and social justice.
• Knowledge of best practices related to supporting diverse student population, including students of color, students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, first generation students, students with disabilities, and other historically marginalized identities.
• Is supportive of a Catholic, Benedictine philosophy of education and able to articulate and support the University's mission statement.

REQUIREMENTS AND/OR CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• High school diploma or GED.
• Two years prior experience in lawn care and landscaping. Grounds maintenance training, horticultural and arborist training preferred.
• Pesticide handler training preferred. Must obtain WADA Pesticide Applicators License within twelve (12) months of employment.
• Possession of a valid standard Driver's License with no major violations.
• Successfully pass a background check.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Work is performed outdoors. Physical demands include:

• Physical strength, stamina and agility.
• Ability to follow oral and written directions.
• Works with cleaning fluids, chemicals, pesticides, and insecticides, paints, cleaning agents or similar solutions using only normal protective equipment.
• Coordinates the movement of more than one limb simultaneously (Example: operating the clutch and accelerator on a car).
• Moves debris, dirt or other material from one place to another using a shovel, spade or other tool.
• Operates power driven machinery such as a lawn mower, vacuum sweeper, buffer or other similarly sized equipment.
• Must wear appropriate safety gear/apparel as directed and abide by the University, state (WISHA), federal (OSHA) safety policies and procedures.
• Moves objects (50-75 pounds) long distances (more than 20 feet).
• Ability to be mobile campus wide for appropriate business needs.
• Operates a variety of standard office equipment requiring continuous or repetitive arm-hand movements.
• Reading, writing, speaking, hearing, standing, bending, sitting.
• Lifts arm above shoulder level (Examples: painting, stocking shelves, or working on the underside of vehicles).
• Bends or stoops repeatedly or continually over time (Example: reading a water meter).
• Walks over rough, uneven, or rocky surfaces.
• Works in a variety of weather conditions with exposure to the elements.