Burials Officer (Cemeteries) - 2 posts

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

As a Burials Officer, you will play a vital role in delivering compassionate, respectful, and lawfully compliant bereavement services, specifically in relation to carrying out burials. You will be responsible for the operational and statutory management of burial services across our cemeteries and crematoria, ensuring that every burial is conducted with dignity, precision, and cultural sensitivity. This role demands a balance of administrative accuracy, physical capability, and emotional intelligence as you oversee the ceremonial service and graveside burial. 

Main Responsibilities

• Act as a key holder for the cemetery gates, chapels & office spaces, responsible for opening and closing procedures for offices, crematoria, chapels and cemetery gates where applicable. 
•  Be familiar with, adhere to and lead by example in relation to the current and any subsequent BCP Council Cemetery Rules and Regulations. 
• Maintain grave registers and ensure compliance with cemetery layout and grave space allocations.
•  Organise and carry grave selections and appointments with bereaved families in a sensitive and timely manner. 
• Manage grave allocations and mapping using both internal archive records and Plotbox software. 
• Ensure compliance with the Local Authorities’ Cemeteries Order 1977 (LACO 1977). 
• Conduct 10-day and 6-month post-burial grave checks & update grave registers accordingly. 
• Undertake both machine and hand-dug graves for full body, cremated remains and exhumations. 
•  Prepare graves for burial, liaising with families, funeral directors, stonemasons and internal colleagues to ensure accuracy and a seamless service on the day of the funeral. 
•  Oversee burial services in person, including operating the bespoke music systems in place, currently Obitus. 
•  Work in conjunction with the Cemeteries and Grounds Maintenance Supervisor, supporting best practice for the service industry standards and customer service. 
• Carrying out ground’s maintenance works where necessary, including grass cutting, tree works, pathway clearing. 
•  Support chapel operations and cremation services when required, including Obitus music system operation. 
•  Provide weekend cover for burials, scatterings, and sanctum vault appointments with prior arrangement, where required.
•  Supervise both baby and adult burials with the utmost care and sensitivity. 
•  Supervise exhumations with the utmost care and sensitivity inline with MOJ or Faculty Licence. 
•  Issue available graves in line with LACO 1977 and bereavement procedures, ensuring accuracy and cross-referencing records.
• Mark out grave spaces in preparation for burial, in a methodical, accurate manner in line with LACO 1977 and bereavement procedures. 
•  Physically able to lower coffins using webbing, ensuring safe and respectful handling of the coffin/shroud burial inline with Health & Safety & Safe Operating Procedures. 
•  Undertake all necessary industry approved training in accordance, but not limited to, ICCM, Gold Charter for the Bereaved and APSE. 
• Conduct property searches in support of Public Health Funerals & undertake industry approved training, in line with the Public Health Funeral (Control of Disease) Act, 1984. 
• Apply BRAMM/NAMM standards for memorial safety and topple testing. 
•  Perform health and safety checks and route planning for burial services, prior to, during and after the burial has taken place. 
•  Liaise with the funeral director prior to burial to confirm arrangements inline with Health and Safety procedures. 
•  Report and assist in managing anti-social behaviour within cemetery grounds. 
•  Update burial registers on bespoke diary system daily in a methodical, accurate manner. 
• Handle public enquiries, customer calls, and complaints with empathy and professionalism always. 
•  Liaise with multi-faith groups and demonstrate awareness of diverse religious practices, with respect and dignity always. 
•  Support in providing team inductions, familiarisation tours and team development for both Burials Officers and the wider Bereavement Team, including but not limited to Crematorium Technicians and Technical Support Officers, where required. 
•  Support the Bereavement Technical Support Team in maintaining statutory burial registers and public-facing services, including assisting with public walk ins and phone calls to the Bereavement Offices. 
• Hold and manage fuel cards for operational rounds. 
• Travel across the conurbation to facilitate burials and site inspections, with use of own vehicle and/or BCP vehicle. 
•  Maintain first aid certification and respond to incidents as required. 
•  Ensure accurate accident and incident reporting in line with internal procedures. 
• Operate in accordance with COTS (Cemetery Operatives Training Scheme) and Health and Safety protocols. 
• First Aid Trained, responding to any accidents/incidents/near misses in a calm and professional manner. 

The Ideal Candidate

• Compassionate and respectful approach to bereavement care (Essential) 
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team (Essential) 
• Cultural and religious awareness and understanding, being sensitive to diverse requests and handling enquiries. (Essential) 
•  Strong organisational and record-keeping skills. (Essential) 
• Experience working with IT systems such as Windows 10, web applications and excel. (Essential) 
• Able to handle confidential and sensitive information appropriately and maintain confidentiality throughout, in line with GDPR (Essential) 
• Able to communicate confidently in the English language both written and orally and present information clearly and concisely. (Essential) 
• Able to cover ‘call out’ duty on a rostered basis as and when needed to cover immediate religious burial requirements. (Essential). 
• To always be of smart appearance with wearing of assigned BCP Bereavement Care uniform/workwear supplied (Essential) • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (Essential) 
• Physically capable of performing manual handling duties (Essential) 
• Full Clean UK Driving Licence with ability to travel across conurbation where necessary, when use of BCP vehicle is unavailable. (Essential) 
• Possess a high level of resilience, emotional stability and maturity. (Essential) 
• Experience with Plotbox or similar cemetery management systems (Desirable) 
• Calm under pressure, particularly during high-demand periods. (Essential) 
• Skilled in conflict resolution and family liaison (Desirable) 
• Passionate about continuous improvement in Bereavement Care (Essential)

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website.

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils. 

We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward.  If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.