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Custodial Lead

Employer
University of South Carolina
Location
Columbia
View more categoriesView less categories
Employment Type
Full Time
Institution Type
Four-Year Institution

Job Details

Logo:

Posting Number:

STA00791PO26

Job Family:

Building and Grounds Maintenance

Job Function:

Custodial Services

USC Market Title:

Custodial Lead

Link to USC Market Title:

https://uscjobs.sc.edu/titles/132113

Job Level:

A4 - Administrative/Operational Support

Business Title (Internal Title):

Custodial Lead

Campus:

Columbia

Work County:

Richland

College/Division:

Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support

Department:

SAAS Housing - Custodial Operations

State Pay Range:

G06

USC Market Range:

MRC - $41,073 $50,315 $59,556

Anticipated Hiring Range:

$41,073 - $59,556

Part/Full Time:

Full Time

Hours per Week:

40

Work Schedule:

  • Standard working schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
  • Must be willing to work a flexible schedule to meet the needs of the department.

Basis :

12 months

Job Search Category:

Trades/Maintenance

About University of South Carolina:

From the Upstate to the Lowcountry, the University of South Carolina system is transforming the lives of South Carolinians through the impact of our eight institutions and 20 locations throughout the state. More than 50,000 students are enrolled at one of eight institutions, including the research campus in Columbia and comprehensive four-year universities in Aiken, Upstate and Beaufort. In addition, our Palmetto College campuses in Salkehatchie, Union, Lancaster and Sumter enable students to earn associate or bachelor’s degrees through a combination of in-person, online or blended learning. All of our system institutions place strong emphasis on service — helping to build healthier, more educated communities in South Carolina and beyond.

Veterans' Preference Statement:

The University of South Carolina is committed to equal opportunity and proudly values the skills and experience military veterans bring to our workforce. Across South Carolina, we are making veterans a priority for employment and recognize their vital contributions to our state and our communities.

Advertised Job Summary:

Custodial Lead

  • Are you a natural leader who takes pride in maintaining safe, clean, and welcoming spaces?
  • Do you thrive in a hands-on role where no two days are the same?
  • Are you looking for an opportunity to solve problems and make a meaningful impact on the Student experience?

We have the job for you!
The Custodial Lead is a key member of the Facilities team responsible for providing leadership, advanced custodial services, and operational support during the night shift. This position performs specialized floor and carpet care, coordinates the preparation and clean-up of residence halls and university events, responds to facility emergencies, and helps ensure campus buildings remain safe, clean, and welcoming for students, faculty, staff, and visitors.In addition to performing high-level custodial duties, the Custodial Lead serves as a resource and mentor for team members by assisting with training, distributing supplies, conducting quality inspections, maintaining attendance and key records, and providing oversight in the supervisor’s absence. The ideal candidate is a dependable, customer-focused professional who takes ownership of their work, demonstrates strong leadership skills, and is committed to delivering exceptional service and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities
  • Leadership & Team Support
  • Floor & Carpet Care
  • Emergency Response
  • Quality Assurance & Customer Service

Important aspects of this job -
  • This position has been designated as essential personnel during inclement/hazardous weather and other emergencies.
  • Ability to understand and apply University and Departmental policies and procedures.
  • Ability to understand and follow instructions.
  • Ability to communicate effectively.
  • Ability to use judgment and initiative to complete routine work without constant supervision.


Why Join Our Team?

As a Custodial Lead, you’ll have the opportunity to combine hands-on facility care with leadership responsibilities in a dynamic university setting. You’ll play an essential role in supporting student success, protecting campus assets, and ensuring university facilities remain safe, clean, and welcoming for the entire campus community. If you’re passionate about quality service, teamwork, and leading by example, we encourage you to apply.
Perks:
  • Some of the BEST benefits you can find!
  • Generous paid time off
  • An engaging and collaborative on-campus environment
  • You’ll enjoy the historic beauty of the University of South Carolina campus, surrounded by amenities, so you’ll love where you work!

Job Related Minimum Required Education and Experience:

  • Typically holds a high school diploma or GED. Requires 3 or more years of job related experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Driver’s license preferred

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

  • Must have a thorough knowledge of floor care and carpet care procedures and experience in operating motorized equipment.
  • Ability to work independently and with team members. Knowledge and skills of industrial custodial duties and institutional regulations. Ability to carry out duties in a timely manner.
  • Ability to use housekeeping chemicals according to label instructions and in a safe manner, including proper disposal of chemicals. Knowledge of blood-borne pathogens and material safety data sheets.

Job Duty:

Applies total quality management/continuous improvement principles and processes by attending training and meetings; providing on the job training to new and temporary employees and retraining based on Q & A evaluations; Conducts routine building inspections and works with team to provide quality services in a timely manner; sharing information and suggesting improvements in work methods; troubleshooting problems and reporting difficulties to supervisor; communicating with faculty, staff, students, building liaisons, and campus visitors as necessary in order to keep management informed of incidents, issues, and needs; to provide a high level of customer service; and to share best practices and resolve problems with the custodial services areas. Reports work orders through FIXX. Issues, retrieves and maintains log of keys. Responsible for taking and maintaining records of attendance.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

15

Job Duty:

Responds to emergencies to include extracting water from floors and carpeted areas using wet/dry vacuums and/or carpet shampooer/extractor and blower machines, and moving furniture during flooding in order to prevent water damage. Provides a higher level of custodial work when necessary in post-construction sites, flooded or otherwise damaged buildings, when called upon for catastrophic events such as providing evacuee facilities; working at different locations as necessary to fill in for absent employees or to alleviate overload conditions; and responding to emergency weekend and/or hazardous weather plan call-backs

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

15

Job Duty:

Assists with the preparation for and clean-up of University special events, including setting up and taking down chairs and tables, egressing the location before and after the event, providing additional recycling and waste receptacles, and removing trash and recycling materials after the event.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

5

Job Duty:

Assists with fulfilling the Custodial Services mission by performing custodial duties when necessary to include, but not limited to, high and low dusting, vacuuming, washing walls, mopping and scrubbing floors, wiping down surfaces (wood, glass, plastic, Formica, tile, slate, granite, ceramic, blackboard and white board), shampooing carpets, sweeping, polishing floors and furniture, collecting and removing trash and recycled materials, and any other cleaning work necessary in activity rooms, canteens, classrooms, computer and network labs, conference rooms, elevators, entrances, halls, functions rooms, kitchens, lounges, offices, restrooms, stairways, study halls, and laundry rooms adhering to University policies and procedure, applicable standards for the specific type of location being cleaned, safety codes, and OSHA regulations and using applicable equipment and appropriate cleaning supplies in order to maintain a safe, clean, and attractive environment, and keep up the property value of the assigned buildings.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

5

Job Duty:

Perform administrative related tasks to include completing work orders and safety data sheets and incident reports as necessary to communicate needs and/or to indicate completed work assignments, accidents, equipment damage or failure, and any other relevant issues; requesting and restocking supplies and equipment from supervisor using various supply sheets and request forms to maintain adequate supplies; daily inspection of equipment to ensure safe and efficient operation of equipment; and completes/maintains accurate daily labor sheets and leave requests.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

5

Job Duty:

Performs other duties as assigned.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

5

Job Duty:

Maintains wood, ceramic tile, cement, brick, and linoleum floors by sweeping, dust mopping, damp mopping, scrubbing or stripping, finishing, waxing, and buffing by using wet and dry stripping methods, utilizing buffer machines, wet/dry vacuums, roto-washers, and extractors and maintains carpeted floors by vacuuming, bonneting, pre-treating stains, and shampooing using dry powder and extraction methods in order to maintain a safe, clean, and attractive environment and keep up the property value of the flooring in assigned buildings.

Essential Function:

Yes

Percentage of Time:

50

Safety Sensitive or Security Sensitive:

No

Hazardous weather category:

Essential

Number of Vacancies:

1

Desired Start Date:

11/01/2026

Job Open Date:

10/20/2026

Job Close Date:

11/08/2026

Open Until Filled:

No

Special Instructions to Applicant:

Positions are advertised for a minimum of five (5) business days on our job website. After five (5) business days, positions can be closed at the discretion of the department at any time. This employment site is updated on a regular basis. The length of the recruitment and screening process may vary from position to position, depending upon a variety of factors. Should review of your qualifications result in a decision to pursue your candidacy, you will be contacted by phone or email.

We are only accepting applications submitted by November 8, 2026.

The University of South Carolina offers a valuable benefits package including but not limited to:

  • Health and Life Insurance
  • Retirement Programs
  • Paid Tuition
  • Dependent Scholarships
  • Annual Leave
  • Sick Leave
  • 13 Paid Holidays (including an extended December holiday)
  • Paid Parental Leave
  • Professional Development Opportunities

Click here to learn more about why you should work at USC.

Quicklink for Posting:

https://uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/214831

EEO Statement:

The University of South Carolina does not discriminate in employment opportunities or decisions for qualified persons on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, disability, ethnicity, familial status, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, military status, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any other protected category under applicable law.

Organization

Working at University of South Carolina

With more than 200 years of history and tradition, the University of South Carolina is redefining itself for decades to come. There's never been a better time to be at South Carolina, the state's flagship university and one of only 62 public universities to receive the Carnegie Foundation's highest designation for research.

The University is located in the heart of South Carolina in the capital city of Columbia, which is the nexus of government, a thriving arts and culture center, a venue for big-time Southeastern Conference intercollegiate athletics, and a community that is reinventing itself with redevelopment projects citywide. Much of the development is tied to land along the scenic, slow-moving Congaree River. Working with government, business, and community leaders, Carolina has developed a unified plan that will allow the University to expand from its origins on the historic Horseshoe to its future-Innovista, a research and innovation district that will stretch to the banks of the Congaree.

Innovista represents a new vision for research by creating a vibrant, urban community where students and researchers, including those from private firms, will live, work, learn, and play. Innovista will represent the University's four core research areas-hydrogen fuel cells, nanoscience and technology, biomedical and public health, and the environment-but will include other initiatives and business partners that serve the knowledge economy. Innovista's first private tenant, for example, is a leader in software applications for the insurance industry and will create several hundred high-paying jobs.

By attracting similar companies and jobs-and by capitalizing on an attractive location for restaurants and residential and retail space-Innovista will help drive the economy and increase per-capita income in the city and state. Recreational space will include a world-class waterfront park along the Congaree River and a new stadium for the Gamecocks' nationally ranked baseball program. Greenway paths for biking, walking, and running already line much of the river area. Innovista's 8 million square feet will blend seamlessly with the Vista, the city's nearby entertainment district of restaurants, bars, shops, and art galleries.

Chartered in 1801, Carolina began classes in 1805 with nine students and a single building, Rutledge College. As the campus grew and buildings were added during the next 50 years, a horseshoe layout was adopted. Today, the Horseshoe is on the National Register of Historic Places, with 10 of its 11 buildings dating to the 19th century. Those renovated buildings house, among other areas, the South Carolina Honors College and Undergraduate Admissions, representing much of the University's current and future lifeblood.

In fact, incoming freshman classes have never been larger or more competitive. The freshmen from fall 2006 set records for their size (more than 3,700) and SAT scores (1171 average). Freshmen enrolling in the Honors College had average SAT scores of 1398. Members of the University's prestigious scholarship programs, Carolina Scholars for in-state students and McNair Scholars for out-of-state students, had average scores of 1449 and 1477, respectively. Total enrollment at Carolina for undergraduates and graduates is more than 27,300, with some 350 degree programs to choose from. Since 1994, Carolina students have earned more than $9.9 million in prestigious national scholarships such as the Goldwater, Truman, Rhodes, and NSF scholarships and the Fulbright Fellowships.

South Carolina's student body is diverse. In fact, Carolina was recently recognized as the state flagship university with the highest percentage of African-American student enrollment in the nation. Research by the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education shows African-American students made up 14.7 percent of enrollment in 2004, the latest year available. The JBHE also ranks Carolina eighth in the nation in percentage of African-American faculty at a state flagship university with 4.3 percent.

The University's faculty garnered a record $173.3 million in federal, state, and private funding for research, outreach, and training programs in 2005-06, and several key hiring plans will introduce more talent and expertise to the faculty ranks. An aggressive campus building master plan and the faculty recruiting initiatives will change the collective face of the University and the faces of many of its key teachers and researchers.

South Carolina is recruiting world-class faculty to be endowed chairs-and change agents-for a series of "research centers of economic excellence" in areas such as nanoelectronics, polymer nanocomposites, brain imaging, regenerative medicine, cancer therapeutics, drug discovery, vision research, hydrogen fuel cells, and travel and tourism technology. These centers, some in collaboration with other state research universities and health and hospital systems, are funded with $30 million annually in state lottery money, as well as private matching money. Carolina is in the midst of a faculty recruitment plan to hire 600 new members. The Faculty Excellence Initiative is recruiting 150 faculty, many in interdisciplinary clusters of emphasis, while the Centenary Plan will recruit 100 elite research faculty to lead the University's core initiatives. Additionally, 350 faculty will be hired across disciplines to replace retirees over the next few years.

The University has forged a number of international collaborations in research, and the University's global connections are also strong in academics, particularly in international business. U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked the Moore School of Business best in the nation for its undergraduate and graduate programs in international business; the undergraduate program is No. 1 for the 10th consecutive time, while the graduate program is No. 1 among public universities for the 18th consecutive year and No. 2 overall, continuing a streak of 18 years with a top-two overall ranking.

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