DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS' SERVICES

For Veterans and those who care for them.

INTERMENT CARETAKER

Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery
1300 South Buffalo Soldier Trail
Sierra Vista, Arizona  85635

Salary: $22.00 hourly 

Grade: 16

Closing Date: May 28, 2026

Would you like to be part of an amazing team that helps veterans thrive? At the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services (ADVS), we are committed to serving and honoring veterans, service members, and their families by ensuring that they receive the highest quality services so that they can thrive for a lifetime!

We are looking for a compassionate Interment Caretaker.

Your rewards:
• Incomparable Benefits: Our program provides the opportunity to receive a pension and healthcare benefits for a lifetime!
• Meaningful Work: Your dedication will directly enhance the lives of veterans and their family members, providing them with the care and respect that they deserve.
• Professional Growth: You will have the opportunity to engage in continuous learning and improvement through the Arizona Management System (AMS).

Your contribution:
• Outstanding Service: Provide the best assistance to veterans to improve their quality of life.
• Continuous Improvement: Participate in facility meetings, training sessions, and the implementation of the Arizona Management System (AMS) to achieve continuous improvement and efficiency
• Team Collaboration: Work with other professionals to improve your knowledge, skills, and abilities

• Dig graves according to required dimensions with grave digging equipment such as an excavator, site dumper, tractor equipped with a back hoe and front end loader
• Transport dirt, stones, trash, tools and a variety of equipment
• Operate a variety of maintenance equipment such as utility vehicles, riding mowers, chain saws, hedge trimmers, earth tampers, and snow plows
• Perform minor repairs and preventative maintenance to equipment such as changing tires, oil changes, replacing filters to ensure proper operation
• Unload headstones/markers from truck by hand or with a forklift and inspects them for damage or wrong information
• Assist in setting the headstones/markers in containment boxes of the grave liners
• Align grave-sites with other established graves or according to specified dimensions; lowers casket into grave and or grave liner, and replaces dirt over grave-site either by hand or by using an excavator; tamping as necessary with a hand or powered tamper
• Remove excess dirt and transports to dump area
• Perform miscellaneous janitorial tasks
• Perform minor facility maintenance such as painting and incidental carpentry tasks
• Monitor performance of irrigation equipment to ensure efficient water usage and utilizes best practice techniques.
• Complete landscaping tasks throughout grounds to include cleaning headstones and markers

Knowledge of:

• Basic principles and practices of grounds maintenance
• Proper use of power and hand tools
• Common occupational safety practices and procedures
• Use of plumb lines and stakes
• Sprinkler systems and water pumps

Skills in:

• Operating 1.5 to 3.0 ton dump truck
• Operating tractors, excavators, site dumper, riding mower, bush hog, and other associated equipment used in cemetery ground maintenance
• Utilizing various carpentry tools and equipment, such as a hammer, drill, chainsaw, weed whacker and push mower, etc.

Ability to:

• Learn the procedures in performing burials and headstone and marker setting and aligning
• Learn the Arizona Management System (AMS) to ensure procedures are the current best way of doing tasks
• Lift and carry up to 90 pounds; push and pull up to 50 pounds (e.g. headstones/markers, grounds equipment, etc.)
• Identify and address routine ground maintenance issues, including safety concerns
• Work in the outdoors and associated elements on a continuous basis
• Work independently, under minimal supervision

The ideal candidate will possess at least one year of experience in grounds maintenance, gardening work, nursery work, and tree care operations, to include proper use of power and hand tools and equipment.

• Possession of and ability to retain a current, valid state-issued driver's license appropriate to the assignment. Employees who drive on State business are subject to driver's license record checks, must maintain acceptable driving records and must complete any required driver training (see A.AC. R2-10-207.11).
• Requires an active State of Arizona Office of Pest Management Applicators License or the attainment of such license within six months of appointment. This license must be maintained as a condition of employment.
• Required to pass a background check through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

If this position requires driving or the use of a vehicle as an essential function of the job to conduct State business, then the following requirements apply: Driver’s License Requirements.

All newly hired State employees are subject to and must successfully complete the Electronic Employment Eligibility Verification Program (E-Verify).

The Arizona Department of Veterans' Services offers a comprehensive benefits package to include:

• Sick leave
• Vacation with 10 paid holidays per year
• Paid Parental Leave-Up to 12 weeks per year paid leave for newborn or newly-placed foster/adopted child (pilot program).
• Health and dental insurance
• Retirement plan
• Life insurance and long-term disability insurance
• Optional employee benefits include short-term disability insurance, deferred compensation plans, and supplemental life insurance

Learn more about the Paid Parental Leave pilot program here. For a complete list of benefits provided by The State of Arizona, please visit our benefits page

Positions in this classification participate in the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS). Please note, enrollment eligibility will become effective after 27 weeks of employment.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact recruiting@azdvs.gov for assistance.

The State of Arizona is an Equal Opportunity/Reasonable Accommodation Employer.