Senior Gardener, The Laskett

The successful candidate will have a key role in the work that Perennial will do over the coming years to help take the wonderful private garden that Sir Roy has so generously given to us and establish it as a leading visitor destination for garden lovers across the UK and abroad. This will require a Senior Gardener with a clear focus on the garden, top level horticultural knowledge and skills, excellent team working skills and a passion for the project of developing The Laskett as a must-visit and repeat-visit garden.

Overall purpose

1. Through high standards of garden and landscape management and garden maintenance, ensure that the history, ecology, evolved design and artistic integrity of The Laskett Garden and other grounds associated with the site are conserved and presented to an exemplary standard.
2. To train and develop staff and volunteers to achieve high standards of garden presentation and visitor satisfaction.
3. To contribute to a culture that makes involvement in the garden a rewarding, rich and enjoyable experience for visitors, volunteers and staff.

Main responsibilities and duties

• Management of gardens and landscape
  • To be responsible for the maintenance and management of the garden and its associated landscape within an approved budget.
  • To maintain high standards of garden and facilities presentation at all times.
  • Working with the Garden Manager, responsible for the day to day running of the garden and supervision of staff, volunteers and contractors to ensure that appropriate horticultural and service standards are maintained.
  • To ensure that the visitor facilities are maintained to a high standard and that any defects are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.
• Documentation
  • To ensure that all site documentation is maintained and distributed where appropriate.
  • To create and maintain records relating to changes to the garden through maintenance, restoration and conservation.
  • Maintain appropriate records for the effective management of staff, equipment, machinery and health and safety on site.
• Other
  • Any other duties as instructed by the Garden Manager that may be required within the general purpose of the job.

Person specification

(E) = Essential (D) = desirable

Qualifications

• RHS level 3 or equivalent qualified by experience (E)
• Holder of PA1/PA6 pesticide application licence (D)
• Holder of CS30 - Chainsaw Maintenance and Crosscutting licence (D)
• Holder of HSE recognised First Aid at Work certificate (D)

Experience

• Work within a garden of quality to a high standard (E)
• Staff management within a horticultural, conservation or visitor attraction setting (E)
• Experience of visitor attractions (E)
• Health and safety in a garden environment (E)
• Working with and leading volunteers (E)
• Willingness to develop professionally and to undertake training (E)

Circumstances

• Holder of a full UK driving licence (E)
• Able to fulfil the physical requirements of the role including carrying heavy loads, kneeling, digging, sweeping etc (E)
• Able to work outdoors in all weathers (E)
• Able to work flexibly, including weekend rotational working hours in season (E)

Main terms and conditions

Location: The Laskett Gardens, Much Birch, Herefordshire, HR2 8HZ

Salary: up to £26,000 dependent on experience

Hours: Full-time - 37.5 hours per week

Pension: up to 7% employer’s contribution to matched employee contribution to the charity’s stakeholder pension.

Holidays: 25 days per annum plus Bank holidays

General: Sick pay; death in service benefit (3 x salary); Perennial has a number of well- established flexible working policies including ‘buying’ extra (unpaid) leave, time off for dependents, variations to normal working hours

The outline of terms and conditions are provided for information only and do not represent a contract.

Closing date for this vacancy is Sunday 18th August at midnight. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should we receive sufficient applicants.