Head of Gardens

CHGT Head of Gardens

Job Reference HG22

Responsible to:  Director

Responsible for: Kitchen Gardener, 2x Gardeners, Apprentice, Gavin Jones contractors

Contract: 35 hours per week, FTE including Saturday working

Key relationships:  CHGT staff and volunteers, Gavin Jones contractors, partners

Salary: £36,000 - £42,000 p/a  

Role Summary

The Head of Gardens is a key leadership role; both challenging and rewarding in equal measure it is the driving force behind long-term horticultural delivery and vision to be a place for everyone every day.  You’ll be responsible for managing a team of skilled and experienced individuals, providing the vision and leadership needed to take the whole garden and wider estate to the next level.

The Organisation

Chiswick House and Gardens (CHGT) is a 300-year-old Grade 1 listed Chiswick House and Grade 1 listed 65 acres of gardens, in the heart of Hounslow, West London. It was established in 2005 jointly by the English Heritage Trust (EHT) and the London Borough of Hounslow (LBH), who previously managed the Gardens. It is the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement, with the largest collection of heritage camellias under glass in the world, 17th-century walled gardens and Kitchen Garden, and is internationally recognised for its architecture and garden history.

2020 and 2021 have been a very turbulent years for the UK, as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and Chiswick House and Gardens Trust (CHGT) have been affected by this. No part of the business has been untouched by these changes and new ways of working remain vital to our continued progress. We have set out an ambitious mission and vision; to be a place for everyone every day.  We have successfully fundraised for our community programme and have launched our 3-year Kitchen Garden plan which is ambitious and is true to our mission.  We now need to focus on developing our 10-year Garden plan.

What you will be doing

Reporting directly to the Director, the Head of Gardens is a pivotal role in the Senior Management Team and operates with a significant degree of autonomy. You’ll be responsible for developing our 10-year Garden plan, setting out a clearly phased plan for enhancing our estate and putting this plan into action.  You will be responsible for managing a team of skilled and experienced individuals and a grounds maintenance contractor, providing the vision and leadership needed to take the whole garden and wider estate to the next level. Collaboration and working across departments are vital and your key relationships will be with the Head of Visitor Experience, Head of Commercial and the Community Participation Manager.

Horticultural and Aboricultural strategic planning and delivery

• Work with the Director, and with the support of the Heritage Advisory Panel, design and develop horticultural and aboricultural planting and maintenance plans to enable our strategic vision
• Using your broad knowledge of plants and curatorship of significant horticultural spaces; you will understand how the garden functions as a work of art
• You will have a natural talent for aesthetic garden design and landscape development a track record of delivering garden projects
• Confident managing a complex garden including 1,500  mature trees, cricket pitch and large body of water
• Experienced at translating plans into small projects and maintenance regimes
• Work with our Fundraising consultant to turn projects into fundable bids
• Lead and plan the delivery for our Green Flag and London in Bloom judging
• Work with Head of Commercial to manage the impact of commercial events on our landscape
• Experienced manager of skilled gardeners, grounds maintenance contractor, volunteers and work experience groups
• Have a good understanding of garden husbandry, plus relevant horticultural qualification
• Working with the team on horticultural and maintenance tasks

Sustainability, biodiversity and wildlife

• Continue and develop our sustainability, biodiversity and wildlife habitat enhancement practices and fold into our 10 year plan
• Develop and deliver monitoring and evaluation model so we can apply our learnings

Visitor Experience, volunteer, work experience and community programme

• Understand the need to get the balance right between planning, access, interpretation and presentation
• Support and develop the gardeners and Kitchen Gardener to devise garden activities for volunteers and work experience groups to deliver the plan
• Support your Kitchen Gardner in the delivery of the community programme

Health and Safety

• Monitoring and reviewing any H&S incidents and near misses and feed these into our monthly Operational and H&S meeting with any suggestions on what we need to change.
• Ensure the fulfilment of all Health, Safety, CoSHH, pesticide and other regulations as affect the operations of the gardens
• Devise, implement, monitor and manage staff training in horticulture and associated Risk Management, Health and Safety and machinery maintenance.

Other

• You will work closely with the Estates and Facilities team to ensure we are acting in accordance with the provisions of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 to take reasonable care for the health and safety of any person who may be affected by your acts or omissions in carrying out your duties.
• You will support the Head of Commercial in enabling income generating events in the grounds.
• You may be asked to carry out other duties as may arise from time to time and which may be reasonably accommodated within the posts grading level.

Who We Are Looking For

The ideal candidate will possess the majority of the following skills:

• Extensive experience in a senior gardener role and partnership management
• Degree or equivalent level horticultural qualification
• Experience working in a historic or heritage environment, and an understanding of the unique challenges this can present
• Excellent leadership skills and experience with volunteers and community groups
• Proven track record of managing budgets, finances, compliance and small projects
• Working knowledge of Health and Safety legislation
• A good level of IT competency, confidence using Excel
• Ability to balance competing priorities
• Adaptable and self-motivated in developing the role.

How To Apply

Please, email your CV with expression of interest letter (no more than 2 sides of A4) explaining why you are a good fit for the role to info@chgt.org.uk. Please use the reference HG22 in the subject line.

Deadline for applications is Monday 10 January 2022 at midday.

Interviews will be held week commencing Monday 17 January 2022