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Botanical Horticulturist - Walled Gardens

Employer
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Location
Wakehurst, West Sussex
Salary
Salary £22,750 - £25,663 per annum, depending on skills and experience
Closing date
3 Jul 2022

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated, enthusiastic horticulturalist to develop and maintain the Walled Gardens at Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in West Sussex.

We are looking for a motivated, organized and passionate person to join the team at Wakehurst to care for, transform and accurately curate the plant collections in the Walled Gardens.

This area is a beautiful expression of an English country garden style with herbaceous borders, varied woody plants and Mediterranean species. The role would deliver Kew’s mission by creating displays of high horticultural standards and excellent curation of the botanic collections.

The Walled Gardens form part of the Mansion Gardens within Wakehurst's 500-acre estate, with its diverse landscapes and plants from across the globe. Wakehurst is home to the Millennium Seed Bank Project which holds the largest collection of seeds for wild plants in the world.

Wakehurst’s Designed Landscape Plan establishes the need for intensified and transformative horticulture, more rigorous collection management, and research to create new areas, and this role will contribute to that aspiration.

The candidate should have proven experience and understanding of cultivation, maintenance, and development of herbaceous borders, creating seasonal displays and a good knowledge of woody plants.

The successful candidate will be part of the Plant Propagation and Conservation Team but will be required to work independently in the Walled Gardens and lead groups of volunteers regularly.

The ideal candidate will also be a good communicator, the ability to inform others effectively and able to help motivate a team, and have interactive communication with work colleagues, managers, groups of volunteers, school children and garden visitors.

Horticultural Practice qualification equivalent to NVQ level 2 (or above) or equivalent experience is essential.

The ideal candidate will be competent in using email and word processing programmes, able to keep accurate records, data capture, handling and analysis using a wide range of software packages.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) is a leading plant science institute, UNESCO World Heritage Site, and major visitor attraction. Our mission is to understand and protect plants and fungi for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth.

We are working to end the unprecedented extinction crisis and to help create a world where nature is protected, valued by all and managed sustainably. We will achieve these goals by drawing on our leading scientific research, unrivalled collections of plants and fungi, global network of partners, inspirational gardens at Kew and Wakehurst, and our 260 years of history.

Join us on our journey as protectors of the world’s plants and fungi.

Our fantastic benefits package includes opportunities for continuous learning, a generous annual leave entitlement, flexible working to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, an Employee Assistance Programme and other wellbeing support such as cycle to work scheme and discounted gym membership. We also offer a competitive pension, an employee discount scheme and free entry into a wide range of national museums and galleries, as well as access to our own beautiful gardens at Kew and Wakehurst.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post.

No agencies please.

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