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Head Estate Gardener on the Isle of Mull

Employer
Quinish
Location
Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute
Salary
Dependant on experience but expected to be £28-36k + a tied house
Closing date
12 Feb 2023

An exciting Head Estate Gardener role has become available to maintain and develop the beautiful gardens and grounds of a 1,000-acre estate (with farm) in the North of Mull, working closely with its owners. 

The land/role includes an established walled garden (half is a mature formal garden and half is being developed into a kitchen garden), various properties with existing and proposed gardens, abundant ancient woodland, sheep and cattle grazing, and scope for additional horticultural and landscape projects. Set amid stunning scenery and wild coastline, the estate is located just outside a friendly village with a small primary school, 25-minutes from Tobermory, which has a good secondary school. 

We would ideally like a couple, with scope for a second role potentially including part-time housekeeping, cleaning, admin and some oversight of projects on the estate.

The role comes with recently-refurbished two or three-bedroom accommodation, decorated to a high standard.  

Outline of Key Responsibilities of Head Estate gardener:

  • To maintain and develop the gardens and grounds to a high standard throughout the year.
  • To carry out any other reasonable duties and small odd jobs, ideally including tree management, some light property maintenance, and maintenance of some tracks and paths.
  • To develop the kitchen garden to produce vegetables and fruit, and to periodically provide cut flowers
  • To coordinate and supervise other contractors working in the grounds (excluding the farm, which is overseen by the farmer, who is also on site).

The successful candidate will possess the following skills:

  • Very good plant knowledge and horticultural skills.
  • A commitment to regeneration of woodland
  • Hard working and willing to work in all seasons
  • Flexibility and attention to detail.
  • Good communication skills (verbal and email/Whatsapp) including reporting on work completed
  • Must work well as part of a team and be able to liaise well with other people including the farmer and owners.
  • Able to work unsupervised and with own initiative e.g. ordering materials or plants for the garden
  • Have a good level of health and fitness with a friendly and positive disposition.
  • Driving licence
  • Candidates should also be experienced in using and maintaining a range of garden tools and machinery e.g. ride-on mower

Other skills which would be desirable but are not essential:

  • Able to drive a medium-sized tractor
  • Able to operate a 5-tonne excavator
  • Able to undertake basic property maintenance and light DIY projects
  • Able to do light maintenance on garden machinery and tools or arrange external servicing
  • Chainsaw licence and some skill in maintaining or felling trees
  • Able to control invasive species (ideally with the relevant licence to use and store chemicals)
  • Good tree knowledge including planting and cultivation
  • Project management

There is flexibility in the Key Responsibilities of the second role but it is likely to be a part-time role including some or all of the following:

  • Periodic housekeeping (when the owners are in residence)
  • Periodic cleaning and handovers of one or two holiday lets in future
  • Possibly occasional cooking or baking
  • Administration relating to the properties, utilities, liaison with contractors etc.
  • Assistance with the gardens or estate management.

The role could also include some management of projects on the estate if the candidate was interested in doing that.

The Terms of Employment for the Head Estate Gardener role:

  • Hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5.30pm but due to the nature of the role and weather, flexibility will be required
  • Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
  • Annual performance-related bonus.  
  • Furnished or unfurnished accommodation.
  • Council Tax is included but utilities are the responsibility of the occupants.

Job Type: Full-time (second role likely to be part-time)

Given the range of skills and varying levels of experience we are happy to consider, the salary for the estate gardener role is likely to be between £28k and £36k per year (incl bonus) + the tied house and council tax.

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