Director of Horticulture & Facilities Operations in Monkton, Maryland at Ladew Topiary Gardens, Inc.

Job purpose

In support of our mission, the Director of Horticulture and Facilities will provide key leadership member of the Management team reporting to the Executive Director. The incumbent in this position will both strategically and on a day-to-day basis oversee horticulture, garden planning, design, operations, and maintenance of our Topiary gardens, general grounds, and facilities operations. All these areas shall be attended to in the highest horticultural standards and with respect for their historic significance and need to accommodate visitors. This position will work in collaboration with staff and other subject matter experts to ensure that the gardens are maintained and preserved in keeping with the Garden Identity Document. The Director is responsible for planning and coordinating the daily activities of the horticulture staff and volunteers; develop, plans and implements planting designs; establishes and adheres to an annual budget; oversees ordering of supplies and plants; ensuring that all equipment is available and operational; and oversees the accurate recording, tracking and communication of plant-related information. Ladew is known as one of the top gardens in the country and is recognized for excellence in horticultural display; continuously curating, maintaining, and advancing this public standing in the industry is integral to this position.

Duties and responsibilities

Leadership:

• Serve as Ladew’s subject matter expert in all garden and facilities related areas by integrating the operations of both into the overall Garden’s operations and ensuring mission and objectives of the Gardens are achieved.
• Lead the curation and development of Ladew’s living collections, ensuring alignment with ornamental, historical, environmental, educational, and programmatic goals.
• Collaborate with the Executive Director, Board of Directors and its committees, Ladew management members, donors, volunteers, and community at large to represent the horticulture and historical programs and Master Plan.
• Collaborate with Development Team to support fundraising and stewardship initiatives related to horticultural objectives, and with Marketing, to share the Gardens’ accomplishments, historical content, and aspirations.
• Collaborate with the Director of Education to plan horticulture specific demonstrations, programs, tours and presentations that are offered to daily guests and through public events. Serves as a liaison to the education, guest services and events departments to ensure horticulture is integrated in all programming.
• Create departmental annual plans in line with organizational vision and key strategic priorities.
• Pursue continuous education and certifications in leadership development and horticulture professional advancement locally and nationally to ensure that the knowledge maintained is at the utmost high level feasible.
• Supports all efforts to enhance the visitor experience by planning and implementing new strategies and programs to engage guests in horticulture, environmental stewardship and Ladew history.
• Supports institutional events and programs, serves as an active participant on committees and ensures the full support of the educational staff of these efforts. Participates or encourages horticulture staff participation in institutional tours, classes, demonstrations and speaking engagements as requested.
• Establishes community partners to support the advancement of the public horticulture, particularly in serving as a research or test site.
• Serves as an external representative of the organization, a national leader in horticulture and as a liaison with key organizations to support achieving institutional goals.

Management:

• Directly supervises the plant collections subject matter expert, horticultural staff; engages seasonal staff, interns and volunteers to meet departmental and organizational goals with the explicit intent of preserving Harvey Ladew’s overall design intent, interpretation, and vision of his gardens as articulated in the Garden Identity Document.
• Establish annual departmental operating budget for horticulture and facilities, authorize departmental expenditures, and evaluate programs and projects to ensure maximum cost effectiveness to achieve desired outcomes.
• Participates in the development, review and implementation of Garden procedures to ensure the gardens and grounds are consistently maintained at the highest possible standards and that horticulture and facilities staff are providing excellent customer service in alignment with the Ladew Way.
• Develop and oversee the design and implementation of new or alternative horticulture projects as part of the Master Plan development and to accomplish Strategic goals.
• Maintains design intent of themed Garden areas, provides ongoing oversight of plant care and maintenance, and oversees plant acquisition for the horticultural collections as well as ensures that the plant records are accurate and up to date.
• Oversees the design of the seasonal and special themed displays and bedding change-outs, coordinates with staff the procurement and installation of plants.
• Organizes, manages, and attends to issues relating to all horticulture and facilities contractors and outsourced departmental services.
• Oversees management of the irrigation system, including maintenance, repairs, renovations and programming for effective operations without disruptions.
• Oversees the Integrated Pest Management program.
• Oversees the plant collections management program to ensure the plant collections are properly documented, maintained and appropriately represented to the public in alignment with the history of the grounds and horticulture related activities.
• Ensures that best horticultural practices are applied in Garden maintenance; provides staff, intern and volunteer training regularly.
• Serves as a safety leader for the horticulture and facilities functions; establishes appropriate safety procedures for the both departments and ensures all staff, interns and volunteers adhere to established protocols to include overseeing all fire and life safety systems and equipment including all related permits, certifications and/or inspections and maintaining relationships and good standing with the local authorities and serves as the primary contact for emergency services.
• Directly oversees the Facilities Maintenance staff and ensures complete coverage of facility related needs to include overseeing the proper operation and maintenance of the entire mechanical fleet including passenger vehicles and trucks, tractors, golf carts and utility vehicles and all small equipment.
• Serves as the primary steward of all wells and water resources on the property including potable and non-potable water systems as well as sanitary sewer systems; administrates all related permits, certifications and/or inspections.
• Oversees the deer management program and maintains complete and real- time knowledge of all hunting activity on the property.
• Develops, maintains, and promotes positive and professional relationships with internal staff, volunteers, members, vendors, contractors, media, and the general public.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Bachelor’s degree in a horticulture or related field required.
• 7-10 years of experience in horticulture and arboriculture practices and management in a public gardens setting required.
• Understanding and proven abilities in garden design, color theory, horticulture practices, landscape maintenance public garden operations and function to include all facilities and safety functions.
• Experience working with varied skilled trades and horticulture contractors.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills, including effective presentation, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
• Self-starter, creative, persuasive, goal oriented, organized, detail oriented, and able to execute in a manner that is positive and productive.
• Proven ability to foster and maintain effective working relationships within the department and across all departments.
• Proven track record of assessing, developing, motivating, and managing team members in a positive and equitable manner affording each individual member the opportunity to maximize their contributions.
• Availability to work a schedule that flexes around the seasons, planting requirements, and special events as necessary and under deadline pressures.

Competencies

• Leadership and direct staff management expertise
• Organization and planning skills in the area of public gardens horticulture and facilities management
• Effective Communication & Relationship Management
• Exemplary Customer service
• Ethical Conduct
• Technical Capacity

Working Conditions

This job primarily operates in a public gardens environment that has both indoor and outdoor serving facilities for visitors and may be subject to a variety of weather conditions. This position requires a working knowledge of a full range of industry related equipment and service vehicles. This includes, but is not limited to, operation of manual, gas, and/ or battery powered gardening tools, irrigation systems, string trimmer, mower, blowers, hedgers, spray tank, rototiller, manual bypass pruners, loppers, hand saw, pole saw, pole pruner, trowels, shovels, pitchforks, rakes, computer, printer, photocopier, phones, walkie talkies, and calculator. This job is also required to be within gardens, on the grounds of the property, and in areas that the public may not frequent.

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle or feel; and reach with hands and arms. Additionally, this position may be required to lift approximately 50 lbs.

Direct Reports

This position is directly responsible for leading the team associated with the Horticulture and Facilities services.

EEO Statement

See EEO Statement in Employee Handbook

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.