Gardener

ABOUT MUSEUM OF THE HOME

We’re the only Museum of the Home in the world – revealing home as an emotional, psychological, socio-political and economic space – as well as the bricks and mortar.

Museum of the Home is a movement as much as a museum – seeing home as a lens through which many of the vital issues impacting the world can be viewed and solutions found.

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Gardener supports the Head Gardener in the conduct of the day-to-day field operations required to manage and develop the gardens and grounds of the Museum of the Home.

This includes providing high quality maintenance and horticultural operations, maintaining agreed presentation standards, assisting with volunteer and trainee supervision and training, participating in visitor engagement and deputising for the Head Gardener as required.

We see our gardens as an important oasis for local people, visitors and staff alike. We are interested in the role they play and the wider impact of urban nature on our lives.

We are committed to sustainability and biodiversity in all our garden practice.

This role will be public facing and the postholder must be comfortable talking to our visitors and working with other departments throughout the organisation.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ROLE

Horticultural and Maintenance Standards

• Maintain the gardens to the horticultural and presentation standards as agreed with the Head Gardener and in accordance with maintenance programmes, scheduling and seasonal requirements of the plant collections.
• Undertake turf cutting and maintenance.
• Assist with maintenance of hard landscaping and buildings i.e. gullies as necessary.
• Assist in litter removal.
• Participate in general horticultural maintenance of the gardens and grounds including weeding, pruning, leaf clearance and compost system management.
• Assist with site preparation, construction and planting out.
• Assist with propagation and glasshouse management.
• Utilise IT/computer software as required for garden and horticultural management purposes.

Visitor Engagement

• Approach visitor engagement in a way that displays respect for inclusivity and diversity, and fosters good relations with the visiting public.
• Assist the Head Gardener as required with conducting garden tours and workshops.

Communication

• Proactively participate in communication and collaboration within the garden team.
• Proactively assist in communication across the museum teams and identify opportunities for collaboration.
• Positively represent and promote the museum and its activities.

CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

Essential

• Minimum NVQ level 3 qualification in horticulture with proven field experience.
• Proven ability to participate as part of a team in the task scheduling and seasonal maintenance of a garden space.
• Knowledge of and commitment to sustainable gardening and enhancing biodiversity.
• Be familiar with the optimum use of composting systems.
• An understanding of plant propagation planning and techniques.
• Experience practicing horticulture in a garden open to the public.
• Ability to use Microsoft Office suite for garden management purposes.
• Ability to utilise and care for garden tools and machinery in an appropriate and safe manner.
• Knowledge and understanding of current health & safety legislation.
• A satisfactory basic DBS disclosure check is required for this role.

Desirable

• Experience leading and supervising volunteers.
• Experience in plant propagation planning and techniques.
• Experience in garden design or other horticultural specialism.
• A proven commitment to best practice horticulture and continued professional development.

Closing date: 5pm Monday 6th April 2026

Hours: Full-time, 35 hours per week, Monday to Saturday on a rota basis

Interviews: Museum of the Home aims to shortlist and let candidates know by Thursday 9th April.

Interviews will be held in person at the Museum on Thursday 16th April.