Houston Botanic Garden strives to inspire all people to love plants and be good stewards of the natural world through its mission to enrich life through discovery, education, and conservation of plants and the natural environment. The Garden opened in 2020 and includes a global garden with arid, sub-tropical, and tropical plants; a culinary garden with permanent and seasonal displays; a family garden centered around a lagoon; a woodland event garden; wetlands; and a coastal prairie on a 132-acre site.
The Garden has currently identified several important collection areas: Hippeastrum (Amaryllis), Louisiana iris, Musaceae (Banana), Quercus (Oak), subtropical Magnolia, subtropical Acer (Maple), and cold hardy Arecaceae (Palm).
Houston Botanic Garden is seeking a dynamic Director of Horticulture to lead the horticulture team in all horticulture initiatives to drive year-round attendance and further HBG’s education and conservation mission. The Director must understand the importance of botanic garden collections, conservation, sustainability, and display strategies to operate a successful public garden that serves as a resource for a local and global community.
Serving as an organizational leader, the Director will execute the horticulture priorities and design development with a thoughtful and strategic plan and must be an enthusiastic advocate internally and externally for making the Garden beautiful and engaging for others. As a key public face of the Garden and a steward of the guest experience at the Garden, the Director works in close collaboration with multiple departments to ensure smooth running of fast paced and often overlapping operations including seasonal shows, events, rentals, and programs and reports directly to the President and CEO.
The ideal candidate is an educator by nature and passionate about HBG’s mission, well organized and strategic, has horticulture experience and plant knowledge of the Texas climate and its particular challenges. This person must be an innovative and inspiring leader who can delegate, manage, and prioritize responsibilities with clarity and confidence and must have strong interpersonal and teamwork skills. HBG is looking for a dynamic, forward thinking individual, who enjoys working in a growing organization, to build and expand on the young Garden to deliver Houston Botanic Garden as a garden leader in national public gardens.
MAIN JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
- Provide day to day leadership, management, and oversight to the HBG horticulture team according to the annual operations plan.
- Maintain high horticulture standards and practices by providing clear direction, training and motivation for the horticultural staff, interns, and volunteers to guide the development and management of garden displays, landscapes, and developing nurseries.
- Build an appropriate living collection of plants that supports conservation and interpretation to showcase and educate the public on the significance and relevance of the Garden’s collections and research projects.
- Share deep horticultural knowledge, skill and expertise through practical, verbal and written forms to diverse public and professional audiences to inspire colleagues, donors, members, guests, funders, and the public with the beauty, wonder and value of plants.
- Plan and oversee HBG’s plant production and propagation efforts and nurseries.
- Collaborate with partners locally and nationally to further HBG’s horticulture and collections priorities.
- Oversee plant records, mapping, and labeling; plant collection policy; and design aesthetic informed by HBG’s master plan, mission, and strategic priorities forming a strong foundation for future research.
- Oversee irrigation systems and maintenance of horticulture equipment.
- Manage and support overall plant health and soil nutrition strategies for all gardens to include sustainable gardening practices and integrated pest management.
- Accountable for development and management of the horticulture budget, budget monitoring, strategic planning, and horticulture capital projects.
- Participate in scholarly research of the collections and publish for the Garden when appropriate.
- Provide supervision and guidance to staff of 9+ on hiring, training, goal-setting and appraisals/reviews.
- Work with garden volunteers and Volunteer Manager to develop long-term productive relationships and grow the number of horticulture volunteers.
- Collaborate across departments to identify opportunities for funding, programming, interpretation, and community outreach to activate the garden and its audiences.
- Develop, maintain, and promote positive and professional relationships with internal staff, volunteers, members, vendors, contractors, media, and the general public.
- Serve as liaison for the Board of Directors’ Horticulture Advisory Committee.
- Give tours and presentations and provide insight, content, and editorial support for various publications, interpretation, and marketing as needed.
- Represents HBG with supporters, including garden clubs, plant associations, city and county agencies, and others.
- Advise the production and management of special events in order to safeguard the collection.
- Perform additional duties and assume additional responsibilities as delegated by HBG’s President and CEO.
QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE REQUIREMENTS
- - Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in botany, horticulture, or a related field required
- Minimum of three (3) years managing and supervising horticultural staff in working with living collections, required
- Demonstrative experience showing a clear understanding of the importance of the aesthetics and beauty of the garden
- Experience successfully managing and completing multiple active projects while staying within budgetary constraints and within specified timelines
- Demonstrated broad knowledge of plants and horticulture with an emphasis on taxa suitable for Houston
- Strong management skills and leadership skills with a desire and ability to succeed in a collaborative and diverse environment
- Prior experience in budgeting; staffing; setting and evaluating financial goals; and strategic planning, implementation, and assessment
- Strong written and oral communication skills to a variety of audiences; listens for clarification when necessary and responds informatively
- Flexibility, ability to prioritize and juggle multiple projects in a start-up environment - Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail and accuracy
- Integrity and highest standards of ethics and professionalism.
- Ability to lift and carry a minimum of 50 lbs., move for long periods of time, and operate standard horticulture machinery
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Advanced degree in botany, horticulture or a related field
- Five (5) or more years managing and supervising horticultural staff highly desired
- Experience building out new gardens highly desirable
- Bilingual (Spanish) is beneficial
SCHEDULE
- Full-time, exempt position
- Available on weekends and holidays as needed
BENEFITS
Medical, dental, and vision insurance, retirement savings match, short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance available.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Interested candidates should send a cover letter and resume to hr@hbg.org. We will contact those candidates who most closely match our requirements. Employment is subject to passing a background check and references are required.
Thank you for your interest
Job Type: Full-time
Pay: $85,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount
- Health insurance
- Paid jury duty
- Paid time off
- Relocation assistance
- Retirement plan
Schedule:
- Day shift
- Monday to Friday
- Weekends as needed
Work Location: In person