Head Gardener - Winterbourne House and Garden in Birmingham

Winterbourne House and Garden, Campus Services Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822 Grade: 7 Full Time, Permanent Closing date: 22nd February 2026

Background

The University of Birmingham is a global institution working within a diverse and vibrant City, offering an inspiring education to our students, and undertaking critically important research. We are a place of open, critical thinking, and the creation, sharing and dissemination of knowledge.

Department Overview

Winterbourne House and Garden is owned by the University of Birmingham and sits under the Campus Services directorate. Restored to its Edwardian Arts and Craft splendour, Winterbourne House and Garden is a unique heritage attraction set within 7-acres of beautiful botanic gardens. Only minutes from Birmingham city centre, Winterbourne is a hidden gem home to beautiful antiques, over 6,000 plant species from around the world, 3 National Plant Collections, and today, welcomes over 80,000 visitors annually.

Role summary

As Head Gardener, you will lead the operational management and strategic development of Winterbourne’s 7-acre botanic garden and related horticultural activities. You will lead a horticultural team of supervisors, practitioners, trainees and volunteers, taking overall responsibility for recruitment, performance management and development. You will also be responsible for the management of operational budgets and financial targets and spearhead the successful identification of funding streams and initiatives relevant to the Heritage and Higher Educational sectors, generating additional income for their area of responsibility.

Main duties

• Responsible for managing and leading the Horticultural Team in the delivery of operational objectives, ensuring the highest possible standards of horticulture are met including:

• Recruitment, Induction and training, liaising with other key stakeholders such as Human Resources
• Performance management, including 121s and annual Performance Development Reviews, ensuring that strategic objectives are understood and met
• Development of overall team promoting equality and values diversity, acting as a role model and fostering an inclusive working culture
• Volunteer management, providing guidance and support, monitoring and motivation

• Responsible for maintaining and developing Winterbourne’s 7-acre, historic landscape, including:

• Ensuring Grade II listed status is maintained
• Management of hard and soft landscaping features and structures
• Development of new areas, design and implementation sensitive to Winterbourne’s heritage
• Ensuring accessible requirements are met enabling access for all where possible

• Management of Winterbourne’s living collections including:

• Leading auditing, cataloguing, labelling and maintenance of appropriate records
• Identification of strengths and weaknesses within collection and remedial actions resulting in strategic development
• Implementation of an appropriate plant collections policy and acquisitions program
• Compliance to the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and Nagoya Protocol (2010)
• Maintenance of Winterbourne’s specialist collections, such as National Plant Collections, pertinent to overall strategic objectives

• Maintain budgetary control within area of responsibility including:

• Preparation of operational budget, application, targets, monitoring and reporting
• Financial planning and forecasting
• Development of additional income streams to supplement wider commercial activity
• Lead the Identification of suitable sources of funding, such as grant making bodies, in support of horticultural development

• Develop relationships with key collaborators including:

• Operational, managerial and strategic support to horticultural, further educational, courses on site
• Support undergraduate and post graduate study and research utilising living collections both within UOB and externally through other Higher Educational providers
• Coordinate cross-departmental activities such as hosting team away days and volunteering and the provision of resource outside of own department such as the supply of plant material for use at campus-wide events
• Promote greater collaboration, knowledge sharing and diversity of ideas through participation in cross-departmental initiatives such as Management and Operations Team Meetings and the UOB Biodiversity Working Group

• Deliver programmes to engage internal UOB audiences (staff and students) with horticulture such as talks, workshops and lectures

• Identify opportunities to raise profile, publicise activity and solicit exposure highlighting key messaging in the public domain:

• Contributing relevant horticultural content to internal and external publications, media platforms and outlets such as social media, newsletters, magazine articles, television and radio appearances
• Establish network of mutual interest through membership and/or participation in professional bodies relevant to the sector
• Representing Winterbourne at high profile events such as Gardeners World Live
• Lead specialised guided garden tours to groups and individuals

• Contribute to strategic planning in context of the Horticultural, Heritage and Higher Educational sectors including:

• Understand and communicate key strategic works such as the Birmingham 2030 Strategic Framework and Campus Services People and Culture Plan
• Lead horticultural strategy ensuring the correct strategic objectives are identified for inclusion in localised strategy documentation such as business plans and forward planning
• Source, analyse and develop insights from policy/process reviews, data, and KPIs to inform evaluation and review of strategic objectives

• Coordinate Health and Safety (H&S), and wellbeing, within horticultural division including:

• Ensure all (H&S) requirements are met such as the provision of any required Personal Protective Equipment, fire safety, COSSH, audits, daily H&S checks and electrical testing
• Ensure statutory legislation and UOB policies and procedures are adhered to and prepare and review internal H&S policies, Risk Assessments and documentation for local use
• Attend regular H&S meetings, liaise and coordinate support with wider HAS H&S team
• Identify industry best practice and relevant training needs of Horticultural Team, maintaining up to date knowledge of horticultural management and methodologies

• Deliver horticultural projects including:

• High level project management support, planning and evaluation
• Control and effective use of project budgets in order to achieve quality standards and meet targets
• Rigorous prioritisation coordinating project delivery through the Horticultural Team, contractors and Estates Teams
• Reporting on progress to other key stakeholders

• Support the delivery of a public events programme including:

• Leading delivery of events with horticultural content
• Duty managerial support and coordination

• Deputise for the Head of Winterbourne and Visitor Operations Manager including:

• Attending both internal and external meetings, and acting on behalf of Head of Winterbourne, as and when required, liaising with wider University colleagues and departments, coordinating operational support
• Take part in a Winterbourne House & Garden Duty Manager Rota, working occasional weekends and evenings

Person Specifications

• Horticultural qualification – HND/Degree/Kew or RHS Diploma or equivalent experience
• Extensive horticultural knowledge and specialist expertise pertinent to sector and a proven track record in a historic or botanic garden environment
• Detailed understanding of methods, systems and procedures pertinent to the operational management of a public garden
• Extensive knowledge of current Health and Safety legislation within a horticultural setting
• Extensive experience of strategic development and thinking, project planning and delivery
• Evidence of literacy and numeracy, with the ability to write clearly, and to produce and analyse information and data.
• Excellent people-management skills including the ability to lead and develop a diverse team and knowledge of the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010, and how to actively ensure in day-to-day activity in own area that those with protected characteristics are treated equally and fairly
• The ability to manage change effectively
• Excellent budgetary management skills and experience
• Highly proficient IT skills, including the use of MS Office
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, relationship building and influencing skills with the ability to deal confidently with a range of internal and external stakeholders/contacts
• Extensive organisational and multi-tasking skills with a methodical approach to work and the ability to prioritise workloads in order to meet deadlines

This role will require a broad understanding and practical experience of horticultural and heritage management which will be used to plan the running and development of Winterbourne’s 7-acre botanic garden and/or lead both short- and long-term development projects within that context. You will also require an acute ability for strategic thinking and working with information which needs interpretation and analysis; you will use your judgement to identify the best solution to differing problems and issues, offering recommendations for managing more complex situations.

In addition, you will be responsible for managing a horticultural team consisting of professional staff, trainees and volunteers, being accountable for recruiting and developing them and for managing their performance. You will also need to liaise and/or co-ordinate activities across several different sections within the department and with wider departmental or external bodies as appropriate.

Planning and organising

• Plan the running and development of Winterbourne’s 7-acre botanic garden, overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate
• Develop, agree and implement standards for delivery
• Manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them
• Plan relevant training and development
• Provide professional advice, guidance and support to others both within and outside own immediate work area
• Oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements

Problem solving and decision making

• Review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems
• Deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities
• Deal with sensitive people matters/issues
• Provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others

Internal and external relationships

• Understand Winterbourne and other closely related working areas and how they contribute to the success of the University
• Understand how the University operates; actively seek to share this knowledge with others
• Develop and maintain empathy with the academic endeavour
• Influence decision makers and win support for proposals
• Develop excellent working relationships within and outside of Winterbourne and with external stakeholders
• Co-ordinate activities across a number of areas

Informal enquiries to Lee Hale, email: l.d.hale@bham.ac.uk

We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy.