Lead Gardener in Worthing

Location: Worthing, Hove and Arundel

Vacancy Type: Full Time/Permanent

Pay Range: Grade 4 - £28,026 Pro rata for part time roles

Contracted Hours: 37.5 hours per week

Application Deadline: Sunday, October 4, 2026

About the role:

As a Lead Gardener at Southern Hospice Group, you will play a vital role in shaping and maintaining welcoming, peaceful outdoor environments that offer comfort, reflection, and calm for patients, families, and staff. Our hospice grounds provide a highly varied and rewarding setting, from propagation in the polytunnel to kitchen gardens, wildflower meadows, woodland walks, wildlife ponds, private contemporary patient gardens, and expansive green spaces. In this role, you will take both a hands-on and supervisory position, leading garden staff and volunteers while maintaining the highest horticultural standards across all areas.

Your work will directly contribute to wellbeing, offering a strong sense of purpose, pride, and job satisfaction. You will be responsible for planning and coordinating workloads, ensuring compliance with health, safety, and environmental standards, and working collaboratively with the Grounds Manager to deliver high-quality outcomes. Alongside practical gardening duties, you will guide and support volunteers and corporate groups, creating a positive and well-organised experience for everyone involved.

If you are an experienced gardener with strong leadership skills, a passion for horticulture, and a desire to make a meaningful difference, this is a rewarding opportunity to combine responsibility, creativity, and purpose.

You will be:

• Supervising garden staff and volunteers, providing clear directions, guidance, and support to maintain high standards across all sites.
• Able to carry out a full range of horticultural and grounds maintenance tasks independently, without the need for supervision or ongoing guidance.
• Ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations.
• Caring for lawns, flower and vegetable gardens, including watering, fertilising, and caring for trees, shrubs, turf, and associated hard landscaping features such as irrigation systems and water features.
• Managing teams of volunteers and corporate groups on a weekly basis, ensuring guidance and support are effectively provided.
• Working with external suppliers.
• Taking responsibility for the upkeep of garden sheds, workshops, tools, and machinery, overseeing garden staff to ensure high standards of cleanliness, organisation, and safety are consistently maintained.
• Leading on grounds compliance checks, including daily and monthly playground inspections and routine water feature treatments.
• Identifying and treating pests, diseases, and plant health issues.
• Reporting and updating the Grounds Manager with any progression or issues.
• Responsible for seasonal growing, vegetables and plants.
• Developing and coordinating work schedules for the gardening team, working closely with the Grounds Manager to incorporate wider operational input, set priorities, and ensuring tasks are allocated efficiently and effectively.

Essential Experience:

• Minimum of 1 year’s experience in gardening with experience of powered garden machinery.
• A broad understanding of garden maintenance is desirable.
• Experience of crops within a polytunnel, including planting, watering, feeding, and harvesting.
• Team Leader or Supervising staff experience.

About us:

Southern Hospice Group is the largest group of hospices in Sussex and one of the largest in the UK. We are committed to providing exceptional and compassionate care to adults, children, and their families across Sussex.

Benefits:

• Company pension scheme or NHS pension scheme for eligible employees.
• Up to 35 days’ annual leave inclusive of bank holidays.
• On-site education support and study leave opportunities.
• Option to access Bupa and cover your everyday cost of healthcare for less.
• Free parking, subsidised meals, and various social activities.
• Corporate rate gym membership, discounts with local complementary therapies and Blue Light Card.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Death in Service.

We warmly welcome applications from all sections of our community. We also invite applications from suitably experienced people for all industry sectors who can demonstrate the skills, ability, and enthusiasm to work with a people-centric organisation like ours.