Garden Designer

CGLA; Knotty Green; On-site; GBP 38,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Office-based role at Penn studio

9:00–17:30 Monday to Friday

20 days annual leave + holidays

Employer pension contribution

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

CGLA is seeking an experienced Garden Designer to join our Penn, Buckinghamshire studio. You will lead projects from brief through design to cost and delivery, developing planting schemes and presenting proposals to clients.

The role is hands-on and client-facing, requiring strong creative and spatial design ability, plus proficiency in SketchUp, AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Suite. Expect a supportive team environment in a design-led practice.

Qualifications

• Around 5-8 years' relevant professional experience in garden design or landscape architecture.
• Formal qualification in Garden Design or Landscape Architecture or related discipline.
• Strong creative, spatial and planting design skills.
• Sound understanding of landscape construction, materials and detailing.
• Excellent software skills: SketchUp, AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign).

Responsibilities

• Develop projects from brief to detailed and technical design.
• Produce high-quality drawings, SketchUp models, planting designs and client presentations.
• Attend client meetings, site visits and design presentations, potentially representing CGLA.
• Coordinate with architects, engineers, consultants, contractors and suppliers.
• Collaborate with in-house Estimator and build team on design costs and quotations.
• Protect design intent while contributing to value engineering and cost awareness.
• Provide design support as projects move into construction and manage workload.

Skills

Garden design

Concept development

Client presentations

Budget awareness

Education

Garden Design qualification

Landscape Architecture qualification

Tools

SketchUp

AutoCAD

Adobe Creative Suite

InDesign

Job description

Garden Designer

Full-time | Permanent | Office-based | Penn, Buckinghamshire

Salary: Dependent on Experience

Monday-Friday | 9.00am-5.30pm

The Role

CGLA is looking for an experienced Garden Designer to join our design team at our studio in Penn, Buckinghamshire.

We are looking for a strong all-round designer with around 5-8 years' professional experience, who is comfortable taking responsibility for projects from initial client meetings through the design stages and into costing and delivery.

This is a hands‑on, client‑facing role. You will develop and manage your own projects, prepare and present design proposals, develop planting schemes and work closely with clients, consultants and our in-house estimating and build teams.

CGLA is a design-led practice, so strong creative and spatial design ability is fundamental. You will work within our established design review process, with support and creative input from the Design Team Lead and Head of Design, while being trusted to take responsibility for your own projects and workload.

What You'll Be Doing

• Develop projects from initial brief and site appraisal through concept, detailed and technical design.
• Produce high-quality drawings, SketchUp models, planting designs and client presentations.
• Attend client meetings, site visits and design presentations, occasionally representing CGLA independently.
• Coordinate with architects, engineers, consultants, specialist contractors and suppliers.
• Work closely with our in-house Estimator and build team, obtaining quotations and providing the design information required to develop project costs.
• Understand the relationship between design and budget and contribute to value-engineering discussions while protecting the overall design intent.
• Provide design support as projects move into construction.
• Manage your own workload and design time across several live projects.

About You

First and foremost, you need to be a strong designer.

We aren't looking for someone who only produces attractive visuals, nor are we looking for a purely technical designer. We want a rounded Garden Designer who understands the complete design process and can turn a good idea into a well-resolved, buildable landscape.

You should have:

• Around 5-8 years' relevant professional experience in garden design, landscape architecture or a closely related field.
• A formal qualification in Garden Design, Landscape Architecture or a related discipline.
• Strong creative, spatial and planting design skills.
• A sound understanding of landscape construction, materials and detailing.
• Excellent SketchUp skills and a good working knowledge of AutoCAD, Adobe Creative Suite, particularly InDesign.
• Strong organisational skills and the confidence to take responsibility for progressing your own projects.
• Commercial awareness and an understanding of how design decisions affect project cost and delivery.
• A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle.
• Experience of the UK planning system would be beneficial but is not essential.

About CGLA

CGLA is an award-winning, design-led garden design and landscape architecture practice based in rural Buckinghamshire.

For more than 25 years, we have designed and delivered gardens and landscapes ranging from private residential gardens and prestigious new‑build homes to country estates and commercial landscape projects in the UK and overseas.

What We Offer

• Office-based role at our studio at Penn Bottom Farm, Penn, Buckinghamshire.
• Working hours of 9.00am-5.30pm, Monday to Friday.
• 20 days' annual leave plus bank holidays.
• Additional paid company closure days over the Christmas period, depending on how the calendar falls.
• Employer pension contribution.
• Regular reviews and opportunities for professional development.
• The opportunity to work on high-quality projects from initial concept through to built landscape.

Equals One is an advertising and recruitment agency working on behalf of our client to promote this vacancy. You may be contacted directly by the employer should they wish to progress your application. Due to the number of applications we receive, we are unable to provide specific feedback if your application is unsuccessful