Head Gardener

National History Museum; London; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

The National History Museum is seeking a Head Gardener to oversee the management and presentation of its Gardens. This pivotal role requires a qualified horticulturalist with extensive plant care knowledge, team leadership skills, and hands-on experience in conservation management. This position not only enhances the natural beauty of the Museum but also promotes educational engagements and public appreciation of horticulture.

Benefits

27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays

Generous pension scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)

Life insurance

Free admission to exhibitions

Staff discounts at shops and cafes

Training initiatives and opportunities

Affordable membership to Civil Service Sports Council

Membership to Sports and Social Association

Qualifications

• Experience in managing teams within a Botanical Garden, park or accessible garden.
• Practical experience of conservation management.
• Excellent knowledge of plant care.

Responsibilities

• Management and presentation of the Museum's external spaces.
• Delivery of high-quality horticultural and habitat maintenance.
• Public facing communication about the Gardens.

Skills

Plant care and cultivation

Conservation management

Team leadership

Education

Qualified horticulturalist

Job description

About Us

We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum's unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

About the role

The Head Gardener plays a lead custodial role in the management, maintenance, advocacy and public facing communication of the Museums’ Gardens as a large living exhibit. Responsible for the day-to day management and presentation of the Museums external spaces they lead the delivery of high-quality horticultural and habitat maintenance as well as general oversight of the Gardens in facilitation of scientific, learning and formal and informal engagement activities.

About you

The Museum is seeking a qualified horticulturalist with experience of managing teams and activities within a Botanical Garden, public park or publicly accessible garden. The successful candidate will have excellent knowledge of plant care and cultivation, practical experience of conservation management and experience of leading teams and managing apprentices and volunteers.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work

We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum’s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

Find out more here

What we offer

• 27.5 days holiday plus 8 bank holidays (full time equivalent)
• Generous defined contribution Natural History Museum Pension Scheme (employer contribution 4 - 10%)
• Season ticket, bicycle and rental loan
• Life insurance
• Free admission to our exhibitions and many other paid exhibitions at museums, galleries and institutions across London and the UK.
• Staff discount at our Museum shops and cafes
• We offer a wide variety of training initiatives and opportunities to build skills. Investing in staff development is important to us, and we are ambitious about helping staff to grow and fulfil their potential.
• Affordable membership to the Civil Service Sports Council which offers a range of benefits including an extensive list of special offers and reduced entry fees at a selection of cinema chains, theme parks, theatres, retailers and supermarkets. It also provides entry to up to 300 English Heritage sites and other national treasures. For more details, visit https://www.cssc.co.uk
• Membership to our Sports and Social Association (for a small fee), which includes access to our in-house gym and clubs such as football, softball, table tennis and tennis and classes in Middle Eastern dance, yoga and Tai Chi

Hybrid working

Due to the nature of this role the work pattern will be 100% on site.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, please apply below by clicking on Apply for job.

Please note that as part of our commitment to anonymised shortlisting, panels do not view CVs during the recruitment process. If you choose to upload your CV, our system will automatically pull information from your CV into our application form. We advise you to double-check your application form data before submitting as the tool may interpret CVs differently.

Closing date: 23:59 on 8 July 2025

Interviews expected: w/c 21 July 2025

Please note that this role does not qualify for Museum sponsorship so the successful postholder will need to have a valid right to work in the UK at the point of offer.