Senior Gardener

Horticulture Jobs, brought to you by HortWeek; Hampstead; On-site; GBP 25,519 - 31,190; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive training and CPD

Career progression opportunities

Free access to English Heritage sites

25 days' holiday plus Bank Holidays

Pension contributions

Discounts in English Heritage shops

Job summary

Kenwood House, Hampstead, London, is seeking a Senior Gardener to join our team. You will work across 112 acres of historic gardens, leading a team of gardeners and volunteers to maintain ornamental borders, meadows and woodland areas and to interpret the site’s stories for visitors.

The role is full-time, 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday 8:00–4:15. A passion for horticulture, solid plant knowledge, and experience with hedge trimming, machinery operation, and meadow conservation are

Qualifications

• Experience in ornamental gardens and meadow conservation.
• Strong plant knowledge and horticultural skills.
• Ability to lead staff and volunteers.

Responsibilities

• Lead and train staff and volunteers to maintain the gardens to high standards.
• Coordinate weekly volunteer sessions and seasonal work plans.
• Manage hedge trimming, pruning, machinery use and garden maintenance across Kenwood site.

Skills

Hedge trimming

Pruning

Leadership

Plant knowledge

Garden machinery handling

Tools

Tractor driving

Gators

Chainsaws

Job description

Title

Senior Gardener

Employer

Webrecruit- English Heritage

Location

Kenwood House, Hampstead, London, NW3 7JR

Hampstead, London, NW3 7JR

Salary

From £28,355 per annum, depending on skills, experience and location / 36 hours per week / Permanent

Job Type

Permanent

Ref

16524

Closing date

24 August 2026

24/08/2026 23:59:59

Contract Type

Permanent

Function

Gardening Jobs

Sector

Charity & Voluntary

Seniority

Executive

Would you like to work for the charity that cares for hundreds of historic sites in every corner of England?

With 14 main garden sites and dedicated garden teams, we are looking for a Senior Gardener to join our team at Kenwood. Kenwood is set on 112 acres of wonderful green parkland on Hampstead Heath. Its listed designed landscape was the vision of Humphrey Repton in the 1790s. Some features include a pasture ground which neighbours the SSSI ancient woodland, ponds and open meadows. Smaller themed garden areas entice our many visitors to walk around the estate to enjoy shows of rhododendrons, woodland plantings, an old kitchen garden now planted with mixed herbaceous borders, and ornamental plantings around the café terrace designed by Arabella Lennox-Boyd. We also have a compost area on site to recycle as much garden waste as possible. Kenwood is a real oasis in busy London.

This is a full-time role, working 36 hours per week, core Monday through Friday 8:00 - 4:15.

Heritage is for everybody, and we are here for heritage.

Heritage lives in places and people, memories and stories, artefacts and traditions. It can connect us all to the past, and to each other. It can make us happier, strengthen every community, and help shape society for the better. Everybody should be able to enjoy the benefits it brings.

That’s why, as a charity, we care for over a million objects and hundreds of historic sites in every part of England, from international icons to local treasures. And it’s why we open them up, share their stories and find new ways for everybody to enjoy, learn, play and create.

Benefits Include

• Comprehensive training and CPD
• The opportunity to progress your career
• Opportunities to go to some of our great live music and history events
• Free access to all English Heritage sites for you and up to six friends and family members
• 25% discount in our shops
• Corporate subscription/memberships to gardening organisations
• Enhanced maternity/paternity/shared parental leave
• 25 days' holiday plus Bank Holidays pro rata, rising to 28 days after 3 years
• Options to buy additional leave
• Matched pension contributions up to 10%

Our Senior Gardeners work closely with our gardener, Supervisor and Head Gardener. You will play a vital role in ensuring that all work carried out in our gardens by our fantastic team of gardeners and volunteers is to the highest of standards. You will find imaginative ways of bringing to life the stories that our garden tells, helping visitors of all ages to make new discoveries.

You will be experienced with hedge trimmers, strimmers, tractor driving, the use of Gators, and basic maintenance of these items of garden machinery. It's essential you have great skills in pruning woody species, have a high-quality of gardening experience, ideally including a proven track record in ornamental gardens & herbaceous border care and interest in meadow conservation. Ideally, experienced with the use of chainsaws. Stepping away from the ornamental areas at Kenwood, your regular tasks will also require your leadership skills in operating volunteer sessions to manage invasive species by hand or with hand machinery across the site, protecting ancient and veteran trees and maintaining the SSSI woods and sphagnum bog- home to rare species. Excellent plant knowledge and horticultural skills are essential.

You will get to use and develop your organisational skills and input into the seasonal work plans. It is an engaging role. Use of database and computer programs such as Word and Excel.

You will already have excellent plant knowledge and horticultural skills to lead and train staff and our volunteers.

You’ll enhance our visitors' day out from sharing your gardening knowledge to ensuring their health and safety. Being able to ensure the smooth running of weekly volunteer job rotas and input into the seasonal work plans is also a must for this busy and engaging role.

Find out more about us and what we do: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/.

You can also meet some of our people and hear about why they enjoy working with us: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/our-people/careers-with-us/.

Forget the stereotypes. It takes thousands of people from every background to care for England's heritage and open it up for everybody to enjoy. We’re looking for every type of person with every kind of skill and experience, and we’re committed to making sure that English Heritage is an equitable, diverse and inclusive place to work. You can connect with others through our EDI networks as a member or ally. These include Ethnic Diversity, Faith & Belief, Social Equity, LGBTQ+, Neurodivergence, Age, Disability and Gender Health and Wellbeing.

We take wellbeing seriously. We are committed to ensuring everyone feels safe at work and can carry out their role. To support this, we have a network of Mental Health First Aiders, regular information and awareness events, unlimited access to an Employee Assistance Programme and work with our people to implement reasonable adjustments.

In-person interviews will be held on September 1 & 2 at Kenwood, NW3 7JR.

Closing date: 24/08/2026 23:59:59