Stem Studio Floral & Container Designer $20-$22/hr pending experience

Moana Nursery; Reno (NV); On-site; USD 25,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

Moana Nursery in Reno, Nevada is seeking a Stem Studio Floral & Plant Designer who blends floral design with horticultural knowledge. The role currently focuses on Stem Studio work but may expand to Garden Studio and Indoor Plant Studio as the program grows.

You will design farm-inspired arrangements, assist customers, process orders, manage supplies, and help develop a cohesive studio experience across stages, while maintaining safety and cleanliness in a full-time retail schedule.

Qualifications

• Professional floral design experience or a portfolio demonstrating strong floral design ability.
• Experience working in a garden center, nursery, flower shop, farm or floral studio.
• Working knowledge of flowers, foliage and basic plant care.
• Understanding of color, texture, scale, proportion and composition.
• Fresh-flower processing and conditioning experience.
• Ability to assess product quality and handle perishable inventory responsibly.
• Strong customer-service and consultative sales skills.
• Ability to explain care requirements clearly and accurately.
• Willingness to perform the physical, repetitive and cleaning-related work that supports excellent design.
• Flexibility to move between designing, selling, processing product, planting containers and maintaining the studio.
• Availability to work a full-time retail schedule that includes weekends, holidays and peak seasonal periods.
• Applicant must be able to lift 25 lbs
• Applicant must be able to stand for long periods of time.

Responsibilities

• Design distinctive, farm-inspired arrangements, hand-tied wraps and custom floral pieces.
• Create both one-of-a-kind designs and repeatable products using established recipes.
• Receive, process, condition and properly store fresh flowers and foliage.
• Monitor flower quality, freshness and cooler conditions.
• Design confidently with seasonal and locally grown materials.
• Complete delivery, pickup, phone and eCommerce orders accurately.
• Help manage floral inventory, product rotation and waste.
• Welcome customers and help translate occasions, spaces or ideas into the right floral or planted product.
• Actively introduce customers to flowers, plants and container-design services.
• Ask thoughtful questions about location, light, exposure, care expectations, color and budget.
• Explain the value of locally grown flowers, proper plant selection and professional design.
• Recommend coordinating containers, plants, flowers, gifts and care products.
• Create inspiring displays and use the POS to complete transactions.
• Support workshops, demonstrations, events and seasonal programs.
• Maintain clean, organized workspace and follow safety standards.

Skills

Floral design

Customer service

Garden center experience

Inventory management

Staging/visual merchandising

Tools

POS system

Inventory software

Job description

Description

Grow Something New With Us

Moana Nursery is building a more connected, creative studio experience—one that brings together flowers, plants, seasonal design and the knowledge of an established garden center.

Today, this position is primarily based in our Stem Studio, where we create farm-inspired floral arrangements using fresh flowers, including product grown by our own team in Minden, Nevada. As our program develops, the role may also support our Garden Studio, specializing in seasonal outdoor containers, and our Indoor Plant Studio, specializing in planted indoor containers.

We are looking for a designer who combines floral design experience with horticultural knowledge and an interest in working across flowers and plants. This is an opportunity for someone who understands that great design involves more than arranging beautiful materials—it also requires knowing how those materials grow, perform and thrive.

The right person will be comfortable in a developing operation where responsibilities evolve, teammates help across departments and good ideas can influence what we build next.

What You’ll Do

The Stem Studio Floral & Plant Designer will initially spend most of their time supporting floral operations while helping us develop a more integrated studio approach. Responsibilities may include:

• Design distinctive, farm-inspired arrangements, hand-tied wraps and custom floral pieces.
• Create both one-of-a-kind designs and repeatable products using established recipes.
• Receive, process, condition and properly store fresh flowers and foliage.
• Monitor flower quality, freshness and cooler conditions.
• Design confidently with seasonal and locally grown materials.
• Complete delivery, pickup, phone and eCommerce orders accurately and on time.
• Help manage floral inventory, product rotation and waste.

The Stem Studio Floral & Container Designer creates distinctive designs using fresh-cut flowers, indoor plants and seasonal outdoor plants. Initially, the position will focus primarily on the Stem Studio while also supporting planted-container projects throughout Moana Nursery. Over time, this role may help us develop a more connected studio experience spanning floral design, indoor plant containers and outdoor garden containers.

Customer Experience and Sales

• Welcome customers and help them translate an occasion, space or idea into the right floral or planted product.
• Actively introduce customers to flowers, plants and container-design services they may not have originally planned to purchase.
• Ask thoughtful questions about location, light, exposure, care expectations, color and budget.
• Explain the value of locally grown flowers, proper plant selection and professional design.
• Recommend coordinating containers, plants, flowers, gifts and care products.
• Create inspiring displays that encourage customers to explore the full studio experience.
• Use the point-of-sale system to complete transactions accurately.
• Support workshops, demonstrations, events and seasonal programs.

Studio Operations

• Maintain clean, organized and customer-ready floral and planting workspaces.
• Clean tools, buckets, vases, containers and work surfaces throughout the day.
• Handle soil, green waste, flower debris and other materials safely and efficiently.
• Monitor supplies and communicate replenishment needs.
• Follow sanitation, tool-safety and workplace-safety standards.
• Assist with inventory counts and product receiving.
• Work across the Stem Studio, Garden Studio and Indoor Plant Studio as business needs and the program evolve.
• Help establish procedures and standards for a growing studio operation.
• Pitch in wherever needed during busy seasons, large orders and special projects.

Skills and Experience

Required

• Upholds Moana Nursery's strict safety policies
• Professional floral design experience or a portfolio demonstrating strong floral design ability.
• Experience working in a garden center, nursery, flower shop, farm or floral studio.
• Working knowledge of flowers, foliage and basic plant care.
• Understanding of color, texture, scale, proportion and composition.
• Fresh-flower processing and conditioning experience.
• Ability to assess product quality and handle perishable inventory responsibly.
• Strong customer-service and consultative sales skills.
• Ability to explain care requirements clearly and accurately.
• Willingness to perform the physical, repetitive and cleaning-related work that supports excellent design.
• Flexibility to move between designing, selling, processing product, planting containers and maintaining the studio.
• Availability to work a full-time retail schedule that includes weekends, holidays and peak seasonal periods.
• Applicant must be able to lift 25 lbs
• Applicant must be able to stand for long periods of time.

Preferred

• Wedding, special-event or workshop experience.
• Visual merchandising experience.
• Point-of-sale and retail inventory experience.
• A valid Nevada driver’s license.
• Experience designing seasonal outdoor containers.
• Knowledge of plants suited to northern Nevada’s climate and growing conditions.
• Experience creating and caring for indoor planted containers.
• Familiarity with annuals, perennials, houseplants, soils, fertilizers and basic plant-health concerns.

The Ideal Candidate

Our ideal candidate sees flowers and plants as connected design materials. They understand how to create a beautiful arrangement, but they also want to know where the product came from, how it should be cared for and how it will perform for the customer.

This person may be an experienced floral designer who has developed strong horticultural knowledge, or a horticulturally trained designer with meaningful floral experience. They do not need to know everything on their first day, but they must bring a solid foundation, curiosity and the willingness to keep learning.

They can move from designing a beautiful arrangement to washing buckets, helping a customer choose the right plant or planting an outdoor container. They sell with warmth, work with urgency and take pride in leaving every workspace cleaner and more organized than they found it.

Most importantly, they are excited by the opportunity to help us build what “The Studio” could eventually become.

Equal Opportunity Employer: Applicants are considered for all positions without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin age, marital status or the presence of non-job-related medical condition or handicap. In addition, Moana Nursery will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals when appropriate.