Senior Gardener

Summary A fantastic job at an exceptional location in London - this is a role now available only for the second time in 25 years

Fenton Garden is an important garden within the portfolio of the National Trust and a regional highlight in London. The property's garden is best known for the imaginative planting within a historic and tranquil setting, creating a place of timeless appealand vibrant colour that changes dramatically with the seasons.

Shaped by the innovation of National Trust Gardeners of the past decades, the garden is not tied to historical planting schemes. The 17th century walls provide the perfect backdrop for playful experimentation, giving the Senior Gardener the creative freedomto work with Fenton's spirit of place. The role also includes garden maintenance at the former family home of architect Ernö Goldfinger, 2 Willow Road, a short walk from Fenton House.

If you are looking for a place to flourish and enjoy celebrating and sharing our horticultural work as much as doing it, we want to hear from you.

What it's like to work here We strive to put our audiences and supporters at the heart of everything we do, finding new ways to provide benefit wherever we can. Like our visitors, you will be able to appreciate the beautiful and restorative setting of these places and living and workingclose to Hampstead Heath, yet being only 15 minutes away from the buzz of central London.

Fenton House is a beautiful 17th-century townhouse and home to world-class collections, set within one of the best-walled gardens in London, including an orchard, formal lawn, terraces, kitchen and rose garden. 2 Willow Road is the 1930s modernist home designedand lived in by Ernö Goldfinger and his family, with a small, low-maintenance garden viewed by visitors from the upper floors.

You will be part of a small but agile property team working across the two sites. The team is committed to the National Trust's aims and values, their roles and the well-being of each other and those supporting our work.

Fenton and 2 Willow Road are a part of a portfolio of five properties, including Ham House and Red House. Working with us will give you a valuable opportunity to build networks, consult and share horticultural practices with many regional gardening colleagues,and benefit from contact with other gardeners across the country and our specialist gardens consultants.

Please note that you will be part of a site-wide duty rota to manage the properties, sharing weekend and bank holidays, working on rotation with two colleagues.
- This full-time role includes live-in accommodation with out of hours security response duties one week in two. The accommodation is a 3-bed first floor flat, separate from the main mansion. Salary with accommodation: £25,927 per annum. Alternatively,salary without accommodation: £30,392 per annum (includes Inner London Weighting)._

What you'll be doing Spending the majority of your time at Fenton, you will be maintaining Fenton and 2 Willow Road's gardens to the highest horticultural, environmental and conservation standards, supported by a small team of dedicated volunteers. With your strong knowledgeof herbaceous planting, wall-trained roses and climbers, shrubs, fruit trees, ornamental lawns, meadows and topiary, you will lead the team in planning, equipping and rotating tasks, working alongside them as well as independently.

You will use your creative flair to modify and improve borders by supplementing and developing existing plantings with an annual budget. You'll also lead on providing the strategic direction for Fenton Garden, thinking longer-term about horticultural design,sustainable environmental practice, visitor experience and access, helping plan and deliver projects to develop these areas. You'll love what you do and enjoy sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm with others. You may be encouraging visitors to engage withthe gardens, training volunteers in a technique, discussing ideas with a regional curator, or being interviewed for an article.

As part of a small team ensuring everyday excellence for our visitors, you will develop programmes to ensure our gardens engage and inspire the urban audiences on our doorstep.

You'll be part of a duty management team, rotating weekend and bank holidays working across the two sites when the properties are open to visitors (generally open Thu-Sun Mar-Oct).

Who we're looking for To be successful in this role you should be able to demonstrate the following:

- practical experience in horticulture, supported by appropriate qualifications to RHS level 3 (or equivalent level of vocational experience)
- A good level of plant husbandry skills and horticultural techniques, and a pro-active enthusiasm for environmentally sound practice
- Creative flair and some design skills - an understanding of the importance of the spirit of place in maintaining and developing heritage gardens
- Experience in creating and organising garden activities for visitors and providing details that enhance the depth of engagement with Fenton
- Good people skills; enable strong relationships to be built and maintained, externally and internally