Job

Chelsea Physic Garden: Head of Plant Collections

The historic Chelsea Physic Garden in London, is looking to recruit a new Head of Plant Collections.

Chelsea physic garden

A teaching garden since 1673, the Chelsea Physic Garden is one of the oldest and most respected botanic gardens in Europe. It is the oldest in London, and only surpassed in age, in England, by Oxford Botanic Garden. The garden is managed by the independent Chelsea Physic Garden charity set up in 1983, to promote and preserve the four-acre garden.

The Head of Plant Collections is responsible for the agreed standards of presentation and the ongoing curatorial development of the plant collections and all horticultural aspects of the Garden. Under the guidance of the Advisory Committee they will establish plans and policies for each plant collection and guide development and maintenance of the collections in keeping with those plans and policies.

They will lead on ensuring that the annual work programmes identified in the Living Collections Conservation Plan are agreed by the Advisory Committee as being required to direct the future management of the collections. They will work with key members of the Committee to implement the plan’s recommendations to better improve the care of the collections. They will contribute to overall visitor satisfaction working closely with colleagues. They will be part of the development of the Garden’s masterplan and the detailed phased plans associated with it. They will ensure that horticultural activities support income generation including venue hire and events.

The candidate will be responsible for the horticultural team (6 full-time) as well as trainees, interns, and volunteers who care for and present the Garden and all its plant collections (4,500 taxa). You will need to be able to work at pace and juggle several priorities to ensure that the needs of the Garden, it’s visitors, event goers and planned projects all fit together as well as having a pride in the consistently high standards of presentation of the Garden and Glasshouses.

  • Position: Permanent
  • Salary: £46-£48,000 (depending on experience)
  • Hours: Full-time 35 hours per week (including some evenings and weekends)
  • Location: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS

Full job and application details can be found here.