Gardener Wanted at the Botanical Garden

The Botanical Garden is a place where the diversity of the plant world is at the center. The Botanical Garden is a scientific institution with botanical research and horticultural development work at a high international level. Throughout the garden's hundred-year history, plants from all over the world have found their place in our living collections, and they are now cultivated in beautiful environments throughout the garden, in the arboretum, and in the greenhouses.

Every year, our 600,000 visitors experience something extraordinary that we hope will spark interest in the diversity of the plant world and the important conservation work associated with it. The educational activities are aimed at both schools and educational actors in the form of lessons and training, as well as to the public through exhibitions, tours, and events.

The Botanical Garden is one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe, covering approximately 75 hectares and featuring 20,000 unique plants from over 130 countries. In our workplace, all employees are important parts of the whole, and together we work towards common goals, with Swedish as our working language.

Currently, a lot is happening within the Botanical Garden's activities. We are building new greenhouses that will be ready for occupancy in 2028, undergoing a generational shift, and investing in exciting new conservation projects for the future. In light of this, we are now announcing several positions and looking for you who want to be part of this fantastic workplace.

Job Description

We are looking for an experienced gardener to join the Cultural Flora team in the Horticulture and Design unit.

The Cultural Flora area includes facilities primarily featuring cultivated plants. The team is responsible for, among other things, the herb garden, clone archives for perennials and vegetables, large-scale perennial plantings, bulb meadows, vegetable cultivation, school gardens, play environments, and our seasonal flora with annuals, bulbs, and tubers in both soil and pots. These facilities play an important role in attracting and captivating visitors and inspiring an expanded botanical interest.

You will be responsible for the facilities in the garden's entrance area. Your tasks will include composing the seasonal flora, including our iconic picture bed. You will also be responsible for the care of perennial plantings and lignified plants. The work will be carried out in close collaboration with the design manager and the responsible botanist.

The Cultural Flora team consists of both area-responsible gardeners and seasonal garden workers. During the peak season, the team has about 15 employees, and during the low season, about 4 employees. In total, we have around 40 gardeners and garden workers in the unit during the peak season, and collaborating across group and unit boundaries within the garden is very important for the sense of a shared garden for both visitors and employees.

Requirements Profile

Education:

• Gardener/Horticultural Engineer or equivalent, 3-year education.
• Alternatively, longer experience combined with at least a 2-year vocational education focused on gardening, cultivation, or other relevant education. Or a combination of experience and education deemed equivalent by the employer.
• Driver's license B
• The working language is Swedish, but knowledge of English is a requirement.

Experience:

• Requirement for previous several years of professional experience in qualified gardening, e.g., in visitor gardens where personal responsibility has been significant. Previous work in a botanical garden is advantageous.
• Requirement for extensive plant knowledge in the area of cultivated plants.
• Requirement for good familiarity with digital tools, such as Office365. Knowledge of digital design programs, e.g., AutoCAD, SketchUp, is advantageous.
• Advantageous to have previous professional experience in planning and establishing seasonal flora.
• Advantageous if you have worked with databases and inventory.
• Advantageous if you also have training in pest control, spraying course/plant protection.

Personal Qualities:

The employer places great importance on personal suitability for the position. To succeed in the role, you should have good collaboration skills, and since we work long-term in gardening, you also need to demonstrate perseverance and structure. The position also requires good flexibility as we work together to ensure the garden as a whole functions well. Since the role involves a lot of plant composition, especially seasonal flora, it requires you to be very aesthetic and efficient. You also need to be proactive and self-driven in your daily work.

Recruitment Process

Interviews will be held during weeks 33-34. Please note that the contact persons in the advertisement will not be reachable during the following weeks due to vacations: Kristina Sjöö, recruiting manager, 0765-13 19 27, [email protected] - weeks 25-29 Anna-Carin Ek, Vision, 0704-91 05 92, [email protected] - weeks 25-28

About Västra Götalandsregionen

Västra Götalandsregionen exists for the people of Västra Götaland. We ensure that there is good health and medical care for all. We work for sustainable development and growth, a good environment, improved public health, a rich cultural life, and good communications throughout Västra Götaland. Västra Götalandsregionen actively works to digitize more work methods. To be part of the digital transformation, you should have basic skills and be able to use digital tools and services. You can search for information, communicate, interact digitally, are risk-aware, and have the motivation to participate in the development to learn new things. Västra Götalandsregionen places all permanent employees in reserve for military service.

If you want to know more about Västra Götalandsregionen, you can visit our introduction for new employees at the link https://www.vgregion.se/introduktion (https://www.vgregion.se/introduktion). You can also read more in the presentation at https://mellanarkiv-offentlig.vgregion.se/alfresco/s/archive/stream/public/v1/source/available/sofia/rs4011-467070786-672/surrogate (https://mellanarkiv-offentlig.vgregion.se/alfresco/s/archive/stream/public/v1/source/available/sofia/rs4011-467070786-672/surrogate).

Application

Västra Götalandsregionen prefers that you register your application via the recruitment system. If you, as an applicant, have questions about the advertised position or for specific reasons cannot register your information in a public system - please contact the contact person for the respective advertisement.

To staffing, placement, and recruitment companies and to you as a seller: We kindly but firmly decline direct contact with staffing, placement, and recruitment companies as well as other external actors and sellers of additional job advertisements. Västra Götalandsregionen has contracted agreements.