Blake Garden Manager, Part-time Limited Term (9723C) - Blake Garden

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As a garden open four days a week above the Berkeley Hills in the town of Kensington, the Blake Garden Manager serves in a front-facing role dedicated to stewardship, helping to preserve and promote the historical, cultural, and horticultural significance of the garden to the UC system and to local community. The Blake Garden Manager will work with garden management to support and grow curricular ties between the garden and the Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning department. The Manager may also facilitate programs such as tours, field visits from students enrolled in the department's undergraduate and graduate landscape architecture and environmental planning courses, and other internships and special projects.

This position reports to the Department Manager of Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning. The Garden Manager will be responsible for performing the duties as stated below with minimal supervision. Each Horticulturalist maintains and develops specific assigned areas of the Garden, but the following responsibilities and relative percentages of time apply to all Horticulturalists.

This is a part-time (43% FTE), Limited term appointment. A Limited appointee is expected to be on pay status for less than 1,000 hours in a rolling 12-month period.

The First Review Date for this job is: August 28, 2026

60% Horticultural Maintenance

• Duties include watering, fertilizing, mulching, amending the soil, weeding, pruning, raking, planting, and other activities involved in cultivating plants. Identifies insect and plant pathogen problems and initiates appropriate mitigation methods. Performs enhancement, supplementation, and routine alterations of plant displays within their areas of responsibility; initiates request for re-propagation of existing plant materials to maintain the Garden's collections. Requests routine landscape materials from the Garden Manager. Trains, schedules, works with, and supervises volunteers, students, and interns.
• Performs construction and reconstruction projects in their area. This includes keeping paths and roads clear and in safe condition, resurfacing and grading paths with appropriate materials; repairing rock work, stairways and bed edges; keeping drainage systems and streams clear of debris; controlling erosion in planted and traffic areas with appropriate berms, modified drainage systems and other appropriate devices.

20% Curation

• Participation in curation of the Blake Garden collection involves maintenance of plant information (plant records), conservation of the plant collection, and collection development. The curatorial responsibilities require specialized knowledge of plant associations, species rarity, special horticultural requirements, etc. The incumbent is expected to be knowledgeable about the plants contained within the collection and to act as an authority on the collection. This knowledge is utilized for plant acquisition, re-propagation, assessment and re-evaluation of the areas, curatorial policy, and project development.
• Initiates requests for plants through indices semina (seed lists), professional contacts, correspondence with collectors, or special garden collecting trips (off-site work).
• Record keeping is an essential part of the incumbent's responsibilities and is vital to the mission of the garden. Duties include mapping, initiating record change forms, plant removal forms and label requests. The incumbent is responsible for maintaining plant labels. This includes placing garden labels in the plant beds, maintaining their visibility, and removing labels when plants are lost (coordinated with record change forms).

10% Education

• This position is expected to help provide support for the Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning department's curriculum and students. The role participates in volunteer and student worker training. The position may interpret the garden for students and visitors with both introductory and/or advanced tours and/or written materials. Coordinates and participates in the preparation of interpretive materials and the acquiring of plants to illustrate educational themes.

10% Miscellaneous Duties

• All garden employees are expected to assist with various projects where teamwork is needed. All garden employees assist with maintaining garden facilities and essential garden operations. Maintains proper inventory needs and purchases required plant material, tools and other supplies The incumbent may have weekend responsibilities, such as departmental and campus events.
• Additional special projects and duties, including but not limited to coordinating programs (water abatement, weed abatement and irrigation) with various municipalities and organizations, as assigned. Assistance may be requested in public outreach programs.

• Bachelors degree in Horticulture or equivalent experience.
• Experience in arboreta, horticulture and garden design.
• A working knowledge of basic landscape maintenance, including various irrigation systems operations, troubleshooting and repair.
• Ability to work independently, set and meet objectives, and coordinate objectives with other members of the staff.
• Familiarity with the establishment/maintenance of natural community based gardens
• Demonstrable knowledge of California flora and ability to provide plant and pest identification
• Ability to maintain accurate records and to research collection acquisitions and their horticultural requirements.
• Solid verbal and written communication skills in the English language, including active listening, flexibility, and critical thinking, and ability to multi-task and ensure effective time management.
• Solid decision making and reasoning skills, and ability to develop original ideas to solve problems, and conduct operations analysis and quality control analysis.
• Ability to work well with a diverse group of staff, volunteers and the public.
• Ability to perform hard physical labor lifting up to 100 lbs on occasion.

• Master of Landscape Architecture and/or design background preferred.

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

The budgeted salary or hourly range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position is $ 32.79 to $34.09 hourly. This is a part-time (43% FTE), Limited term appointment. This position is FLSA Non-exempt and paid biweekly.

This position is covered by the collective bargaining agreement between UPTE and the University of California Regents for RX.

This is a part-time (43% FTE), Limited term appointment. A Limited appointee is expected to be on pay status for less than 1,000 hours in a rolling 12-month period.

Required to hold valid driver's license, have a driving record that is in accordance with local policies/procedures, and/or enroll in the California Employer Pull Notice Program.

This is a designated position requiring fingerprinting and a background check due to the nature of the job responsibilities. Berkeley does hire people with conviction histories and reviews information received in the context of the job responsibilities. The University reserves the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of the background check.

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

"Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:

UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.