Community Garden Manager

1. About Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses

Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses (BPCG) is a community garden in the centre of Lambeth’s Brockwell Park. The site includes an orchard, a series of demonstration gardens, a walled herb garden, two large greenhouses and the recently built Brockwell Barn.

BPCG has a vibrant and committed community of volunteers who contribute to helping people grow through learning and learn through growing. A small team of five staff run the garden volunteering scheme, school visits, family events, courses and workshops. Visitors, volunteers, and members learn about conserving the environment and wildlife, appreciating nature, and understanding organic gardening and food growing, all within a friendly community atmosphere.

2. About the Role

We’re looking for an experienced Community Garden Manager who can grow a confident, well-supported team of volunteers capable of running much of BPCG’s garden life themselves. This is a hands-on, people-facing role grounded in strong horticultural knowledge, but its heart is building people up: designing meaningful roles and creating the conditions for volunteers to lead.

Welcoming is one of BPCG’s core values, and while every role here is expected to follow it, this role is its clearest expression. Our space draws people from different backgrounds, ages and needs. You’ll be generous with conversation, with people you’ve known for years and people you’ve just met, and skilled at creating space for others to be heard. That’s what sets the standard for welcoming at BPCG.

You will report to the General Manager and line-manage freelance Assistant Community Gardeners. On shift, often solo on a Sunday, you’ll be the responsible site lead, though the role is designed so you’re not doing everything yourself: volunteers keep the garden running smoothly even when you’re spread thin, stepping back, or simply not in the room.

You will liaise closely with the General Manager, Education Manager and Operations Manager as needed. You will also own and update our annual Volunteer Engagement Plan, and work within our 2026–2030 Strategy, both of which set a clear direction: more volunteers in more leadership roles, with staff shifting from direct delivery towards enabling others to deliver.

3. About You

Above all, you know how to build other people up. You’re able to establish yourself as the person in the room that others look to, and you use that position to draw people in and help them find their own confidence. You delegate readily, and trust people to grow into responsibility.

Alongside this, you’ll have strong horticultural knowledge and hands-on experience in food growing and sustainable gardening practices, and the confidence to manage a busy public site, often independently, holding responsibility for the wellbeing of everyone on it.

You’re also genuinely at ease with everyday admin and technology: emails, spreadsheets, booking systems, and the budget and reporting templates our General Manager has built for you. None of this needs to be your favourite part of the job.

We know it’s rare to find someone equally strong at building people up, growing things, and the admin side of the role: see How to Apply for what we mean by that.

4. Responsibilities and Duties

The role spans six connected areas:

1. Build a thriving, well-supported team of garden volunteers, with clear pathways into Lead Volunteer roles, recognition for long-standing contributors, and recruitment and induction processes that remain welcoming.
2. Plan and oversee BPCG’s volunteer gardening programme, delegating the leadership of individual sessions to Lead Volunteers and Assistant Community Gardeners wherever possible.
3. Take overall responsibility for horticultural planning, plant production, and the day-to-day running of the site, including solo site-lead duties on Sundays.
4. Support the Education team in delivering practical horticultural learning for schools and community groups.
5. Manage horticultural and retail budgets and reporting, using the systems and templates the General Manager provides.
6. Hold overall responsibility for health, safety and safeguarding on site, including acting as designated safeguarding lead; full policies and training are provided on appointment.

5. Person Specification

Essential Experience

• Minimum three years’ hands-on horticultural experience, with strong plant knowledge and technical understanding of organic, food-growing, and wildlife gardening practices.
• Proven experience recruiting, inducting, training, and supervising volunteers, with a genuine track record of delegating real responsibility to others and helping them grow into it, and of planning a volunteer programme that supports wellbeing, skills development, and community connection.
• Experience leading educational or skills-sharing sessions in horticulture for a range of audiences.
• Experience managing projects, budgets, and operational planning.

Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Qualifications

• A recognised Level 2 qualification (or above) in horticulture or a related subject.
• Skilled at facilitation: comfortable being the person others look to, and using that position to draw people in and help them speak up. We’re looking for someone who builds a team that can run without them, not someone who needs to be in the room for everything to work.
• Confidence using everyday admin and technology, including booking systems, databases, Google Workspace, and the budget and quarterly reporting templates the General Manager provides; full training given, but you should be comfortable picking up a new system.
• Understanding of safeguarding, child protection, and health and safety requirements in public and outdoor settings, and a commitment to GDPR and data protection best practice.
• First Aid qualification, or willingness to obtain one.

Essential Personal Attributes

• Genuinely passionate about connecting people with nature, growing, and food, and committed to the therapeutic and community value of volunteering.
• Highly organised with strong attention to detail and the ability to manage competing demands.
• A committed team player who is also capable of working independently and using initiative.

Desirable

• Experience designing or implementing a volunteer engagement plan, progression pathway, or recognition scheme.
• Experience with therapeutic gardening
• Experience liaising with funders and contributing to funding reports.
• Experience with marketing, social media, or promoting community programmes.
• Familiarity with website content management systems.
• Health and Safety or safeguarding qualification.

6. Additional Details

• Annual Salary: £30,000 – 35,000 pro-rata, depending on experience, plus 3% pension contribution
• Contract: 12-month, fixed term, with the potential for renewal
• Probation period: 6 months
• Working Location: BPCG
• Reporting to: General Manager
• Reports: Freelance Assistant Community Gardeners and volunteers
• FTE: 60-80%
• Hours: A working week is 37.5 hours. Hours generally range between 9:00am and 5:30pm, with some seasonal changes subject to discussion, e.g. longer hours in summer and shorter in the winter.
• Days: 3-4 days over Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday with some flexibility to work on other days, including weekends / holidays for programme delivery or team coordination

7. How to Apply

This role asks for three different kinds of strength: horticultural know-how, the ability to build up and trust other people, and ease with everyday admin. If that is you, please apply! If you believe you fit two of the three, please apply anyway. Let us know in your cover letter which is your weaker area, and what you’re doing, or planning to do, to develop it. We’re more interested in self-awareness and a genuine willingness to grow than in someone who claims to be equally brilliant at everything.

Shortlisted candidates will be offered an interview to take place during the week commencing 28th September 2026.

BPCG is committed to celebrating and promoting diversity. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every requirement. Please let us know if you need any accommodations to support your application process.

BPCG is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check.