Location
Worthing, Hove and Arundel

Hours
Full Time - 37.5 hours per week

Salary
Grade 3 - £25,427 per year (pro rata for part time roles)

About the Role
As a Gardener at Southern Hospices Group, you will play a vital part in creating welcoming, peaceful outdoor environments that offer comfort, reflection, and calm for patients, families, and staff. Our hospice grounds provide a varied and rewarding working environment, including propagation and growing in the polytunnel, caring for kitchen gardens, wildflower meadows, woodland walks, wildlife ponds, private contemporary patient gardens, and large open green spaces. Every area you maintain contributes directly to wellbeing, giving a real sense of job satisfaction and pride in your work.
You will carry out a diverse range of horticultural and grounds maintenance activities, working flexibly both independently and alongside other gardeners to maintain high standards across the hospice grounds. Ensuring compliance with health, safety, and environmental requirements, your work will have a visible and meaningful impact every day.
This role also offers the rewarding opportunity to work alongside volunteers and corporate groups, sharing your knowledge and skills to help others contribute positively to the hospice environment. Your guidance will ensure these activities are safe, well organised, and fulfilling for everyone involved.
If you take pride in your work, enjoy working outdoors, and want to be part of something genuinely meaningful, this role offers a rewarding blend of responsibility, creativity, and purpose.
Key responsibilities include maintaining garden sheds, workshops, tools, and machinery to keep them tidy and safe; carrying out a full range of horticultural and grounds maintenance tasks independently; ensuring compliance with health and safety regulations; identifying and treating pests, diseases, and plant health issues; maintaining lawns, flower and vegetable gardens, trees, shrubs, turf, and associated hard landscaping features such as irrigation systems and water features; managing teams of volunteers and corporate groups weekly; working with external suppliers; adhering to agreed plans and legislative requirements; conducting and recording grounds compliance checks including playground inspections and water feature treatments; and reporting to the Grounds Manager on progress or issues.

Experience
Minimum of 1 year’s experience in gardening with experience of powered garden machinery. A broad understanding of garden maintenance is desirable. Experience of crops within a polytunnel, including planting, watering, feeding, and harvesting, is advantageous.

About you
You should be passionate about gardening and working outdoors, take pride in your work, and be able to work independently as well as part of a team. You will have good organisational skills and the ability to manage and support volunteers and corporate groups effectively. A flexible and proactive approach to work, with a commitment to health and safety and environmental standards, is essential.

Qualifications
Relevant horticultural qualifications are desirable but not essential. A willingness to learn and develop your skills within a supportive environment is important.