Location
Colindale, London

Hours
Site open Wednesday to Sunday, regular weekend work essential. Hours arranged to provide cover across these five days, with occasional evenings for events or late deliveries. One full-time post or a split position with two part-time posts available.

Salary
£40,000 per annum pro-rata

About the Role
Imagine overseeing 4,000m² of vacant land transformed with rescued, donated, and wayward plants and trees into a vibrant public space—a living greenspace hub for sustainability, creativity, culture, and community. Cultivate Colindale features biodiverse meadows, community gardens, allotments, a greenhouse complex with propagation, a materials yard, and a community tree nursery alongside sustainable innovations, creative commissions, and cultural programming. At the heart of the site is the Wayward Plants Reuse Centre, building on nearly a decade as the Official Reuse Partner of the RHS, distributing over 100,000 mature plants, trees, and materials to more than 1,000 community and school gardens across London. This role supports expanding reuse efforts year-round, diverting waste from construction and horticultural industries to green London and supporting communities in need.

This is a highly unique, public-facing, and physically demanding role. Responsibilities include:
- Host: Be the public face on site, communicate the vision, build local relationships, welcome visitors and volunteers, and run workshops and volunteer sessions.
- Gardener: Lead stewardship of all planted areas including community allotments, biodiverse habitats, greenhouse propagation, and tree nursery. Care for rescued and donated plants and trees, supported by a part-time local gardener and volunteers.
- Site Operations: Manage day-to-day operations including opening and securing the site, health and safety, inductions, incident logging, problem-solving, and supporting community builds.
- Reuse Operations: Oversee the flow of donated plants, trees, and hard-landscape materials arriving through the Reuse Centre.
- Coordination: Build weekly work plans to create meaningful volunteer and apprentice opportunities, plan seasonal tasks and special projects, and identify when additional help is needed.

Cultivate Colindale was designed by Wayward, an award-winning design and placemaking practice, and is run in partnership with Energy Garden, a community benefit society developing community gardening and renewable energy initiatives.

Experience
Very strong horticultural knowledge and practical skills, preferably gained in community growing or public garden settings. Experience with community engagement and public-facing roles is highly desirable.

About you
Confident communicator who enjoys working with communities and the public. Comfortable with physical on-site tasks including community builds. Highly collaborative, social, and energized by the project’s vision and possibilities. Organised, thoughtful, hopeful, and optimistic about the power of green spaces to transform communities.

Bonus skills include willingness to use a cargo bike and, with training, drive a forklift. Additional desirable skills: basic construction or carpentry, photography, foraging, seed saving, or propagation. Please share any other relevant skills you bring.

Qualifications
Right to work in the UK required. Training will be provided for any required certifications. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and experiences and are an equal opportunities employer.