Garden Manager Wanted!

We are looking for a Garden Manager who has both practical and managerial experience to lead our small, hard working garden crew and who wishes to seriously develop a career in the regenerative food revolution. 

Our Garden Manager would also need to have or develop their teaching skills over time, and be passionate about passing on the knowledge, to not only the Garden Crew but the wider Kōanga community. 

The Garden Crew mostly work as a team moving from garden to garden as required – with one member of the team taking responsibility for each garden area. The Garden Manager will be responsible for those gardens and managing the team.

Responsibilities

The Garden Manager will:

  • Manage the seed production gardens, local regenerative food production gardens and the growing perennials garden. 
  • Learn the “Kōanga Best Practice” in relation to growing and seed production. 
  • Plan the gardens each year in consultation with the Production Manager (Kay Baxter).
  • Provide support, guidance and tuition to each member of the Garden Crew, enabling them to manage and take care of a garden of approx. 300-400sqm.
  • Provide on-the-job tuition to all members of the Garden Crew on Koanga Best Practice – in terms of bio-intensive growing, seed production & processing and fertiliser creation.
  • Meet with the Garden Crew regularly to ensure that the Kōanga Best Practice process is being upheld & implemented in each garden.
  • Be able to follow existing processes developed from years of experience but also open to helping with the development of new systems.

 Skills and attributes required for the Garden Manager role

  • Degree not required but experience in food production in the horticulture or agriculture industries is essential
  • Teaching experience not required but highly appreciated as one is expected to teach systems to staff & larger community
  • Must have experience in team management & team building
  • Excellent time management
  • Solutions based thinking 
  • Must be capable of & enjoy physical outdoor work, all year round
  • Must have basic practical handy skills to fix and build when necessary
  • Must have an excellent work ethic and be passionate about the ‘regeneration revolution’ 
  • Must be passionate about learning regenerative food systems / helping with the development & creation of systems
  • Must be passionate about people and the work

Kōanga

Kōanga is a registered charitable trust that is dedicated to taking care of our heritage food plants and animals and bringing them forward into a regenerative future. 

The Mission of the Koanga Institute is to inspire, encourage and support regenerative self-reliant communities by: 

  • protecting, developing and sharing our NZ heritage food plants, and animals
  • researching, experiencing and sharing knowledge around regenerative systems 
  • engaging with others to facilitate the adoption of a regenerative culture 

General personal skills and attributes required to join the Koanga Team

  • Interest in and alignment with the Kōanga kaupapa. This means being  passionate about being part of the ‘regeneration revolution’, living simply and making personal choices that align with this philosophy. 
  • A desire to have a career in gardening and regenerative growing.
  • Excited about learning new skills
  • An ability and desire to learn to work as part of a team in creating a regenerative future. Willingness to fully engage with our team and be a team player is essential.  
  • Willingness to be involved in working together to ensure that we all have the best possible food capable of creating healthy people. Our mentors and inspiration include Sally Fallon Morrel ( Dr Weston Price Foundation) www.westonaprice.org, Dr Natasha Campbell McBride (The Gut and Psychology Syndrome) , Keith Lierre (The Vegetarian Myth), Julia Ross (The Craving Cure), and Dr Zach Bush (https://zachbushmd.com/) 
  • Interest in and a willingness to work through and discuss the Kōanga Best Practice in all its kaupapa 
  • Willingness to be photographed or filmed while working for use on social media and to provide pictures for social media.
  • Other skills are also an advantage, but not essential. We are a small team of approximately 20 people and additional skills help to strengthen the team. Useful skills could include handy person skills (basic building, plumbing, irrigation etc), IT skills, teaching skills or design skills.

If you’re ready to join a regeneration legacy, if you’re keen to learn and develop regenerative systems, and if you love being outdoors and working with the earth and people alike, apply now!

Please e-mail [email protected] for the full job description

Applications need to be in by the end of February and the ideal start date is beginning of April