Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Engagement Arboriculturalist

Hackney Tree Musketeers
Remote working London with some days at the nursery in Hackney each month

Posted: 16 Sep 2025

Deadline: 26 Sep 2025

Compensation: £10,500 (£14 per hour)

Paid Part-time Flexible hours Remote working

Job description

Background

This is an exciting time in the development of the Tree Musketeers (TMs) at the tree nursery. Having been a voluntary organisation for 25 years we are now hiring staff to bring in relevant expertise, provide a consistent level of support, and help us expand our work. The tree nursery has over 2000 trees growing at any one time and the TMs plant out hundreds of trees every year in Hackney's parks and green spaces. We have ambitious plans which include reaching out to the wider community and expanding our volunteer base, fundraising to build a workshop space and volunteer hub, and growing and planting trees for a changing climate.

Practicalities

This is a new role for the TMs. We are interested in hearing from candidates who are self-employed or freelance consultants. We can offer the equivalent of two days/ 14 hours per week at a pro rata rate of £30,000 pa. The successful candidate will need to work remotely for part of the role as there is currently no suitable workspace at the tree nursery. Flexible working is encouraged. The successful candidate will report to the trustees, and specifically to the Chair of the trustees.

Objectives for this role

• to manage our tree stock from seed collection to planting-out, or sale
• to engage, educate and inspire volunteers and the wider community on growing, planting and caring for trees
• to work with council officers to create and agree planting proposals, aftercare, management and volunteer sessions in parks and green spaces.

Responsibilities of engagement arboriculturalist

• management of tree stock
• seed collection & propagation
• formative pruning
• irrigation management
• develop and maintain manual, record-keeping, reporting, & task diary
• ordering of trees, soil mix, tools and other necessary stock
• help organise planting and other tree-related activities
• assist or cover regular volunteer sessions at the tree nursery as requested
• support & training of volunteers
• engage a variety of groups and community organisations
• engage, and develop contacts, with the Council and professional tree organisations
• risk management & H&S
• taking photos and writing captions for tree related social media posts
• attend organising and other meetings as necessary
• undertake any other tasks as requested by the chair of the trustees

Skills & qualifications

• understanding of, and commitment to, the purpose and aims of the TMs
• qualified to at least level 2 in arboriculture, or relevant horticultural/ degree qualification
• practical tree experience, working or volunteering
• good communication skills and experience of leading workshops
• knowledge and experience of using tools effectively and ability to supervise tool use
• good IT skills; competent use of spreadsheets; use of tree management software (preferable)
• knowledge of basic GIS software mapping (preferable)
• good organisational and project management skills
• time management skills, with the ability to manage own workload
• good record keeping skills
• a proactive attitude, drive and enthusiasm
• the ability to motivate others and work as part of a team
• sensitivity to the needs and concerns of volunteers
• resilience, particularly when faced with setbacks
• driving licence (preferable)

Application information

There is no application form but we ask you to provide details of your skills and experience in the following order:

1. Name, email address, telephone number
2. Relevant educational qualifications
3. Relevant work experience, training courses, work/ volunteering experience
4. Any other information in support of your application including skills and experience gained from work, voluntary and/or leisure activities which are relevant to the job description (max: 1 side A4)
5. Specific expertise: please indicate your level of expertise on the following using no experience; some knowledge/ limited experience; reasonable experience; proficient:

• tree and plant identification
• orchard pruning and management
• plant propagation and good nursery practice
• tree pest and disease identification and management

There is no need for a cover letter. Applications can be emailed to tiffany@treemusketeers.org.uk

Please put Application Form Arb post in the subject line.

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