Location: Dorset (South West)
Salary: £35,000 ~ £40,000
Job Type: Full-Time
Duration: Permanent
This leading Nursery Company is looking for a Head of Horticulture who will be responsible to the Operations Director and can plan and manage a profitable horticultural department.
Responsibilities:
- To create and achieve an annual achievable budget for the entire department.
- To ensure efficient management of the production aspects of the business.
- To oversee creation and implementation of production schedules to meet sales and margin targets.
- To oversee the creation and implementation of a detailed annual sales plan to meet sales targets.
- To monitor all input costs and ensure that the most advantageous timings and pricing is achieved.
- To oversee all product costings and ensure that minimum margin targets are achieved.
- To be the company's “expert” in the field of Horticultural Production and to keep up-to-date with developments in the sector that may affect strategic development of the business.
- Maintain an awareness of market trends and report significant developments to the Operations Director.
- Identify further opportunities for expansion and growth within the horticultural department.
- To maintain a liaison with key customers to ensure that all service and quality requirements are met.
- To ensure the security of all Company property on-site.
Specific Duties:
- Continually monitor all financial and quality aspects of the horticulture department.
- Set and monitor efficiency targets for the use of all resources in the department and take corrective action where appropriate.
- Produce a monthly report for the Board of Directors outlining progress towards annual targets.
- Maintain effective communications with key staff members with the aim of achieving the annual targets.
- Routinely review Health & Safety practice to ensure that a high standard is maintained, and suggesting training needs.
- Maintain and enforce company policy in respect of all employees on site.
- Maintain effective training programme for all staff to maximise skills and product knowledge.
- To represent the Company at Industry events.
- To set objectives for key members of staff to ensure that progress to targets is met.
- To maintain an effective appraisal system to monitor staff performance.
- To ensure that the Horticultural Department meets all statutory requirements.
- Flexibility: To perform any other duties and objectives as required to contribute effectively to the achievement of the business aims and objectives.
The ideal candidate will have: - a strong horticultural background and a proven track record within the industry
- At least 3 years experience at senior management responsibility
- Horticultural production management in glasshouse crops
- Good Commercial Awareness
- Computer literacy.
- Working understanding of efficient manufacturing production processes
- Well developed communication skills written and verbal.
- Highly accurate with good attention to detail.
- Good problem solving ability.
- Good time and task management.
- Common sense.
- Ability to work on own initiative.
- Superb team and man-management experience
