Vice President of Gardens

Job Type Full-time Description

Cheekwood is a 55-acre American Country Place Era estate in Nashville, Tennessee. Built in 1929 by the Cheek family, the estate was gifted and opened as a public institution in 1960. Today it serves the public as a botanical garden, arboretum, and art museum. The property includes 13 distinct gardens, a 1.5-mile woodland trail featuring outdoor monumental sculpture, an 8,000-piece permanent art collection, and Georgian-style Mansion with historically furnished rooms and galleries.

Cheekwood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and nationally as a Level II Arboretum. It is a four-time voted USA Today Top 10 Botanical Garden, in 2024 received a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award, and in 2021 was named by Fodors as one of the 12 Most Beautiful Gardens in the American South. Cheekwood has a $17M budget and more than 200 full and part-time staff, presenting four seasons of family-oriented festivals, world-class exhibitions, and educational programs for over 380,000 visitors and 17,000 member families annually.

Position Description

Reporting to the President/CEO, the Vice President of Gardens, serves as an executive member of Cheekwood’s Leadership Team. This position will provide direction and leadership for the Botanical Garden and Historic Estate to maintain and elevate Cheekwood as one of the preeminent garden historic site destinations in the country.

Essential Responsibilities

Strategic Vision and Leadership

• Continuously develops and manages plans to maintain standards for horticultural excellence throughout the 55-Garden and Estate, the Vice President of Gardens will lead all garden initiatives in collaboration with the Executive Leadership Team to ensure integrated and strategic outcomes that support the institution’s overall vision and values in service of prevailing five-year strategic plan.
• The Vice President of Gardens is responsible for initiating and developing collaborative projects with local stakeholders, other botanical gardens and associations, professional societies, and academic institutions to maintain and elevate Cheekwood’ s position as a nationally recognized institution.
• Serves as the staff liaison for the Board of Trustees Botanical Garden Committee and administrates all committee business and initiatives.
• Responsible for aligning departmental goals with the organization’s strategic vision and effectively communicating the vision to the garden team, ensuring that shared and individual goals are met.
• Establish performance metrics and accountability standards throughout the gardens.
• Identifies and implements departmental processes and workflows to streamline systems to enhance operational efficiency. 
• Maintains knowledge of emerging industry trends in garden operations management to ensure our current practices remain relevant. 
• In collaboration with the President/CEO, leads the design and champions growth of Cheekwood’s cornerstone seasonal festival garden displays, including Cheekwood in Bloom (250k+ bulbs), Summertime displays (30k+ annuals), Cheekwood Harvest (100k+ pumpkins and chrysanthemums), and Holiday LIGHTS (1M+ lights, and a display of poinsettias).
• Directs all garden exhibitions from inception to delivery. 
• Develops, assesses, and monitors the annual botanical garden budget including horticultural and grounds maintenance, greenhouse production, equipment maintenance, and sustainability practices.

Garden Management

• Manages all operational functions of the botanical garden, including year-round horticultural displays, special exhibitions, living collections management, turf and tree care, greenhouse production, and sustainability practices.
• Provides leadership in the design and development of permanent horticulture and landscape projects relating to both the historic landscape as well as new garden features.
• Leads the design and champions growth of Cheekwood’s cornerstone seasonal festival garden displays, including Cheekwood in Bloom (250k+ bulbs), Summertime displays (30k+ annuals), Cheekwood Harvest (100k+ pumpkins and chrysanthemums), and Holiday LIGHTS (1M+ lights, and a display of poinsettias).
• Oversees the Holiday LIGHTS program as the preeminent seasonal exhibition, will lead the design and implementation of new features, and supports the Special Projects Manager in all phases of planning and execution.
• Works in coordinated collaboration with the VP of Museum Affairs as it relates to garden components of Art/Historic-centric exhibitions and programs in both the garden and historic mansion & museum.
• Directs and manages capital projects and improvements in the garden working in coordinated collaboration with the Senior VP of Facilities and supports planning and execution for the horticultural components of larger and diversified capital construction projects.
• Serves as the primary steward of the historic landscape and manages maintenance and restoration activities in accordance with institutional guidelines and industry’s best practices.
• Works in coordinated collaboration with the Sr. Director of Public Programs and the Director of Outreach on the content of all interpretative garden materials, signage, and programs, especially The Cheekwood Gardening School.
• Directs and approves all garden related content for marketing and serves as the garden representative for media interviews, providing civic presentations and public appearances focused on the garden.
• Works directly with the Senior Vice President of Facilities and Construction to ensure comprehensive coverage of maintenance activities and improvements throughout the garden.
• Serves as the staff liaison with community groups that support Cheekwood, including the Horticulture Society of Middle Tennessee, The Garden Club of Nashville, and various plant societies. Works in coordinated collaboration with the Senior VP of Museum Affairs in producing the entry garden of the annual Antiques & Garden Show benefiting Cheekwood.
• Provides strategic vision and oversight for the permanent living collections to sustain and elevate various accreditations, especially related to the Arboretum.
• Serves as the key point of contact with the CEO and in coordination with the Senior VP of Facilities on weather/disaster related events and garden closures.

Team Management

• Provides leadership, direction and support to the botanical garden team, garden interns, and volunteers in the daily operations, including development and monitoring of the organizational structure needed to accomplish annual goals while fostering a strong working relationship and team spirit among the garden volunteers and team members.
• Manages the recruitment of a strong horticulture team dedicated to excellence in horticulture standards. 
• Ensures that the botanical garden team and garden interns follow all employment policies, procedures, including the attire and grooming policy, and follows the safety precautions and directions in use of equipment and chemicals.
• Engages and manages outside contractors and vendors, but not limited to tree maintenance, turf maintenance, and irrigation.
• Manages the botanical garden water features and the irrigation system in collaboration with the facilities department.
• Sources plant material, garden supplies, and operating supplies purchases.
• Leads the gardens management team to ensure fully coordinated planning and integrated operations, including the Plant Collections & Administrative Manager and Special Projects Manager.

Administrative Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the Garden Supervisors and the Plant Collections & Administrative Manager, manages employee scheduling and payroll for the botanical garden team. 
• Oversee the botanical garden’s expenses and payments, ensuring seamless coordination with Cheekwood’s Accounting Team.
• Reviews monthly financial statements and completes monthly variance reports.

Additional Activities and Responsibilities

• Serves as the primary liaison to The Garden Club of Nashville with respect to Howe Garden management and coordination of special, annual events.
• Coordinates and assists with the design and implementation of Cheekwood’s annual contribution to the Antiques & Garden Show.
• Interacts with Cheekwood visitors and other constituents, including answering plant-related questions and leading tours of the gardens.
• Serves as an external representative of Cheekwood and engages members of the community and industry to exchange information and ideas to support individual and institution growth. 
• Maintains a constant awareness of the guest experience and makes every reasonable effort to ensure the safety and comforts of all people moving through the gardens.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in appropriate discipline (Horticulture, Landscape Architecture, Historic Preservation, Public Garden Management, or related field) and a minimum of five years of related practical experience; progressive supervisory experience and demonstrated organizational success in a similar role.
• Must possess outstanding horticulture or related garden design expertise as well as management, organizational and planning skills. 
• Must possess effective communication and presentation skills that are effective with a range of audiences including staff, volunteers, professional and industry groups, public, and media. 
• Must be a skilled leader who can delegate, manage, and prioritize activities and responsibilities with clarity and confidence combined with strong interpersonal and teamwork skills. 
• This position requires thorough knowledge of botanic garden collections, supporting science and sustainability practices with demonstrated creative design abilities. 
• Must be willing to work non-traditional hours on weekends and evenings in the execution of major events & programs. 
• Proficient in Microsoft in a Windows environment and knowledge of database management including ArcGIS. Must be able to lift frequently and carry up to fifty pounds.  

Benefits

The well-being of Cheekwood employees is essential. So, when it comes to our benefits package, we offer one of the best. We offer the following benefits to all full-time employees:

• Health Insurance 
• Dental
• Vision
• Life Insurance (100% paid by Cheekwood)
• Long Term Disability Insurance (100% paid by Cheekwood)
• Voluntary Life Insurance
• Short Term Disability Insurance
• 403b and Roth 403b with a generous employer match
• Employee Assistance Program
• Paid Time Off and 11 Paid Holidays
• Aflac products are offered