Horticulture Manager

About Us

We are an international agricultural organization dedicated to enhancing productive, sustainable, and top-quality horticultural operations worldwide. Our emphasis lies on crop yield improvement, plant health, managing soil and water resources, ensuring quality, efficient use of resources, environmental care, and a commitment to ongoing development.

Role Overview

We are searching for an experienced Horticulture Manager to oversee horticultural production and activities across various environments including nurseries, farms, greenhouses, orchards, and landscapes, whether in controlled or open fields.

The appointed individual will be responsible for planning crops, monitoring plant health, irrigation, nutrition, pest control, propagation, harvesting, workforce management, technology integration, budgeting, quality assurance, and sustainable agricultural practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Create and execute horticulture production strategies that align with business goals and market demands.
• Formulate seasonal and yearly crop production plans.
• Supervise all phases of crop management including establishment, propagation, cultivation, pruning, training, harvesting, and post-harvest processes.
• Choose the most suitable plant varieties, rootstocks, cultivation methods, and growing systems.
• Manage operations in nurseries, greenhouses, orchards, protected crops, or open fields as applicable.
• Track plant growth, crop progress, yield forecasts, quality, and maturity standards.
• Design irrigation schedules based on crop needs, soil, weather conditions, and production systems.
• Oversee soil moisture, drainage, irrigation efficiency, and water usage.
• Manage fertilization, fertigation, nutrients, and soil improvement efforts.
• Perform crop scouting regularly to detect pests, diseases, nutrient issues, weeds, and environmental stresses.
• Implement integrated pest and disease management strategies.
• Ensure responsible use and compliance for fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and other inputs.
• Manage plant propagation techniques including seedling production, grafting, cuttings, and transplanting where required.
• Set and maintain standards for crop quality regarding appearance, size, maturity, consistency, health, and market needs.
• Coordinate harvesting, grading, packaging, storage, and delivery processes.
• Reduce crop damage, waste, post-harvest losses, and product rejections.
• Handle material management including growing media, amendments, containers, seeds, seedlings, fertilizers, and crop protection supplies.
• Keep accurate records of inputs, treatments, production outputs, quality, and fieldwork.
• Manage horticulture machinery, irrigation and greenhouse equipment, climate control systems, tools, and infrastructure.
• Develop preventative maintenance programs to enhance equipment reliability and operational continuity.
• Lead horticultural teams including growers, supervisors, technicians, seasonal laborers, contractors, and service providers.
• Create staff schedules, set productivity goals, implement training, and define performance standards.
• Provide training on plant handling, crop care, chemical safety, equipment use, hygiene, and safety regulations.
• Manage budgets covering labor, inputs, maintenance, and capital expenditures.
• Forecast demand for seeds, plants, fertilizers, pesticides, media, equipment, packaging, and other supplies.
• Handle procurement and assess supplier quality, availability, pricing, and service.
• Monitor weather and environmental risks, creating contingency plans.
• Control greenhouse environmental factors such as climate, ventilation, humidity, temperature, lighting, and shading where applicable.
• Utilize precision horticulture technologies including sensors, automation, GIS, drones, remote monitoring, and crop management systems.
• Analyze data to identify productivity gaps, cost drivers, and improvement opportunities.
• Conduct trials and assessments of new varieties, techniques, technology, inputs, and production methods.
• Collaborate with agronomy experts, plant pathologists, entomologists, irrigation specialists, laboratories, suppliers, and research bodies.
• Ensure compliance with laws concerning agriculture, environment, food safety, chemical handling, labor, and workplace safety.
• Promote sustainable methods focusing on water conservation, soil health, nutrient efficiency, integrated pest management, and waste reduction.
• Support initiatives for biodiversity, pollinator protection, habitat management, and responsible land use when applicable.
• Prepare detailed reports addressing production, yield, quality, labor, costs, risks, and sustainability.
• Investigate production challenges and implement corrective and preventative solutions.
• Identify ways to improve productivity, quality, resource use, automation, and profitability.
• Lead ongoing improvement campaigns within horticultural operations.

Performance Indicators

• Crop yield per hectare or production unit area.
• Total volume of production.
• Plant survival and establishment rates.
• Marketable yield and crop quality.
• Rates of product rejection and downgrades.
• Crop and post-harvest losses.
• Efficiency of water use.
• Efficiency of fertilizers and nutrient application.
• Occurrence of pests and diseases.
• Effectiveness of crop protection.
• Health of soils and growing media.
• Labor productivity metrics.
• Operational uptime of equipment and facilities.
• Inventory accuracy for inputs.
• Input costs per production unit.
• Cost of production per unit.
• Compliance with harvest scheduling.
• Supplier performance evaluations.
• Worker safety record.
• Environmental compliance metrics.
• Success in reducing waste.
• Adherence to budgets.
• Accuracy of forecasting.
• Success of trials and innovations.
• Compliance with regulations.
• Customer satisfaction levels.
• Gains from continuous improvement efforts.

Candidate Profile

• Extensive experience in horticulture, commercial crop production, nursery and greenhouse operations, floriculture, fruit and vegetable cultivation, landscape horticulture, agronomy, or related domains.
• In-depth understanding of horticultural production and plant management practices.
• Knowledge of plant physiology, nutrition, soil management, irrigation, and plant health systems.
• Experience managing various horticultural production environments such as greenhouses, nurseries, orchards, protected cropping, or open fields.
• Familiarity with integrated pest and disease management techniques.
• Proven track record in managing propagation, planting, cultivation, harvesting, and post-harvest procedures.
• Strong leadership skills with experience overseeing workforce and contractors.
• Competence in managing horticultural financials, procurement, and vendor relationships.
• Ability to analyze production data, crop health, quality metrics, and financial reports.
• Experience with precision agriculture technologies including controlled environments, automation, sensors, and digital farm management tools.
• Comprehensive understanding of chemical safety, food safety, environmental compliance, and agricultural regulations.
• Excellent organizational, planning, communication, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Capacity to manage seasonal peaks and handle operational emergencies effectively.
• Meticulous focus on plant quality, operational details, and resource optimization.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English communication.
• A practical and commercial mindset with dedication to sustainability and continuous improvement.