Horticulturist at Faircape Group

Job Description

• Faircape Life is the benchmark for high-end retirement living, operating six premier retirement villages in the Western Cape. Our luxury estates are designed around exceptional lifestyle, wellbeing, and attention to detail — offering residents beautifully maintained gardens, pet-friendly environments, world-class Clubhouses, state-of-the-art Healthcare Centres, swimming pools, gyms, and tranquil outdoor spaces that elevate everyday living.
• We are seeking an experienced Horticulturist to be based in Somerset West, responsible for managing day-to-day garden operations and overseeing short-, medium-, and long-term maintenance planning across Bridgewater Manor, Heritage Manor, and Onrus Manor, while working closely alongside the Landscape Architect on design and enhancement projects.
• This is a hands-on role ensuring consistently high standards of upkeep.
• Are you passionate about maintaining exceptional outdoor environments? Do you thrive on managing multiple sites, guiding teams, and ensuring consistently high standards across landscaped spaces? This is an opportunity to make a visible, lasting impact across some of Faircape Life’s most prestigious estates.

Key Responsibilities

Team & Operations Management:

• Manage and oversee groundsman supervisors across multiple estates, ensuring their teams deliver consistent, high-quality output
• Drive daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance schedules and ensure consistent execution across all sites
• Ensure accountability, productivity, and quality standards across all landscaping teams
• Garden Excellence: Ensure the gardens are always immaculate, flourishing, and seasonally spectacular. Provide guidance on plant care and maintenance to ensure consistent standards.
• Horticultural Leadership: Use your plant knowledge to maintain vibrant landscapes through sustainable gardening, pest management, and soil nutrition practices.

Landscaping Coordination:

• Work alongside the Landscape Architect to support and implement landscaping upgrades and improvements
• Ensure designs are executed correctly on-site, maintaining quality and timelines

Maintenance Planning:

• Develop and implement seasonal maintenance schedules to ensure year-round garden health and presentation.
• Irrigation & Water Management: Oversee and optimise irrigation systems across all estates, ensuring efficient water usage, leak detection, and alignment with water-wise and sustainability best practices.
• Health & Safety Compliance: Ensure all gardening activities comply with Health & Safety requirements, including the safe use of tools, machinery, and chemicals, and adherence to estate safety standards.
• Contractor & Supplier Coordination: Manage and oversee external landscaping contractors and plant suppliers, ensuring quality workmanship, timelines, and compliance with Faircape Life standards.
• Estate Presentation & Inspections: Conduct regular estate-wide inspections to proactively identify risks, deterioration, or improvement opportunities, escalating requirements where necessary.
• Sustainability Initiatives: Implement environmentally responsible gardening practices, including composting, soil regeneration, indigenous planting, and pest control strategies.
• Equipment & Asset Control: Maintain oversight of garden equipment, tools, and assets, ensuring proper maintenance, storage, and replacement planning.
• Interdepartmental Collaboration: Work closely with Management, Landscape Architect, Estate Managers, Village Managers and gardening teams to coordinate landscaping work with broader estate operations.
• Community Engagement: Host engaging garden talks for residents, fostering appreciation for the estates' stunning landscapes.
• Seasonal & Event Support: Support estate events and seasonal displays by preparing gardens to a consistently resident-ready and visitor-ready standard.

What We’re Looking For

Qualifications

• Diploma or qualification in Horticulture, Landscaping, Agriculture or related field (advantageous)

Experience & Expertise

• Proven experience managing grounds teams, supervisors, or landscaping operations across multiple sites
• Strong experience in garden maintenance and landscaping execution 
• Experience implementing landscaping projects of the highest standard.
• Extensive knowledge of plant biology, soil science, irrigation systems, and environmental sustainability.

Skills & Attributes

• Attention to Detail: A sharp eye for presentation, plant health, and finishing touches that ensure gardens are consistently estate-ready and visually exceptional.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with the ability to manage supervisors and teams effectively
• Hands-On Leadership: Willingness to lead from the front, working alongside teams when needed to set standards and maintain momentum.
• Accountability & Ownership: Takes full responsibility for garden performance across all sites, following through on commitments and standards.
• Time Management & Reliability: Highly dependable, with the ability to prioritise tasks effectively across multiple estates and deadlines.
• Problem Solver: Expert in diagnosing and resolving plant health and maintenance challenges.
• Organized & Strategic: Exceptional planning and multitasking skills to manage multiple sites and teams.
• Innovative & Adaptable: Flexibility to embrace changing priorities, weather challenges, and operational demands.

Specific Requirements

• Own reliable transport.
• Clear criminal record.
• Two written references preferred