Horticultural Technician

About the role

Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.

• Job Category: University Staff
• Employment Type: Regular
• Job Profile: Horticultural Technician

Job Summary

Help shape the beauty of the UW-Madison campus by creating and maintaining the seasonal landscape displays that make campus vibrant and welcoming!

This position will create and maintain the seasonal landscape displays on the UW-Madison campus. Responsibilities include designing seasonal displays and growing, planting, and caring for a wide variety of annual and perennial plants used in campus displays throughout the year.

Work will be divided between outdoor campus landscapes and the Grounds Department Greenhouse, where staff grow thousands of annual plants for seasonal floral displays. Technicians may care for highly visible areas such as the iconic "W" along University Avenue, the Chancellor's Residence, the System President's House landscapes, and other locations across campus.

This position offers a combination of independent work and collaboration with a team of horticulture and grounds professionals. Technicians will also have the opportunity to contribute to special campus events, including preparing and installing floral displays for winter and spring commencement ceremonies.

Daily work may include planting, watering, cultivating, pruning, weeding, and maintaining seasonal and intensive landscape displays, as well as operating a variety of landscape maintenance tools and equipment. Depending on the assignment, this may include hand tools, motorized walk-behind equipment, and ride-on machinery. This position is also responsible for snow removal on campus, playing an important role in keeping the university grounds safe, accessible, and beautiful throughout the year.

Ongoing/Renewable

Full-Time: 100% FTE

Hours generally scheduled: Monday- Friday, 7am- 3:30pm.

Occasional nights, weekends and holidays may be required for this position. Work is performed onsite.

Key Job Responsibilities

• Trains, assists, and monitors the work of students and unit staff as needed
• Maintains records of plant acquisitions and of greenhouse/garden activities and schedules
• Develops, coordinates and executes spraying programs for fungicide, pesticide, and herbicide applications
• Performs all necessary snow removal duties in the winter
• Coordinates the planting, sowing, fertilization, trimming, watering, and spraying of assigned areas
• Coordinates the maintenance of a greenhouse facility, equipment, and environmental controls. May coordinate the care of animals and other organisms
• Plans and implements instructional plant production schedules; determines and implements proper cultural practices for plant materials, disease and pest control practices, and plant requirements for light, temperature, moisture, and nutrition
• Executes the technical day-to-day operational activities of a greenhouse complex, botanical garden, or plant research project(s)
• Serves as a horticultural expert and consultant to internal and external stakeholders. May assist with laboratory demonstrations when necessary

Department

Division of Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M), Physical Plant- Grounds

About the Division of Facilities Planning & Management

The Division of Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M) is a full-spectrum service organization that builds, maintains, and operates the physical environment of UW-Madison in the university's education, research, and outreach activities. We are responsible for everything from the building projects that change the face of campus to the flowers that beautify the grounds.

Compensation

$20/hr minimum

The minimum rate for this position is $20/hr but it is negotiable based on experience and qualifications.

This position offers a comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off, competitively priced health/dental/vision/life insurance, tax-advantaged savings accounts, and participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

For a summary of benefits, please see below for more information: University Staff Benefits Summary

Required Qualifications

• At least one year of experience safely operating landscape maintenance tools and equipment, such as hedge trimmers, string trimmers, cultivators, and other hand and power tools.
• Ability to perform physically demanding work outdoors in a variety of weather conditions, including lifting, bending, standing, and walking for extended periods.
• Experience working independently and as part of a team to complete assigned work tasks.
• Experience interpreting and carrying out work assignments using landscape plans, written instructions, or related work documents.
• Ability to obtain and maintain Commercial Turf & Landscape (Category 3.0) and Greenhouse & Nursery (Categories 104.0/105.0) pesticide applicator licenses within six months of hire.
• Driver's license - Valid and Meets UW Risk Management Standards

Preferred Qualifications

• 2 years of Horticulture/Landscape experience in a commercial setting
• 1 year of commercial greenhouse experience

Education: Preferred; High School Diploma or GED

• How to Apply: To begin the application process, click the "Apply" button.
• Please note, there is only one attachment field. You must upload all of your documents in the attachment field, either as one combined document, or separate documents.
• We are eager to learn more about how your experience may align with this position.

The following is required for your application to be considered complete

• A cover letter describing how your experience relates to the listed required and preferred job qualifications.
• Resume detailing your professional background.

The search committee will review all application materials after the posted deadline.

• We will notify selected applicants to participate further in the selection process directly.
• References will be requested of final candidates.
• All applicants will be notified after the search is complete and a candidate has been selected.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

Contact Information: Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Institutional Statement on Diversity

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

• The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
• The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

• Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.
• The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department.