Botanical Gardens Director

TARGET CLOSE DATE:

10/10/2025

PAY GRADE:

Grade 27

TYPE:

Full time

JOB SUMMARY:

The City of Birmingham is seeking a well-qualified and motivated Botanical Gardens Director. This position is responsible for planning, directing, and overseeing the development, operation, and maintenance of the Botanical Gardens and its facilities. Key responsibilities include scheduling horticultural programs, coordinating educational events for students and adults, managing an overall operating budget, and leading personnel management, training, and staff development. The Director also plays a central role in strategic planning for the Gardens. Work is performed under the general supervision of the Parks and Recreation Director, with assignments guided by broad policies, precedents, and goals. This role requires the exercise of considerable independent judgment and executive-level decision making.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS:

The City of Birmingham provides competitive pay and comprehensive benefits packages to include medical and dental insurance, employer-sponsored retirement plan (pension), generous paid holidays, sick and vacation leave, and more. The pay range for this job is presented below:

City of Birmingham: $63,502.40 - $98,508.80

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications that are required for employment consideration for this position:

• Driver’s license.

• Supervisory experience (e.g., conducting performance appraisals, approving time off, assigning/reviewing work).

• Experience contributing to a division or departmental budget (e.g., reviewing spending trends, attending budget meetings/hearings, submitting funding requests for employees, equipment)

• Experience with basic gardening, landscaping, landscape architecture/design, botany, horticulture or related field.

• Experience in customer service (e.g., face-to-face interactions, sales, solving customer problems and complaints).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

The following are job-related qualifications deemed desirable by the City of Birmingham. These qualifications may be considered by the hiring agency when reviewing applications and inviting candidates to participate in subsequent steps in the selection processes.

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in business, administration, social sciences or related fields (e.g., Business Administration, Psychology, Marketing, Public Administration).

• Experience planning and organizing events (e.g., weddings, graduations, dances [homecoming/prom], expos).

TYPICAL JOB DUTIES:

• Oversees and/or performs administrative services (e.g., maintaining files, reviewing contracts, communicating information) in order to maintain efficient departmental operations.

• Oversees the operations of the Botanical Garden grounds by implementing programs, submitting work orders, consulting with experts, and monitoring facilities in order to provide park and recreational services to the citizens of the jurisdiction.

• Prepares, monitors, and administers departmental or organizational budget by reviewing spending trends, expenditure reports, analyzing financial data and ensuring expenditures are within annual budgetary limits.

• Interacts with members of the community, media, and other agencies by developing and delivering presentations, attending meetings, and appearing at local events in order to represent the department.

• Procures and/or manages inventory (i.e., supplies and equipment) to ensure the products and services are available to meet the operational needs of each department.

• Participates in strategic planning activities by creating policies, setting goals, and measuring operational effectiveness in order to provide guidance and direction for the department.

• Supervises staff by assigning and distributing work, directing staff in their job duties, monitoring progress of work, providing feedback and/or training.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

Job involves physical exertion required for sustained periods of light physical activity such as walking or standing. May involve occasional light lifting of items or objects weighing up to 25 lbs.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

Work is conducted both indoors in an office setting as well as outdoors (e.g., gardens, greenhouse). Work involves use of standard office equipment, such as a computer, phone, copier, etc.

EEO STATEMENT:

The Personnel Board of Jefferson County provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment with the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.  Each Merit System member city/agency operate its own equal employment opportunity policies available on the individual city/agency website.

ACCOMMODATION:

NOTE:

This job posting may close before, or be extended beyond, the listed Target Close Date based on the employment needs of the Merit System. More detail regarding this job is available by clicking Apply.

DISCLAIMER:

This job posting is not meant to be an all-inclusive list of the job duties, responsibilities, or skills and abilities required to do the job and may be changed at the discretion of the Personnel Board at any time.