ABOUT THE ROLE 

The Director of Gardens will be the physical infrastructure lead for DUG’s community garden network. This includes responsibility for identification, evaluation, design and installation of new community gardens as well as oversight of all maintenance and improvements to existing DUG gardens. 

The Director of Gardens will report to DUG’s Executive Director. 

The Director of Gardens will support DUG’s Field Operations team, working in a committee leadership structure with the Director of Food Forests and the Director of Garden Leadership. All staff, DUG Corps and contractor roles supporting garden physical infrastructure will report to the Director of Gardens. 

We are looking for a flexible self-starter who enjoys working in a dynamic team environment, and embraces the value of community and cultivating relationships with people from a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences. 

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES 

New Gardens (35%) 

• Identify new sites for DUG community gardens based on community feedback, community interest, site viability, food forest sites, DUG’s new site rubric and organizational priorities. From 2024-2027, the majority of new DUG gardens will be in Denver’s West Area.
• Work in partnership with Director of Garden Leadership (DGL) to engage community in design and installation of new gardens. If a Food Forest in co-located on a site, this work will also be done in partnership with the Food Forest team.
• Design new sites either independently or with contracted landscape architect.
• Incorporate Therapeutic Gardening Initiative (TGI) elements into all new gardens – sensory garden and free play space.
• In 2025, evolve site standards incorporating innovative, climate conscious and accessible design and materials.
• Oversee vendor and material management.
• Adhere to all guidelines and restrictions laid out in DUG’s land use agreements, grants and local, state and federal laws. Ensure all necessary approvals are in hand before work begins.
• Ensure all site tests are conducted and tracked.
• Plan and implement workday schedule to complete builds in partnership with Development team (Volunteer Coordinator and Director of Partnerships).
• Mentor, manage and support physical infrastructure team.

Garden Maintenance and Improvements (35%) 

• Establish annual work plan and budget for garden maintenance and improvement projects based on DUG staff site inspections, capital improvement schedules (i.e. 10-year plot border replacement, etc), community requests and, in some cases, grants.
• Plan annual Baseline Infrastructure Initiative (BII) work based on annual garden adoption revenue.
• Work in partnership with Salesforce/IT team and DGL to streamline inbound Work Order process to track and respond to garden emergencies and inquiries in a timely manner.
• Incorporate TGI elements into five existing DUG gardens per year – sensory garden and free play space.
• Identify optimal work plan utilizing DUG-only, garden-led and DUG-led volunteer work days.
• Oversee vendor and material management.
• Build DIY resource library for gardens/gardeners in partnership with Education and Engagement team.
• Co-create Field Operations innovations – i.e. DUG Hubs.
• Mentor, support and manage the physical infrastructure team.

Community Collaborators (10%) 

• Provide design consulting services for DUG’s Community Collaborators – typically 3 engagements each year. Each engagement consists of 3 meetings which will be a mix of virtual and in person.

○ Some engagements may include providing testimony at developer’s entitlement hearings. 

• Establish and track work plans in partnership with development team and DGL.

Garden Policies (5%) 

• Ensure all activities on DUG garden sites adhere to rules and restrictions laid out by DUG’s landowner partners.
• Evaluate and evolve all policies that impact garden physical infrastructure including but not limited to injury reports, water, trash, land use, bee policy, pet policy, etc.

Admin (10%) 

• Full responsibility for annual physical infrastructure budget – new builds, maintenance and improvements.
• Track progress of spend versus budget in partnership with finance and development.
• Full responsibility for annual evaluation of projects and metrics relating to gardens as spaces of impact including administration of surveys, focus groups or other methods.
• Participate in all Field Operations status and planning meetings.