Executive Director of the Arboretum

Please note: To be considered for an interview, all applicants must include a Statement of Contributions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) (https://academicaffairs.ucsc.edu/contributions-to-diversity/index.html).

When submitting your application, upload your statement as an additional attachment in Step 3 of the Application process.

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INITIAL REVIEW DATE (IRD)

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The IRD for this job is: Applications continue to be accepted

ABOUT UC SANTA CRUZ

UC Santa Cruz is a public university like no other in California, combining the experience of a small, liberal arts college with the depth and rigor of a major research university. It's known as an unconventional place where innovation and experimentation is part of the campus's DNA. That playful, bold spirit still thrives today, all on a campus renowned as among the most beautiful in the world.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanic Garden https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/ is a unit within the Division of Finance, Operations and Administration https://foa.ucsc.edu/. Our division includes a broad and diverse set of operational units whose team members work daily to support the core mission of UC Santa Cruz to advance excellence in teaching, research, and service. Units in FOA foster a diverse, safe, sustainable, innovative, and community-centered environment through exceptional service.

As a division, we are committed to the ongoing work of building an inclusive and supportive community, where we collaborate to achieve shared goals. We seek to attract and develop a diverse workforce who contribute to these goals, support our increasingly diverse faculty, staff, students, and community members, and contribute to equity across our institution.

The Arboretum reported to the Division of Academic Affairs through 2024, and will continue to closely collaborate with this division through its function as an academic support unit.

The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden's 115 acres host a rich and diverse collection that contains representatives from more than 300 plant families from mostly Mediterranean climates. The garden maintains collections of rare and threatened plants as well as plants of scientific and horticultural interest. Particular specialties are world conifers and primitive angiosperms. The formal gardens include plants from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and California. Some of the species in these collections are not otherwise available for study in American botanical gardens and arboreta.

More information can be found at: https://arboretum.ucsc.edu/

JOB SUMMARY

Under the general direction of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Sustainability, the Executive Director provides leadership for the Arboretum & Botanic Garden at UC Santa Cruz. The Executive Director manages staff, budgets, philanthropic and capital development, collections, grounds, educational programs, and retail operations. The person in this role ensures compliance with campus policies and government regulations and provides vision for the collections and for the Arboretum as a whole.

This position requires a leader with development experience, with demonstrated achievements in talent management and individual fundraising, and broad knowledge of the importance of integrating fundraising with communications, marketing, and community building. The incumbent will provide visionary leadership to the Arboretum & Botanic Garden to advance conversations around the intersections of native plant cultivation and conservation with the campus's, as well as regional, sustainability and climate action initiatives.

The incumbent enables the Arboretum to advance community conversations and solutions to some of the most salient issues faced by our society, including climate change and biodiversity loss, and how native plant cultivation and conservation have a key role. The incumbent helps advance conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss, and land stewardship.

The Arboretum & Botanic Garden collaborates closely with academic partners to advance cutting-edge research for dissemination to and application by the public - across campus, regionally, and globally. The incumbent is expected to model the UCSC Principles of Community in their interactions with senior leaders, faculty, students and staff at all levels of the organization, and in their interactions with agencies, organizations and individuals outside of the campus.

APPOINTMENT INFORMATION

Budgeted Salary: $133,100 - $155,000 / Annually. Salary commensurate with skills, qualifications and experience.
Under California law, the University of California, Santa Cruz is required to post a reasonable estimate of the compensation for this role. The salary shown above is the budgeted amount the University reasonably expects to pay and the salary extended should not exceed this posted amount.

Benefits Level Eligibility: Full benefits

Schedule Information:

• Full-time, Fixed
• Percentage of Time: 100%, 40 Hours per Week
• Days of the Week: Mon-Fri
• Shift Includes: Day

Employee Classification: Career appointment

Job End Date: None

Work Location: UC Santa Cruz Main Campus

Union Representation: Non-Represented

Job Code Classification: 000421 (CURATORIAL MGR 1)

Travel: Never or Rarely

JOB DUTIES

50% - Arboretum Leadership

• Provide leadership, guidance and oversight of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. Provide oversight in managing its staff, budget, fundraising and development program, collections, grounds, buildings and facilities, educational programs, assets, and retail operations.
• Provide vision and strategic planning for the gardens by assessing needs and gathering data; developing goals and measurable objectives to meet that vision; and ensuring compliance with campus policies and related regulations.
• Develop and implement strategies to ensure the prominence of the Arboretum both in general, and in campus and local sustainability efforts, biodiversity conservation, plant science and land stewardship, resulting in positive local and national publicity, increased volunteer engagement, and substantial connections with faculty and students from throughout the campus as well as the broader community.
• Ensure compliance with campus and government policies and best practices, particularly those related to health and safety, sustainability, water conservation, education, and guest services. Ensure the development of new policies and practices to respond to changing needs and circumstances.
• Advance the Arboretum's engagement in and education about irrigation best practices and land stewardship in order to provide exemplary regional leadership for water conservation and plant science in a horticultural environment.
• Lead fundraising for the Arboretum, including donor cultivation. Act as Principal Investigator on grants submitted and managed by the Arboretum. Balance revenue and expenses, and provide sound fiscal management.
• Ensure a high-quality visitor experience at the Arboretum, and work to increase visitor and member counts.
• Serve as the campus liaison to the Board of the Friends of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum. Collaborate with other campus units and forge partnerships with faculty.
• Attend conferences, trainings and conducting site visits.

20% - Management

• Manage staff; responsible for performance management of staff members; including annual evaluations, setting expectations and providing regular feedback, responsible for providing professional development opportunities and trainings. Make hiring decisions, salary recommendations and addresses performance concerns that may lead to discipline and/or dismissal.
• Manage the team's overall workload and assumes responsibility for the team's quality of work and compliance with policies and processes.

20% - Collections Management and Care

• Oversee operations of the gardens in accordance with best industry practices including: collections, irrigation, propagation, maintenance, facilities, equipment, safety, capital improvements, and special projects
• Ensure the development and implementation of garden collections and maintenance policies and protocols, and the record keeping of all propagation, procurement, and inventory of plants. Ensure the propagation of ample and appropriate plants for sale and for the preservation of the collections.
• Oversee the monitoring of plant health care to ensure long-term viability. Develop protocol for controlling invasive weeds and destructive pests while protecting endangered wildlife.
• Oversee management of collections as appropriate to ensure that staffing, water, and other resources are best utilized for those plants essential to our collections or sales. Manage water use to ensure that all established restrictions goals are complied with or exceeded.
• Secure and maintain collection permits and licenses, as appropriate.

10% - Education, Interpretation and Outreach

• Develop and participate in educational programming at or sponsored by the Arboretum, including those related to horticulture, gardening and restoration.
• Build new and maintain existing relationships and collaborations with regional and state-wide conservation agencies and related non-profits.
• Oversee the creative development, implementation, installation, and maintenance of interpretative materials and exhibits in the Arboretum.
• In collaboration with the Arboretum staff, help arrange and participate in Arboretum programs and activities including tours, events, workshops, lectures, and donor events to help ensure financial goals and customers' expectations are met.
  

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master's degree in public garden management, non-profit management, botany, horticulture, ecology, landscape architecture, or related fields, and/or equivalent experience and/or training.
• Experience in horticultural activities.
• Experience developing, tracking, and staying within budgets with multiple fund sources, and analyzing financial data sufficient to project income and expenditures.
• Experience managing staff, including recruiting, hiring, training, motivating, coaching, and enforcing accountability.
• Experience in fundraising, both grant writing and solicitation of high capacity individual donors.
• Demonstrated knowledge of best practices in horticultural care and conservation, taxonomy, cataloging, engagement, stewardship and applied practice, especially of plants that are featured in the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum gardens, such as South African, New Zealand, Australian, and Native Californian plants.
• Demonstrated cultural competence and ability to communicate and interact effectively with diverse constituencies within and outside the University, including those from currently marginalized and historically under-represented groups.
• Demonstrated good judgment,
• Project management skills.
• Excellent verbal communication skills, including speaking to groups in formal and informal settings.
• Excellent written communication skills.
• Skill in viewing issues both from a broad perspective and in detail. Ability to establish a vision and lead people toward that goal.
  

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Ph.D. in a related discipline
• Professional certifications/licenses in pest management and arboriculture.
• Teaching experience at the university level.

SPECIAL CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

• Selected candidate will be required to pass a pre-employment criminal history background check.
• Must possess a valid license to drive in the state of California.
• Ability to work long periods of time at a computer with or without accommodation.
• Ability to perform work in a rugged physical environment and inclement weather with challenging infrastructure requirements.
• Physical stamina to walk up to several miles a day and to lift, push, pull and carry items up to 30 pounds.
• Ability to successfully work with and around a variety of fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides.
• Ability to perform vertebrate pest control such as trapping, baiting, or other types of rodent control.
• Ability to ascend/descend ladders with or without accommodation.
• The selected candidate will be required to work all scheduled hours on-site.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends as directed.
• Ability to respond to emergencies after hours as necessary.
• Selected candidate will be required to complete training within established time frames as directed including UC compliance training.
• Ability to work safely in areas where hazardous materials are present or stored.
• Ability to travel to multiple work locations on and off campus.
• Ability to travel nationally.
• The University of California has implemented a Vaccination Policy covering all employees. Employees, including new hires, are required to comply with any applicable policies relating to the University of California vaccine program.
• Per the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), this position has been identified as a Mandated Reporter. The selected candidate will be required to report known or suspected child abuse or neglect as defined by CANRA and will be required to sign a Statement Acknowledging Requirement to Report Child Abuse prior to commencing employment. CANRA Penal Codes, and related definitions, requirements, and responsibilities may be obtained here.

SAFETY STATEMENT

All UCSC employees must understand and follow job safety procedures, attend required health and safety training, proactively promote safety at work, and promptly report actual and potential accidents and injuries.

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY

EEO/AA

The University of California is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, or protected veteran status. UC Santa Cruz is committed to excellence through diversity and strives to establish a climate that welcomes, celebrates, and promotes respect for the contributions of all students and employees.

For the University of California's Affirmative Action Policy please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4010393/PPSM-20

For the University of California's Anti-Discrimination Policy, please visit: https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/1001004/Anti-Discrimination