Landscape Foreman

Position Description:

Apiary Studio is seeking an Individual experienced in landscape construction to manage project installations. Our projects typically involve hardscaping, carpentry, planting and irrigation. We need a full time (35+ hours/week) foreman to oversee the construction process, and manage in-house landscape labor and subcontractors. The foreman will spend most of their time in the field, with some time spent in the office to help with cost estimating, ordering materials and other design and administrative tasks. 

About Apiary Studio:

Apiary Studio is a landscape architecture, design/build, and experimental horticulture firm. We work to achieve thoughtful design solutions that maximize opportunities and mitigate challenges in an increasingly post-wilderness, post-humanist world. By way of dogged research, in-house trialling, and insatiable curiosity, we have come to specialize in unconventional building materials, adaptive reuse of urban decay, and unusual hardy plants to create gardens and outdoor spaces that are dynamic, responsive, and break from the mold. Our work is mostly, but not exclusively urban, within the Philadelphia and New Jersey metro area.

Required Skills:

The following list of skills represent the core activities that the foreman will be tasked with performing or managing. Not all of these skills will be utilized on every project, and our scope of work is often much broader, but these represent the most common and fundamental skills a foreman will utilize towards Apiary’s projects:

• Drivers License – the Applicant must possess a driver’s license. We have a work van that we use for projects, and we occasionally rent trucks and other vehicles.
• Paving & Concrete Masonry – Some experience working with installing pavers and pouring concrete is necessary for this position
• Carpentry – Some carpentry experience and aptitude are required: we build fences, pergolas and other outdoor furnishings in many of our projects
• Horticulture – Basic planting, pruning and plant care are involved in almost any of our projects. We also take particular pride in our planting design and maintenance work.
• Equipment Operation – We own small gas-powered landscape equipment like chainsaws, mowers, a rototiller and plate compactor. We also frequently rent small equipment like mini-skid steers and compact excavators in order to build the landscapes we design. Candidates must have at least some experience with basic landscape equipment operation.

Personality:

We think we have a great team at Apiary Studio, full of creative and ambitious talent. We are a small, young firm in the process of growing and expanding our design and construction services. All employees are expected to be pleasant, polite and friendly towards one another in order to foster as collaborative and fun an environment as possible. Additional personality traits we all. Possess include:

• Attention to Detail – Our obsession with craft and attention to detail is what sets our firm apart from other companies. A big part of the reason that we undertake both design and build services is because we believe that we can do it better than just about anyone else.
• Creativity – While we work out designs thoroughly on paper before putting a shovel in the ground, field conditions always present surprises and many details need to be worked out in the field. The Foreman is is empowered to make design and craft decisions on the fly when building gardens.
• Collaborative – We work well because we work as a team. It is critical that all staff feel comfortable working together and sharing ideas fluidly during the design process as well as during construction.
• Passion for Sustainability – At the end of the day, we feel strongly that it is our responsibility to create landscapes that heal people, restore ecologies and consume the least amount of resources possible. The field crew is in a unique position to help protect the physical environment and employ resource conservation throughout the construction process. The Foreman will set the tone for waste minimization and resource conservation on site. 

Skills nice to have but not necessary:

• Welding & Metalwork – We regularly perform relatively simple metalwork, including installing and welding steel edging and other outdoor furnishings. The degree of experience that this skill requires can be taught on the job if the candidate does not already possess metalwork experience.
• Electrical – We sometimes wire simple circuitry and low-voltage lighting. These rudimentary electrical skills can also be picked up on the job pretty quickly.
• Plumbing & Irrigation – Many projects involve installing basic drainage plumbing, as well as simple drip irrigation systems. Experience in these aspects of landscaping can be taught on the job if not already possessed.

Compensation:

$25+ per hour starting rate, negotiable depending on experience. Paid holidays and vacation. 

Application Materials and Contact Information: 

Apiary Studio is located in the Germantown-Mt Airy neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia. More information about the practice can be found at 

www.Apiary-Studio.com

Candidates are asked to please include a cover letter and resume with the subject line: ATTN Landscape Contractor Position to info@apiary-studio.com 

Work samples and employee references may be requested after interviewing.