About this role:
The Nursery Manager is responsible for the overall management, operation, and performance of the plant nursery, ensuring the availability of healthy, high-quality trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and other ornamental plants to support landscaping projects and commercial sales. The role includes planning plant production, managing plant inventory, supervising nursery staff, maintaining irrigation systems, controlling pests and diseases, ensuring compliance with UAE regulations, and achieving operational and financial targets.
Nursery Operations
- Plan, organize, and oversee daily nursery operations.
- Manage plant propagation, growing, maintenance, and dispatch activities.
- Ensure plant quality meets project specifications and client requirements.
- Monitor plant health and implement corrective actions as required.
- Develop annual and seasonal production plans based on demand forecasts.
Plant Inventory & Production
- Maintain accurate inventory of all nursery stock.
- Coordinate procurement of plants, seeds, growing media, fertilizers, and nursery materials.
- Schedule propagation and cultivation activities to ensure timely availability of plant material.
- Optimize production cycles to minimize plant losses.
Irrigation & Plant Health Management
- Manage irrigation systems and water consumption.
- Ensure plants receive suitable irrigation according to species requirements.
- Develop and implement integrated pest and disease management programs.
- Coordinate with suppliers and specialists regarding plant nutrition and treatment plans.
Staff Management
- Supervise nursery supervisors, horticulturists, irrigation technicians, drivers, and laborers.
- Prepare work schedules and allocate resources efficiently.
- Conduct staff training on horticultural practices, safety procedures, and operational standards.
- Evaluate employee performance and identify development opportunities.
Landscape Project Support
- Coordinate plant supply schedules with landscape project teams.
- Ensure plants are available according to project construction programs.
- Manage tree holding areas and acclimatization of imported plant materials.
- Support site inspections and project handovers.
Financial & Commercial Management
- Prepare nursery budgets and monitor expenditure.
- Control operational costs while maintaining quality standards.
- Develop strategies to improve nursery profitability and productivity.
- Prepare monthly operational and financial performance reports.
Occupational and workplace Health and Safety responsibilities:
- In addition to all job-specific responsibilities, all employees are required to adhere to all Basatin health, safety and environmental (HSE) policies, procedures, practices, and relevant legal and statutory health, safety and environmental requirements and obligations. All employees are personally responsible for familiarizing themselves with these policies, procedures, practices, updates, etc. Khidmah HSE department regularly updates existing and introduces new policies, procedures, and practices and each employee is personally responsible to ensure they stay updated and compliant with all such updates and new additions.
Information Security responsibilities:
- Comply with Basatin Information Security Policies
- Be aware of and fulfil their information security responsibilities
- Ensure whoever handles sensitive company information has taken the Security Awareness Training
- Know how to report a security incident (to IT ServiceDesk or InfoSec).
- Not Disable his/her OS firewall and/or Antivirus
- Restrict use to authorized purposes, Protect access accounts, privileges and associated passwords.
- Accept accountability of his/her individual user accounts and maintain confidentiality.
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Horticulture or Agriculture.
- Master degree is an advantage.
- Minimum 8–10 years of relevant nursery management experience.
- At least 3–5 years in a managerial role within the UAE or GCC.
- Experience managing large-scale landscape project nurseries and tree holding facilities.
- Experience with native, ornamental, and imported plant species commonly used in UAE landscaping projects.
- Plant production and propagation techniques.
- Tree and shrub cultivation.
- Irrigation system management.
- Pest and disease management.
- Plant nutrition and fertilization programs.
- Nursery inventory management systems.
- Budgeting and cost control.
- Microsoft Office and reporting software.
- Knowledge of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and other UAE municipality landscaping requirements.
- Familiarity with UAE climate conditions and water conservation practices.
- Experience managing large-scale landscaping nurseries supporting infrastructure, hospitality, residential, and mixed-use developments.
- Leadership and team management.
- Strategic planning and organization.
- Problem-solving and decision-making.
- Cost control and commercial awareness.
- Communication and stakeholder management.
- Attention to detail.
- Time management and multitasking.
