Grounds & Facilities Technician

Job Type: Location Type: On-site

 

Bloedel Reserve seeks a dedicated full-time Grounds & Facilities Technician.

About Us

Spanning 140 acres, Bloedel Reserve features an extraordinary series of gardens, landscapes, trails, second growth native forest, meadows, waterfalls, and ponds-all of which sustain abundant wildlife and provide visitors with a unique experience in nature. Cultivated gardens, horticultural features, and architectural highlights include:

• The Japanese Garden, which blends traditional schools of Japanese landscapes, including a dry sand and stone garden, stroll garden, and pond, with native Pacific Northwest elements.
• The Rhododendron Glen, where thousands of perennials, bulbs, and wildflowers bloom among native and non-native rhododendrons collected from the Himalayas.
• The Residence, which features a European style manicured landscape with a view across the Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountain range.
• The Moss Garden, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Position Overview

The Grounds & Facilities Technician plays a pivotal role in maintaining the beauty, and safety of the reserve by caring for the trails, hardscapes, roads, buildings, and related infrastructure of the property. Key duties include:

• Maintains, repairs, and constructs trails
• Assists with irrigation system operation, installation, and repair

• Operates a wide range of hand tools, landscape power equipment, and machinery

• Responsible for event set up and breakdown, and staffs events as needed
• Performs assigned housekeeping tasks to maintain a clean and orderly environment within the Reserve’s publicly accessible areas and staff workspace
• Assists with general building and infrastructure tasks while maintaining safety procedures

• Works with the Horticulture team on large projects including new installations, landscape renovations, mulching, and weeding
• Occasional weekend and after-hours work

Requirements

The ideal candidate has experience performing all manner of grounds work and is proficient in the use of all related equipment. A knowledge of equipment and building maintenance is preferred. An appreciation for plants is desirable. Excellent time management, problem-solving abilities, and basic computer skills are required. The role demands collaborative teamwork and respectful interaction with diverse stakeholders.

Work Environment/Physical Demands

This role primarily involves outdoor work in varied weather conditions, requiring physical agility and endurance. Tasks include stooping, kneeling, balancing, climbing, lifting objects up to 50 lbs., and operating standard landscape maintenance equipment.

Benefits

• Medical, vision, dental, life insurance, short-term disability, and long-term disability coverages are available.
• Three weeks of vacation, one sick day per month, and 13 personal holidays

Diversity & Inclusion

Bloedel Reserve is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace. We believe that having staff, interns, and volunteers with diverse backgrounds enables the Reserve to better meet our mission and serve our communities. We recognize that opportunities in public horticulture have historically excluded and continue to disproportionately exclude Black and Indigenous people, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people. We strongly encourage individuals with these identities to apply.