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Apprenticeships

If you love working outdoors in nature and learning on the job, apply for a horticulture, arboriculture or sports turf apprenticeship with us.

Our apprenticeship programme offers an excellent opportunity to earn while you learn in a variety of locations around the city’s parks and gardens, streets, sports fields, reserves, and open spaces.

Get trained while you work

You’ll earn a qualification through Te Pūkenga/Primary ITO which includes learning on the job and in the classroom with independent completion of assessments.

We offer 3 apprenticeship opportunities:

  • Level 4 Certificate in Horticulture Services – Amenity (34 months)
  • Level 4 Certificate in Sports Turf (39 months)
  • Level 4 certificate in Arboriculture (28 months)

The apprenticeships are full-time and fixed term, going from 3 years to 3 years 4 months. As a Living Wage employer, you will start on the Living Wage.

Horticulture

Amenity horticulture is about creating vibrant spaces we can all enjoy, establishing, and maintaining gardens and public spaces.

The apprentices each spend 4 months at a time rotating around Ōtari-Wilton's Bush, Wellington Botanic Garden, Berhampore Nursery, and the Horticulture team.

Through a combination of on the job learning from experienced staff and classroom training, you’ll learn what it takes to be an amenity horticulturalist and look after all of the beautiful gardens and parks in Pōneke.

Sports turf

We maintain more than 40 parks with winter and summer sports field markings and 1 public golf course.

With plenty of opportunity to learn on the job and through block training courses, a sports turf apprenticeship provides all the knowledge and skills required to establish and maintain turf surfaces, control pests and diseases, and develop and implement a sports turf management programme with associated budgets, workplace health and safety, and risk management plans.

Arboriculture

Our Arboriculture team are responsible for looking after 13,000 street trees, 700 kilometres of road reserves and 4,000 hectares of the Wellington Town Belt, so there’s no shortage of hands-on opportunities to gain the skills to become a working arborist. 

This apprenticeship is also a mix of on job and classroom learning including health and safety, tree knowledge, tree climbing, felling and pruning, and equipment operation.

Join our crew

You’ll be supported by an Apprentice Coordinator who provides learning support and pastoral care, and coordinates development opportunities in addition to that required for the qualification.

If you’re physically fit, have a genuine interest in nature and working outdoors, and an ability to learn on the tools and in the classroom, apply for one of our apprenticeships.

We advertise apprentice opportunities as they arise. If you’d like to be kept up to date on our vacancies, the best idea is to create a profile on our careers site and set up job alerts.

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