Applications are accepted online by clicking on the job below to apply or go to job openings. We are unable to accept any in-person or phone calls related to updates on application status or timelines. Anticipated dates to fill positions are to be determined. We thank you for your patience.
Please check back for information about opportunities in various departments at the Garden. Resumés and applications are only accepted for open positions. Applicants who do not meet the required qualifications will not be considered.
The Chicago Botanic Garden requires all existing employees to be fully COVID-19 vaccinated by October 15, 2021; hires after this date must be fully vaccinated upon hire or may request a medical/religious exemption after an offer is extended.
To assist children to create a more inclusive program and to deliver a high quality, mission based early childhood educational program. To be able to implement developmentally appropriate lessons with modifications to children ages 3-5 in a nature-based setting. This is a ten month role, August 22, 2022 to June 2, 2023 Mon/Wed 11:45a.m. -4:30p.m. working resource 9.5 hours approximately for 37 weeks.
To assist the Manager, Buildings and Hospitality, in managing environmental controls and systems in all of our buildings, as well as performing general building and infrastructure repairs, maintenance, and minor construction, relative to these systems.
The custodian is responsible for ensuring clean and well-maintained areas within the facilities of the Garden. The custodian will assist in setting up and cleaning up from special events and supporting other departments. This is a full-time position, working 40 hours a week, Wednesday through Sunday, 3 to 11:30 p.m.
To process phone registrations for classes, events, programs, and memberships. Work interdepartmentally to support registration details with program managers, coordinators, and associates. Provide exceptional customer service when answering phone calls directed to the Support Center from the Garden's main phone number and provide information to our varied customer base. We are looking for two seasonal part-time associates available to work approximately nine months. Days of the week vary and would include working a weekend day.
The development officer is a front-line fundraising position, dedicated to building support for a preeminent institution that is making a difference in the world by connecting people to the power of plants. The development officer will actively engage individual donor prospects to create and enhance new and existing relationships and share opportunities to meet fundraising goals. The successful candidate will have an excellent ability to communicate the Garden’s mission – verbally and in writing – as it relates to science, community engagement, and horticulture in order to secure support for the Garden’s future. During this time of transition back to in-person office settings, remote work opportunities are being offered for two days of the regular work week for this position.
The Director will manage the digital applications that support marketing, development, visitor experience, call center, and other departments. The applications are integrated in an ecosystem that includes customer facing websites, customer relationship management (CRM) systems, marketing campaign tools, and e-commerce transaction processors for admissions, event ticketing, class registration, membership sales, fundraising, and more.
The Director will oversee a team of subject matter experts and vendors who support the application ecosystem components. They are responsible for day-to-day website operations and long-term planning associated with modernizing the website and the applications within the ecosystem.
The ideal candidate will have a somewhat technical background specializing in systems integration of vendor applications, but no programming is required. They will have operational experience with transaction processing websites and application support experience with marketing stack applications including CRM, and finance applications. They will be proficient in data analytics and the underlying data structures that facilitate reporting. During this time of transition back to in-person office settings, remote work opportunities are being offered for two days of the regular work week for this position.
This position manages the following departments: Curation, Plant Documentation, Plant Evaluation, Ornamental Plant Research, Chicagoland Grows, Plant Collections. Occasionally, this position will supervise Interns and/or Volunteers.
This position reports to the Executive Vice President & Director of the Garden, and will provide leadership for the acquisition, documentation, verification, and curation of the permanent plant collections. The position also oversees the Garden’s ornamental plant research work, including breeding, evaluation, and introduction (through an affiliated not-for-profit Chicagoland Grows, Inc., which is controlled by the Chicago Botanic Garden). This position is a regular, exempt, full-time job with the expectation of a minimum of 40 hours per week.
This position typically reports to our Glencoe site, though portions of the work may be done remotely from time to time, and it may require travel within and outside the US from time to time. As with all positions at the Garden, staff must be in good performance standing to be eligible for remote work, which is at the discretion of management.
The groundskeeper, seasonal, performs general landscaping and grounds maintenance, consisting primarily of manual labor under the direction of full-time horticulture staff; working independently or with a crew. Assist with special projects such as event preparation and support. There may be occasional evening, weekend, and holiday hours requested. Work and area assignments may change during the season as needed by the Garden. We have nine seasonal full-time, benefit-eligible positions anticipated to work for nine months and one seasonal full-time position anticipated to work for three months. A typical work schedule is Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Teach in a high quality, mission-based early childhood educational program. Implement developmentally appropriate lessons to children ages 3 to 5 in a nature-based preschool setting.
This is a 41-week position from August 22, 2022 to June 2, 2023 for the school calendar year.
Monday/Wednesday 11:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. regular teaching hours. Additional time for planning, prep, professional development, some family events, and non-class days as needed.
The person in this position is responsible for the maintenance and repair of Garden vehicles, equipment, and various tools. This is a full-time position, working Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
We are looking for a full-stack developer to work in our Science Department to develop and maintain our web applications (Vue, Inertia/Alpine, Laravel and TailwindCSS stack), with the opportunity to also work on React Native mobile apps. You will be developing applications used by our plant conservation scientists, students, volunteers, and community scientists.
This position analyzes, designs, programs, compiles, debugs, supports, and modifies software, enhancements, add-ons, and integrations for new and existing products. Designs and implements technical solutions ensuring that business needs and requirements are met. Provides estimation for assigned tasks. Works with outsourced development teams on complex apps. This position may also provide strategic guidance to other departments on database, web applications, and mobile applications issues.
You will have the opportunity to deploy software that will have a lasting impact on conservation, science education and climate science research. You will be joining a team with a commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. We offer a competitive benefit package, including professional development opportunities.
A Security Officer at the Chicago Botanic Garden serves the visitors, members, and staff by maintaining the safety and security of the property, personnel, and collections of the Chicago Botanic Garden. This is accomplished through a combination of driving patrols, foot patrols, emergency response, standing guard duty, observation, reporting, and working closely with local law enforcement and emergency response personnel. This is a seven-month, seasonal, full-time position, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Seasonal employee benefits:
• Seasonal Visitor Experience hourly wage = $17
• Generous Life Time subsidy – Special $140 subsidy plus $100 Life Time Bucks (credit for Wellness & Spa)
• Garden membership and access to other cultural institutions
• Flexible hours and ability to switch shifts with co-worker
A Security Officer at the Chicago Botanic Garden serves the visitors, members, and staff by maintaining the safety and security of the property, personnel, and collections of the Chicago Botanic Garden. This is accomplished through a combination of driving patrols, foot patrols, emergency response, standing guard duty, observation, reporting, and working closely with local law enforcement and emergency response personnel. This is a seven-month, seasonal, part-time position working weekends, approximately 16 hours per week , from 9 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Seasonal employee benefits:
• Seasonal Visitor Experience hourly wage = $17
• Generous Life Time subsidy – Special $140 subsidy plus $100 Life Time Bucks (credit for Wellness & Spa)
• Garden membership and access to other cultural institutions
• Flexible hours and ability to switch shifts with co-worker
The Senior Accountant, grant accounting is responsible for all aspects of the financial management, and supports all strategic and programmatic matters as they relate to accounting, fiscal/grant compliance and budget management, and financial analysis for the variety of federal/ local and private grants. During this time of transition back to in-person office settings, remote work opportunities are being offered for two days of the regular work week for this position.
The social media specialist is responsible for developing engaging content for our online community to drive conversation that contributes to our brand awareness and convert audiences into visitors, members, and brand advocates. The specialist joins our director, social media and public relations, to execute a strategy that enthusiastically communicates directly with our diverse audience as the voice of the Garden. Garden platforms include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. During this time of transition back to in-person office settings, remote work opportunities are being offered for two days of the regular work week for this position.
As an ambassador of the Chicago Botanic Garden and its mission, the ideal applicant has a friendly, outgoing demeanor and exceptional communications and customer relations skills. The Tram Tour Guide narrates a scripted tour for adults and children while driving a 76-passenger open-air tram or walking on designated routes throughout the Garden. In the visitor assistant role, this staff member also supports Garden events and exhibitions through a welcoming greeting, ticket sales, and line management. Creating a positive and memorable experience for Garden visitors is a priority.
This seasonal position requires an average of three days per week, including one weekend day and some holidays/evenings. Hours scheduled may differ throughout the year.
Seasonal employee benefits:
• Seasonal Visitor Experience hourly wage = $17
• Generous Life Time subsidy – Special $140 subsidy plus $100 Life Time Bucks (credit for Wellness & Spa)
• Garden membership and access to other cultural institutions
• Flexible hours and ability to switch shifts with co-worker
Support all aspects of visitors' on-site purchases related to admission, memberships, membership upgrades, tickets for visitor events and programs, and registration for classes in the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Interact with visitors using exceptional customer service standards and address their needs promptly. Develop a proficiency in Garden information and literature and resources available. Proactively and professionally answer questions and provide directions concerning classes, exhibitions, shows, and gardens. Enhance the visitor experience by providing exceptional customer service. This is a seasonal, full-time position anticipated to begin in March 2022 and continue through December 2022 with flexibility in exact start and end dates.
Seasonal employee benefits:
• Seasonal Visitor Experience hourly wage = $17
• Generous Life Time subsidy – Special $140 subsidy plus $100 Life Time Bucks (credit for Wellness & Spa)
• Garden membership and access to other cultural institutions
• Flexible hours and ability to switch shifts with co-worker
Support all aspects of visitors' on-site purchases related to admission, memberships, membership upgrades, tickets for visitor events and programs, and registration for classes in the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Interact with visitors using exceptional customer service standards and address their needs promptly. Develop a proficiency in Garden information and literature and available resources. Proactively and professionally answer questions and provide directions concerning classes, exhibitions, shows, and gardens. Enhance the visitor Experience by providing exceptional customer service. This is a seasonal, part-time position anticipated to begin in March 2022 and continue through December 2022 with flexible start and end dates.
Seasonal employee benefits:
• Seasonal Visitor Experience hourly wage = $17
• Generous Life Time subsidy – Special $140 subsidy plus $100 Life Time Bucks (credit for Wellness & Spa)
• Garden membership and access to other cultural institutions
• Flexible hours and ability to switch shifts with co-worker
Reporting to the director of the website and online marketing, the Web Designer will have experience in Drupal website design, and will come with a portfolio. The successful candidate has the proven experience to create well designed, branded pages for the Garden’s website. This position has the opportunity to work three days in the office and two days remote.
