Conifer Seedling Nursery Facility Manager
Recovery
A Conifer Seedling Nursery Facility Manager runs the whole operation — production, people, infrastructure, client relationships, and regulatory compliance. You're accountable for the quality and quantity of every seedling that leaves the facility, and for the team and systems that produce them. It's a role that combines deep knowledge of nursery production with the organizational capacity to manage a complex, living production system year-round.
Advanced
Experience Level
Year-round
Seasonality
Moderate
Physical Demands
Facility managers in the nursery sector tend to be people who grew into the role through years of grower experience and found they were equally engaged by the management side as the production side. Owning a facility means owning outcomes — when the operation runs well, it's a genuine achievement. There's also a real connection to the broader reforestation sector: the stock leaving your facility ends up in the ground across the province.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
A facility manager's day rarely looks the same twice. You might start with a crop walk with your growers, move into a staffing issue, take a call with a client about an order, and spend the afternoon on a compliance review. The production calendar anchors everything, but the management work — the people, the infrastructure, the relationships — fills the rest. Keeping a living production system running at scale is genuinely complex, and the people who do it well tend to thrive on that complexity.
WORKING CONDITIONS
You're in and out of the greenhouse, across the facility, and into the office throughout any given day. The physical environment is moderate — you're not doing heavy field work, but you're also not desk-bound. Year-round operations mean no off-season, and peak periods require full organizational focus.
CYCLICAL NATURE OF ROLE
Year-round management role with peak intensity during spring production and fall shipment periods. Planning cycles for upcoming seasons overlap with current year operations.
REQUIRED EDUCATION & TRAINING
REQUIRED SOFT SKILLS
Operational leadership and staff management
Client relationship management Strategic planning and production forecasting
Problem-solving across production, people, and infrastructure challenges
Accountability for facility-wide outcomes
REQUIRED HARD SKILLS
Extensive experience in nursery operations or plant production management is typically required
Post-secondary education in horticulture, plant science, forestry, or business is commonly preferred
Pesticide applicator certification (BC) is required
WHMIS and occupational health and safety management knowledge is required
Occupational First Aid (OFA Level 2 or higher) is commonly required
Valid driver's licence is required
Experience with financial management or budgeting is typically expected
ON THE JOB LEARNING
Full-facility operations management
Production planning and multi-season forecasting
Staff leadership and organizational development
Client and contract management
Regulatory compliance and quality system management
FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
Facility management experience opens pathways into senior operations roles within reforestation organizations, nursery consulting, and executive positions in the forest nursery sector. Skills transfer into broader horticultural production management, supply chain leadership, and environmental restoration program development.