Plant Health Care and Lawn Manager

Job Description:

Plant Health Care & Lawn Manager

Location: Southampton, NY

Job Type: Full-Time, Year-Round

Base Salary: $105,000 – $115,000 plus commission

About Peconic Lawn & Tree Care

Since 2003, Peconic has cared for some of the most demanding properties on Long Island's East End. From our shop in Southampton, we deliver turf programs, certified arborist tree care, plant health care, irrigation, and estate maintenance across the Hamptons — oceanfront lots with salt exposure, pond-adjacent parcels, specimen trees, and Village properties where the standard is exacting and the client notices everything.

We are not a volume operation. Our work is customized property by property, and our reputation is built on getting the turf science right.

About This Role

We're looking for someone to own our turf and plant health care program end to end — price it, sell it, and then go out and execute it at a high level.

This is a build role, not a caretaker role. You'll be responsible for growing the PHC and lawn side of the business: walking properties, diagnosing what's actually happening in the soil and canopy, writing programs that solve it, closing the work, and standing behind the results.

If you're a golf course superintendent thinking about the next move, read this one closely. The technical skill set transfers directly — soil chemistry, disease pressure, irrigation management, cultural practices, reading turf under stress. What's different is that you'd be applying it across a portfolio of high-end residential properties, with a commission upside tied to the book you build.

What You'll Do

Sell the work

• Walk properties, diagnose turf and plant health issues, and build customized programs
• Price programs accurately — you own the numbers, not just the turf science
• Close new business and expand existing accounts through renewals and add-on services
• Communicate directly with discerning estate clients and property managers, in person and in writing

Do the work

• Execute applications, treatments, and cultural practices yourself, especially on the properties that demand the most
• Diagnose disease, insect, and abiotic problems in the field and adjust programs as conditions change
• Apply all products in strict accordance with label requirements and NYS DEC regulations
• Manage product inventory, application records, and required reporting

Lead the program

• Supervise and develop a plant health care technician, with room to grow the team
• Train technicians and apprentices toward their own certification
• Coordinate with our arborists, irrigation team, and maintenance crews so programs work together rather than against each other

What You Bring

Required

• Deep, demonstrated turfgrass expertise, this is the non-negotiable
• NYS DEC Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator, Category 3a (Ornamentals, Shade Trees & Turf). We need a certified applicator , not a technician, so you can supervise applications, purchase and handle restricted-use products, and train technicians and apprentices toward their own certification
• Proven experience pricing, selling, and delivering turf or plant health care programs
• Ability to diagnose turf and ornamental problems in the field without sending everything to a lab
• Valid driver's license and clean driving record
• Genuine drive to grow something — we want someone hungry, not someone comfortable

Preferred

• Degree in turfgrass science, horticulture, soil science, or plant science
• Golf course superintendent or assistant superintendent background
• Familiarity with Long Island groundwater regulations and Suffolk County application restrictions
• Experience with high-end residential or estate clientele
• Bilingual English/Spanish

Physical Requirements

With or without reasonable accommodation, this role requires the ability to:

• Lift, carry, push, and pull up to 50 pounds regularly, including product containers and hose
• Walk large properties across uneven terrain, slopes, and wet ground for extended periods
• Stand, bend, kneel, crouch, and reach throughout the day while making applications and taking soil samples
• Operate spray equipment, spreaders, and application vehicles, including hose work requiring sustained grip and arm strength
• Work outdoors in heat, humidity, cold, wind, rain, and direct sun through the full growing season
• Wear required personal protective equipment for pesticide application, including respirator, chemical-resistant gloves, eye protection, and coveralls
• Tolerate routine exposure to fertilizers, pesticides, dust, pollen, and plant material
• Maintain sufficient vision to diagnose plant symptoms, read product labels, and drive safely between properties
• Safely operate a motor vehicle throughout the workday

Compensation

Base salary of $105,000 to $115,000 annually, plus commission on sold work. Actual base within the range depends on certification level, turf credentials, and demonstrated sales history. This is a year-round salaried position — not seasonal.

Work Authorization

Peconic Lawn & Tree Care participates in E-Verify. All new hires must complete Form I-9 and present documentation establishing identity and authorization to work in the United States within three business days of their start date.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Peconic Lawn & Tree Care is an equal opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions on the basis of qualifications, merit, and business need. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion or creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, familial status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, reproductive health decision making, citizenship or immigration status, arrest or conviction record, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law, including the New York State Human Rights Law and the Suffolk County Human Rights Law. We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs and practices, in accordance with applicable law.

Join Our Team

If you know turf — really know it — and you're tired of maxing out at someone else's ceiling, this is the seat. You'll have the freedom to build the program the way it should be built, on properties where quality actually matters and the budget supports doing it right. Your work will be visible, your results will be measurable, and your compensation will reflect what you grow. We're a company that has spent twenty-plus years earning trust on the East End, and we're looking for the person who will own this side of the business and take it further than it's been.

Bring the turf science. Bring the hunger. We'll give you the accounts, the equipment, the team, and the room to run.