Posted by Full Throttle Media on behalf of a private property owner. FTM is managing this search; the successful candidate will be employed directly by the property's ownership.
A private property in Middle Tennessee is hiring an Estate Grounds & Land Manager - the person who will own the standard of its grounds and land.
THE STANDARD
The goal is easy to describe and hard to deliver: the property should feel like a private club. Tree lines trimmed. Fences sound and straight. Gravel roads graded and pothole-free. Ditches and culverts flowing. Pond edges clean to the water. Walking trails groomed. Seating and gathering areas kept ready to use, so nothing has to be cleared away before someone sits down. Some fields are kept tall for hay, and everything around them still looks pristine.
If you have held a property at that level for owners with exacting standards, you already know exactly what this looks like, and that is who we are hiring.
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT
Full autonomy. This is a self-directed role with limited day-to-day on-site supervision. You will not be handed a task list every week. You walk the property, decide what it needs, build the plan, and execute it. You meet weekly with a designated representative and send a brief weekly photo report, with priorities set periodically by ownership.
A true 40-hour week. The work is planned around 40 hours. Storm and weekend response is handled by adjusting that week's schedule, not by piling on overtime.
Improvement, not just upkeep. Beyond maintenance there is shaping to be done - regrading pond and creek banks so they sit flat near the water and slope gradually, so they can be mowed and actually used. Entrances and landscape areas to improve. This is a property being brought up to a standard, not one being held in place.
A late-model equipment fleet you operate and maintain yourself: tractors and implements (rotary cutter, box blade, grapple), skid steer, compact excavator, mowers, and UTV.
Room to grow. As the property's needs grow, this position will build and lead a small grounds crew.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
- Mowing, trimming, and edging on a tiered schedule: core areas kept show-ready, fields and pastures rough-mowed on rotation, trails and creek-side edges kept clean
- Gravel road maintenance: grading, pothole repair, washout and drainage correction
- Ditch, culvert, and pond-edge maintenance, including regrading where banks need reshaping
- Fence and gate repair and upkeep across the property
- Tree and limb work: felling, trimming, storm cleanup, chainsaw and pole saw work, brush management
- Basic construction, carpentry, and repairs around the barn, gates, and outbuildings
- Keeping seating and gathering areas presentable and ready for use on short notice
- Annual property programs - weed and pasture management, drainage, entrance and landscape improvements — with cost-effective recommendations brought to ownership. Broadcast herbicide work is performed by a licensed custom applicator you select and supervise; in-house work is limited to spot-spraying (applicator certification a plus)
- Debris management done completely: burn piles finished and cleaned, scrap hauled off, nothing left staged
- Equipment care: routine service, service logs, and clean storage across the fleet
- Routine visual checks of gates, fencing, and property conditions, promptly reporting unusual activity or damage. This is an observe-and-report duty, not a security-guard or confrontation role
- Coordinating and supervising outside vendors and contractors when specialized work is needed
WHAT WE REQUIRE
- 5+ years with primary responsibility for a large private property (or multiple properties), a high-end club or community grounds operation, or an estate-maintenance operation, maintained to an exacting standard for discerning owners
- Proficient operator across the full equipment range: tractors and implements, skid steers, and compact excavators, with extensive chainsaw and pole saw experience including safe felling, limbing, and bucking
- Hands-on maintainer: routine service and basic repairs on the equipment you run, and handy with basic construction and building upkeep. Welding and small-engine repair a plus
- Self-starter who plans and manages your own work without supervision, with experience directing helpers, vendors, or a small crew
- Professional communicator comfortable working directly with property ownership: clear weekly reporting, responsive, discreet
- Evidence of your standard of work: photos of properties you maintain or maintained, or project summaries and maintenance records where photos are not possible
- Two professional references at the finalist stage who directly observed your work. We will not contact your current employer without your written permission, and only at the final stage
- Valid driver's license with a driving record acceptable under our vehicle-insurance standards. Job-related background, motor vehicle record, and drug screening are conducted after a conditional offer
- Able to reliably report to the job location for scheduled work. No on-site housing and no relocation assistance is provided
SCHEDULE AND COMPENSATION
Full-time, 40 hours per week, generally Monday through Friday daylight hours with seasonal schedule flexibility. $28–$36 per hour depending on experience ($58,000–$75,000 per year), paid as an hourly, non-exempt position. Annual discretionary bonus. Paid time off and paid holidays.
HOW TO APPLY
Email your resume and evidence of your standard of work to hiring@ftmedia.com. Evidence means photos of properties you have maintained — a few good phone photos are perfect, and they should show the property and your work, not people — or project summaries and maintenance records where photos are not possible. Please do not send confidential materials or photos you are not authorized to share.
References are requested only after a successful phone screen.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
We consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, military status, or any other legally protected status. Reasonable accommodations are available during the application process and on the job. Essential functions include regularly working outdoors in all weather, walking and working on uneven terrain, mounting and operating equipment, and bending, kneeling, climbing, lifting, and carrying consistent with grounds work, with or without reasonable accommodation.