Licenced Turf Treatment & Fertilization Lead

• Location: Northwest Arkansas
• Company: The Grey Barn
• Employment Type: Full-Time
• Base Salary: $60,000/year
• Performance Bonus: $12,000+/year
• Target Earnings: $72,000+/year

About the Role

Grey Barn is looking for an experienced Turf Treatment & Fertilization Lead to become our internal expert for fertilization, weed control, turf treatments and related applications across our commercial landscape portfolio.

This is a hands-on field position, not a desk or supervisory-only position. The role personally performs applications, develops treatment programs, diagnoses turf problems, helps the sales team accurately scope and estimate treatment programs, and trains field teams to identify turf, weed and treatment issues.

Compensation Details

Performance incentives will be tied to measurable outcomes including:

• Turf-treatment revenue and gross profit
• Material-cost management
• Estimating accuracy
• Application completion
• Turf quality
• Callbacks/rework
• Regulatory and safety compliance
• Crew development
• Customer satisfaction
• Overall individual and company performance

Exceptional performance can create opportunities to earn beyond the initial $12,000 annual bonus target.

What You Will Do

• Perform and oversee fertilization, pre- and post-emergent, weed control, insect control, fungicide and other licensed turf applications, granular and liquid
• Calibrate and operate application equipment and apply products according to label requirements and applicable regulations
• Develop standardized annual treatment programs for commercial properties in Northwest Arkansas
• Build repeatable programs that produce excellent results and can be estimated, sold, scheduled and executed profitably
• Diagnose weed infestations, discoloration, nutrient deficiencies, disease, insect damage, irrigation stress, compaction and other turf issues
• Determine why the turf doesn't look right, not simply apply another product
• Serve as the technical resource for Sales and Account Management on treatment program scope and estimates
• Determine treatable square footage, products, application rates, material quantities, labor hours and cost for each program
• Develop standardized production rates, such as square feet treated per hour and material usage and cost per 1,000 square feet
• Track estimated versus actual material usage and labor
• Train Crew Leaders and field employees on weed and turf identification, turf stress, PPE and chemical safety, documentation and when to escalate
• Where legally permitted and appropriately licensed/registered, train additional employees to perform application work under required supervision
• Maintain required individual licenses/certifications, application documentation and treatment records, and help maintain company licenses and registrations
• Follow product labels, mixing, storage, spill prevention and weather-condition procedures, and skip any application that cannot be made safely and legally
• Proactively identify weed pressure, thin turf, disease, insect damage, irrigation problems and treatment opportunities during property visits
• Document issues and opportunities so Account Management and Sales can bring recommendations to customers
• Assist with landscape maintenance, mowing, installations, planting, mulching, pruning and other landscaping duties when application work does not require a full schedule

Requirements

Licensing required at hire: current Arkansas Commercial Applicator license covering applicable turf/tree pest-control work, including Tree & Turf Pest Control, Classification 4, and Weed Control, Classification 5, when applicable to the work being performed.

• 5+ years professional turf-treatment, lawn-care or commercial application experience
• Extensive hands-on experience applying fertilizer and turf-treatment products
• Strong weed identification and turf knowledge
• Experience diagnosing common turf problems
• Experience with pre- and post-emergent programs and granular and liquid applications
• Ability to calibrate application equipment
• Understanding of application rates and product labels
• Ability to calculate treatment areas and material requirements
• Ability to estimate labor and materials for treatment programs
• Strong chemical-handling and PPE practices
• Ability to train field employees
• Valid driver's license
• Ability to perform physically demanding outdoor work
• Willingness to perform other landscape work as needed

Strongly Preferred

• 7+ years turf/application experience
• Commercial landscaping experience
• Application crew leadership
• Turf-program estimating
• Commercial property treatment programs
• Large-area application equipment, ride-on spreader/sprayers and spray rigs
• GPS/application tracking
• Soil testing
• Bermuda and cool-season turf experience
• Experience training applicators
• Bilingual English/Spanish

You Will Thrive Here If You

• Want to spend most of your day in the field personally making applications
• Figure out why turf doesn't look right before reaching for another product
• Enjoy teaching while you work and making every crew better
• Like turning field results into numbers: square footage, rates, labor hours and cost
• Treat labels, PPE and documentation as non-negotiable on every application
• Jump in on mowing, planting or cleanups when the application schedule is light

This Is Probably Not the Role for You If You

• Want a desk or supervisory-only role
• Answer every turf problem with another product application
• Would push an application through when conditions aren't safe or legal
• See general landscaping work as someone else's job
• Prefer to keep your turf knowledge to yourself rather than train others
• Don't want to be measured on estimating accuracy, material cost and results

Our Core Values

• Have Fun: Bring energy. Be positive. Be someone people want on their crew.
• Try New Things Fast: Try things. Learn quickly. Improve the system. Keep moving.
• Best in the World: Whatever we choose to do, our goal is to become exceptional at it.
• Put in the Work: Load the equipment. Calibrate it. Walk the property. Make the application correctly. Document it. Teach someone while you're doing it.
• Hold Accountability: Own your commitments, numbers, safety, quality and results.