Job Description

Who We Are

Culdesac is a real estate developer and neighborhood manager of walkable, mixed-use communities designed to embrace a culture of belonging, transportation freedom, and thriving local businesses. We built Culdesac Tempe, the first car-free community built from scratch in the US. Located directly on the light rail in Tempe, Arizona, it is already home to over 350 residents and 23 local businesses, and it will have 1000+ residents at completion. Culdesac is the co-developer and tech-enabled property manager.

Learn more about our vision, our product, and how we are changing how people live, work, and move:

Watch An immersive look at life in our car-free neighborhood by Hard Reset

Read Living Car-free in Arizona, on Purpose and Happily by The New York Times

Read America's "First Car-Free Neighborhood" by Dwell

Watch Blueprint for Environmentally Friendly, Car-Free Living on PBS NewsHour

Listen to the conversation about designed environments to improve healthspan, mobility, and positive habits - Ryan Johnson and hall-of-fame basketball player Steve Nash on the Good Traffic podcast

We’re headquartered in Tempe, AZ, founded in 2018. CEO Ryan Johnson was on the founding team of Opendoor and has managed property since 2003. Our investors include Khosla Ventures (led OpenAI’s seed round), Lennar (#2 U.S. homebuilder), Zigg Capital, and Y Combinator.

The Role

Culdesac is looking for a dedicated part-time or full-time Landscaper to take internal ownership of the greenery, open spaces, and outdoor footprint at Culdesac Tempe. As our in-house Landscaper, you will be responsible for all neighborhood landscaping, bringing deep care, high standards, and daily attention to detail to our grounds. You will directly impact the experience of our residents by keeping our walkable community clean, vibrant, and thriving. Whether you are an experienced landscape professional or an energetic fast-learner looking to gain early career experience, we want to hear from you.

Take full ownership of neighborhood landscaping operations, maintaining plant health, shade trees, and outdoor common areas.

Manage, troubleshoot, and repair irrigation systems, including identifying leaks, adjusting timers, fixing valves/lines, and optimizing watering schedules for seasonal desert climate needs.

Conduct daily property walk-throughs to inspect grounds, proactively resolve safety or aesthetic issues, and complete ongoing grounds upkeep.

Utilize internal service management software to log tasks, track work orders, and document grounds status.

Collaborate with the broader maintenance team, stepping in to support cross-functional neighborhood projects and property readiness when necessary.

The Requirements

While this list represents what we are ideally looking for, we encourage you to apply even if you don't check every box. The people who thrive on our team care deeply about doing skilled work well, jump in to learn new skills and support their teammates, and stay responsive and communicative in a fast-moving environment. We value that kind of care and drive over an arbitrary number of years on a resume. If that sounds like you, and you have a good reason for wanting to be here, we'd love to talk, whether you're a seasoned landscaper or a fast-learner looking to get early career hands-on experience.

Knowledge of desert plants, tree care, and irrigation mechanics (or a strong foundational understanding paired with an exceptional ability to learn quickly).

Deep care and personal pride in the quality of your work—you treat the neighborhood with an ownership mindset.

Responsive, proactive communication skills with comfort using (or quickly learning) tools like Slack to keep up with our pace.

Strong team-first mindset and a "do whatever it takes" attitude to keep our neighborhood running smoothly.

Available to work on-site at least four days a week, including flexibility to support neighborhood needs as they arise.

Physical Requirements

We will make reasonable accommodations to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. These functions include, but are not limited to

Ability to lift, push, pull, and carry up to 50 pounds regularly.

Ability to work outdoors in varying Arizona weather conditions, including high summer heat.

Ability to walk around the property several times daily, up to 10 miles a day, across uneven surfaces and up several flights of stairs.

Must be able to sit, stand, reach, bend, kneel, and stoop for extended periods.

Ability to safely operate standard landscaping and maintenance equipment.

Ability and willingness to try out different forms of micro-mobility across the property.

Hearing and visual ability (including depth perception and field vision) to detect equipment issues and signs of emergency.

Benefits & Perks

🏥 Benefits Package - Includes options for medical, dental, and vision.

🐣 Parental Leave - Up to 12 weeks paid time off for qualifying events.

🏦 401K Savings - Menu of savings types through Guideline.

🚲 Mobility Stipend - Up to $500 to invest in employee micro-mobility setup (e.g., e-bike, e-scooter, micro-mobility accessories).

🛴 Car-Free Commuter Benefit - $200 per month paid by Culdesac. Tempe employees only.

🏡 On-Site Living Discount - 30% discount on base rent for 1 unit at a Culdesac-managed property.

💰 Eligible for participation in a performance-based commission plan in accordance with company policy.

Our Values

At Culdesac, we:

Work as a team

Be inclusive, drawing on the strengths of people who bring a different perspective.

Find ways to work together that overcome disciplinary and geographic separations.

Act from ownership

Be output oriented. When we see a problem, we roll up our sleeves and fix it.

Don’t let blockers stop you from seeing your work through to the end.

Rule 0, then iterate

Don’t start from scratch: learn from our own and others’ previous attempts.

Before mass private car ownership, all cities were models of walkability. We learn from the designs of the past and make them beautiful and relevant to today.

Then, we learn from our own designs to continually improve.

Design for humans

Ask people for feedback and observe behavior. Only users know if we’re creating value for them.

Human paradoxes and contradictions are our opportunity to create joy.

Respect the limits of what we can know and plan. In the complex organism of a city, emergent behavior rules.

Create and capture value

Focus on what our residents value: profitability is essential for sustainability and allows us to scale.

Great places create positive externalities for ourselves and our neighbors, unlike the negative externalities of cars.

We build value by executing on the fundamentals and excelling at mobility, community, and open space.

Next Steps

If you think Culdesac might be a good fit, we encourage you to apply! If we move forward, here's our typical process:

1. A 15-minute call with our recruiter to understand your background and cover logistics and expectations.
2. A 30-minute video interview with our Assistant Community Manager or Community Manager to discuss your experience, interests, and working style.
3. A 1-hour onsite interview and walkthrough with our Community Manager and Maintenance Supervisor to review the property grounds, discuss irrigation systems, and answer your questions.

At each step, we leave time for you to ask us questions. We look forward to hearing from you!