Arborist Job Description: Duties, Responsibilities, Template & Pay (2026)
An arborist — the job is also posted as tree trimmer, tree climber and tree care technician — works at height with a running chainsaw next to somebody's roof or an energised power line. This page has an arborist job description template you can copy, what the work pays, and the distinction between a certified arborist and a tree trimmer that most postings get wrong.
What an arborist does
O*NET describes tree trimmers and pruners as cutting away dead and excess branches from trees or clearing branches around power lines using climbing equipment or the bucket of an extended truck boom; climbing trees with hooks and belts or using ladders to reach work areas; trimming, topping and reshaping trees; operating boom trucks, loaders, stump grinders, brush chippers, tractors, power saws and sprayers; hoisting tools to climbers and lowering branches with ropes or block and tackle; feeding limbs and brush into chippers; and hauling debris away.
In practice there are three distinct roles inside most tree care companies, and conflating them is why so many of these postings fail.
Ground worker. Feeds the chipper, drags brush, ropes down limbs, manages the drop zone, runs traffic control, rakes out. Entry level, no climbing. This is where almost everyone starts.
Climber or bucket operator. Takes the tree apart. Rigging, notching, controlled removals, aerial rescue capability, chainsaw work at height on rope or in a bucket. This is the skilled position and the one nobody can hire.
Arborist proper. Diagnoses. Tree health, disease and pest identification, risk assessment, soil and root work, pruning specification, and often the sales and estimating. An ISA Certified Arborist is credentialed to this, and it is a different job from cutting.
A fourth branch is utility line clearance, which is governed by its own OSHA rules and pays differently.
Arborist job description template
Copy this into your ATS or job board, replace the bracketed fields, and delete what does not apply. It is written for a residential and commercial tree care company hiring a climber; the customization section covers ground worker, certified arborist, utility line clearance and municipal roles.
Job title
[Tree Climber / Arborist / Tree Care Technician] — [Company], [City, ST] — [$00–$00/hr]
Summary
[Company name] is hiring a [climber / tree care technician] for our [residential and commercial] crews out of [city]. You will work on a crew of [3] running [1–3] jobs a day: removals, crown reduction, deadwooding and storm work, [climbing on rope and saddle / from a [00]ft bucket]. Pay is [$00.00–$00.00] an hour depending on climbing experience, [00]–[00] hours a week with overtime in storm season. [We pay for your ISA Certified Arborist study and exam and add [$0.00] an hour when you pass.]
Responsibilities
- Climb on rope and saddle [and operate a [00]ft aerial lift] to access work areas safely
- Perform removals, crown reduction, thinning, deadwooding and clearance pruning to [ANSI A300] standards
- Rig and lower limbs with ropes, blocks and friction devices over [structures, fences and landscaping]
- Operate chainsaws, pole saws, chippers, stump grinders and [a [00]ft boom truck]
- Set up and control the drop zone, traffic control and exclusion areas before any cutting begins
- Inspect climbing lines, saddles, hardware and saws daily and remove defective equipment from service
- Identify tree species, defects, decay and hazards and report anything outside the scope of the work order
- Maintain aerial rescue readiness and participate in [monthly] safety training
- Clean the site so the customer cannot tell where the brush was
Requirements
- [0]+ years climbing [or equivalent bucket experience] with demonstrated rigging ability
- Comfortable working at height and around running saws all day
- Valid driver's licence [and clean MVR — we insure you on the chip truck]
- Able to lift [50] lbs repeatedly and work outdoors in [heat, cold and wet]
- Able to be on call during [storm events]
Preferred
- [ISA Certified Arborist — or we will pay for it]
- [CDL Class B — [$0.00]/hr differential]
- Aerial rescue training, [EHAP], [first aid and CPR]
- [Utility line clearance qualification]
- Plant health care, spraying or diagnostic experience
Pay and benefits
- [$00.00–$00.00] an hour based on climbing ability, reviewed at [90] days
- [Overtime and storm call-out pay at [1.5]×]
- [We buy your saddle, rope and saws — you do not supply your own gear]
- [ISA certification paid for, plus a [$0.00]/hr raise on passing]
- [Health, dental and vision after [00] days], [401(k) with match], [PTO and paid holidays]
- [Year-round work — we do [plant health care / storm response / municipal contracts] through winter]
How to apply
[Apply here / text TREE to 00000 / call [name] at [number]]. We reply within [24] hours and can put you on a crew for a paid working interview this week.
Requirements: what is required, what is preferred, and what costs you applicants
This is a small occupation — about 60,100 people nationally with roughly 7,400 openings a year — and the climbers inside it are a fraction of that. In any given metro the number of people who can safely dismantle a tree over a house is countable. That reality should shape the posting: you are not filtering a pool, you are making a case to a working professional.
| Requirement | What to know |
|---|---|
| Climbing experience | The one genuine requirement for a climber role, and worth being specific about: rope and saddle, SRT or DdRT, rigging over structures. A bucket operator is not automatically a climber and the posting should not pretend otherwise. |
| ISA certification | Preferred, not required, for cutting roles — and far more powerful as an offer than as a filter. "We pay for your ISA cert and add a dollar an hour when you pass" converts better than any rate increase of the same cost. |
| Gear | Say who buys it. A climbing saddle, rope, hardware and saws run well over a thousand dollars. Companies that supply gear should say so prominently; it is a real differentiator and almost never mentioned. |
| Driver's licence and CDL | A licence is usually needed for the chip truck. A CDL is needed for larger equipment and should carry a stated differential. Do not make a CDL mandatory for a climbing role unless it truly is. |
| Physical requirements | Concrete and honest: at height, in heat, in a harness, with a saw, all day. This is the most physically demanding job in the landscape sector and understating it wastes everyone's time. |
| Ground worker roles | Require almost nothing — the ability to work outside, follow directions exactly and not walk into a drop zone. Post these separately with a clear line about training into climbing, because that is the only sustainable source of climbers. |
| Safety record | Candidates in this trade evaluate employers on safety, and they do it first. Say what your training cadence is, whether aerial rescue is practised, and what your equipment replacement policy is. Silence reads badly. |
| Seasonality | Say what winter looks like. Year-round work is a major attraction; if you slow down, say what the hours look like and whether there is storm work. |
Arborist duties, written for a posting
Say what kind of trees and what kind of work. Residential removals over houses is a different skill from municipal street-tree pruning, which is different again from utility clearance. An experienced climber reads three lines of that and knows whether the job is above or below their level.
Name the equipment. Bucket height, crane or no crane, whether you have a grapple truck, what saws you run. In a trade where the equipment determines how hard the day is, this is not a detail.
State the crew structure. Who climbs, who runs ground, who the crew leader is, and whether the climber is expected to run the job and talk to the customer. A climber who is also the estimator is a different role and should be paid as one.
Put safety in the responsibilities list, not just the boilerplate. Daily gear inspection, drop zone control, aerial rescue readiness. It tells a skilled applicant more about your company than any culture paragraph.
How to customize it by role and setting
Ground worker / groundsman
Entry level. Drag brush, feed the chipper, manage ropes from the ground, run traffic control, rake out. No experience or credential needed. Lead with the training path to climbing and the rate at each step — this is where every climber comes from and the posting should say so explicitly.
Climber
The template above. Lead with the gear policy, the certification support and the equipment you run.
ISA Certified Arborist / plant health care
Diagnostic and consultative: tree risk assessment, disease and pest identification, pruning specification, soil and root work, reports, and often estimating and sales. Requires the credential. Pay accordingly and say whether the role climbs at all — many certified arborists want to stop climbing and a posting that is clear about this attracts a different and very hireable candidate.
Utility line clearance
A separate world: OSHA line clearance rules, minimum approach distances, qualified line clearance arborist status, and usually a utility contract with its own training requirements. State the qualification, who provides the training, the territory and the on-call expectations. See the lineman job description for the adjacent electrical role.
Municipal and parks
Steadier hours, benefits, pension, a fixed territory and street-tree inventory work. The rate is often lower than commercial and the job security and benefits are the offer — say them in numbers.
What it costs to reach arborists and tree climbers on social
Skilled trades are among the more expensive audiences we buy: in our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark the skilled trades role family — 35 campaigns — ran a median cost per applicant of $14.14, a middle half of $7.58 to $21.49, a blended figure of $10.74 and a 15% apply rate. The wider Skilled Trades and Field Service sector, 335 campaigns, ran an $11.89 median at 18%.
The reason is structural: the people who can do the work are employed, and there are not many of them in any one area. Across all 891 campaigns the apply rate moves cost per applicant from $53.77 under 10% to $4.41 over 20%, which is a bigger swing than any bid change — and past three impressions a month the median cost roughly doubles in a small audience. Specificity in the offer beats budget. For a climber role, the effective audience in a metro is small enough that frequency control matters more than budget — run it continuously and narrowly rather than heavily for a week.
Hiring across the green industry? See the groundskeeper and landscaper, equipment operator and pest control technician job descriptions, plus landscaping recruiting and landscaper interview questions.
Writing the ad version
The description is the document. The advertisement is read on a phone by somebody who has other options at a similar rate. It needs the rate, who buys the gear, whether certification is paid for, and what the equipment list is — in the first three lines. Our campaign data puts the best-converting length at 201–400 words, and for a role like this the shorter end works.
Three or four questions on the form, then call the same day. Every extra field costs completions, and the climber you want has applied somewhere else this morning.
What arborists and tree trimmers earn
Tree trimmers and pruners had a median of $24.50 an hour, $50,960 a year in 2025, across about 60,100 people with roughly 7,400 openings a year and 3–4% projected growth. Experienced climbers and certified arborists sit well above that median; ground workers sit below it.
| Comparison role | Median pay (2025) | Openings per year |
|---|---|---|
| Electrical power-line installers and repairers | $45.83/hr · $95,320 | ~9,900 |
| First-line supervisors of landscaping and groundskeeping | $28.09/hr · $58,430 | ~29,700 |
| Tree trimmers and pruners | $24.50/hr · $50,960 | ~7,400 |
| Construction laborers | $22.66/hr · $47,120 | ~205,700 |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers | $18.82/hr · $39,150 | ~187,100 |
The gap that matters is the one inside the trade, not across it. Tree work pays nearly six dollars an hour above general landscaping, and a landscaping crew member who is willing to learn to climb is looking at a raise of that size plus a genuine career. That is the recruiting message, and it is aimed at people who already work outdoors nearby rather than at the tiny pool of existing climbers.
For the climbers themselves, the competition is not other tree companies — it is line clearance and utility work, where the ceiling is much higher. A commercial tree company that wants to keep climbers competes on gear, safety, year-round hours and certification support, because it will not win on rate against a utility contract.
Frequently asked questions
What does an arborist do?
An arborist cuts away dead and excess branches, climbs on rope and saddle or works from an aerial bucket, performs removals and crown reduction, rigs and lowers limbs over structures, operates chainsaws, chippers, stump grinders and boom trucks, controls the drop zone, and inspects climbing gear daily. A certified arborist additionally diagnoses tree health, assesses risk, identifies disease and pests, and specifies the pruning rather than only performing it.
What is the difference between an arborist and a tree trimmer?
Tree trimmer describes the work — cutting, climbing, removals. Arborist, used properly, describes credentialed expertise in tree biology, health and risk, most commonly the ISA Certified Arborist credential. Many companies post the two interchangeably, which loses them credibility with candidates who hold the certification. Name the actual role: ground worker, climber, or certified arborist.
How much do arborists make?
Tree trimmers and pruners had a median of $24.50 an hour, or $50,960 a year, in 2025. That is roughly six dollars an hour above general landscaping and groundskeeping work at $18.82. Experienced climbers and ISA Certified Arborists sit above the median, ground workers below it, and utility line clearance work generally pays more than commercial tree care.
Do you need a certification to be an arborist?
Not to cut trees. The ISA Certified Arborist credential is not legally required for most tree work and is best used as an offer rather than a filter — paying for a climber's study and exam and attaching a raise to passing it converts better than an equivalent rate increase. Utility line clearance is the exception, with its own OSHA-governed qualification requirements.
What should an arborist job description include?
Which role it actually is — ground worker, climber, or certified arborist — the hourly rate, who buys the climbing gear and saws, whether certification is paid for, the equipment you run including bucket height and whether there is a crane, crew structure, the safety training cadence and aerial rescue practice, what winter hours look like, and the path from ground work into climbing.
How do you hire a tree climber when there are none available?
By not recruiting climbers. Tree trimming is a small occupation with roughly 7,400 openings a year nationally, so in any metro the pool of experienced climbers is countable and mostly employed. The sustainable route is hiring ground workers from the wider landscaping and outdoor labour pool, where the median is nearly six dollars an hour lower, and publishing the training ladder and the rate at each step.
Is tree work dangerous?
It is among the more hazardous trades — work at height, chainsaws, falling limbs, and in line clearance, energised conductors. That is precisely why candidates in this trade evaluate employers on safety first. Naming your training cadence, your aerial rescue practice and your equipment replacement policy in the posting is a recruiting advantage, not a liability.
Do arborists work year-round?
It depends on the company and the region, and candidates want to know before they apply. Plant health care, storm response, municipal contracts and dormant-season pruning can keep crews busy through winter. If your hours drop, say what the winter schedule looks like — year-round work is one of the strongest attractions this job has and it should be stated in numbers when it is true.
Other job description templates
Hiring climbers and tree crews?
The climbers are already employed. The people who will become climbers are mowing lawns six dollars an hour cheaper. That is the campaign.
Wage, employment, projection and task descriptions for tree trimmers and pruners (SOC 37-3013) and the comparison occupations: O*NET OnLine and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and BLS employment projections. Cost-per-applicant and apply-rate figures: Boostpoint 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark, 891 campaigns and 1,334 campaign-months.