Farm Operations Director

Job title: Farm Operations Director

Company: Sole Food Farms

Job description: Sole Food Street Farms is seeking a Director of Farm Operations to manage and work alongside a large staff including long-time employees and volunteers. The position will be expected to actively participate in all day-to-day activities with employees in addition to applicable administration work. The right candidate will be production driven, but also socially engaged and excited about working with diverse groups of people in an urban environment.

Who We Are:

Sole Food Street Farms is an internationally recognized social enterprise that transforms vacant urban land into street farms. Our mission is to empower individuals with limited resources by providing jobs, agricultural training and inclusion in a supportive community of farmers and food lovers. Mission-based staff are provided with basic agriculture training and employed at the farm according to their individual capacity. Some participants excel in this environment, but the project is intended to allow for the “ups and downs” of people facing multiple barriers such as addiction, mental health issues, poverty, and housing insecurity.

With few significant food production farms within the city, Sole Food provides educational opportunities, a place to learn new skills and an opportunity for self-growth. In 2020 Sole Food consolidated its farm operations onto a single 3.1-acre site in Vancouver’s Olympic Village neighborhood. The farm supplies fresh food to inner city residents through a donations program and markets its produce to restaurants and farmer’s markets, modeling high quality and intensive urban agriculture while providing low-barrier employment to inner city residents

The Position

The successful candidate will work closely with the outgoing Director of Farm Operations and Executive Director to implement Sole Food’s seasonal farm plan and manage time and staffing to efficiently meet production requirements The right person will be an experienced organic grower who is eager to jump right in, and excited about the prospect of growing into a challenging and very fulfilling role. The candidate should be ready to make a multi-year commitment to our organization.

Specific Responsibilities

Farm Site Management

• Maintain steady harvest flow for four farmers’ markets, CSA and twice-weekly restaurant deliveries
• Ensure consistent and timely harvests of quality produce
• Help with post-harvest processing as needed
• Communicate product availability to Distribution Coordinator for use in sales decisions
• Create and submit to Executive Director a detailed annual crop plan including rotations, planting map, greenhouse seeding, seed inventory, and plant and seed orders
• Maintain seed inventory/ordering and manage propagation
• Maintain soil health, weed management and cultivation, monitor for pests and diseases issues, and manage all irrigation
• Maintain all sites in a clean and orderly fashion
• Address theft and/or vandalism
• Maintenance of all farm equipment and facilities, supervision of repair and maintenance work
• Maintain accurate records of all farm activities

Staff Management

• Create weekly work schedule for farm site staff, farmers’ market, CSA, farm volunteers.
• Adjust workflow to fit the needs of the farm and staff availability
• With other managers, help plan staff retreats, staff meetings, staff parties, weekly and monthly workshops, training, and community engagement opportunities.
• Oversee the work of support staff (Distribution Coordinator, Market Staff, Farm Supervisors) and mission-based farm staff
• Ensure that Distribution Coordinator and Farm Supervisors have information, tools, supplies and support to do their jobs effectively
• Create opportunities for staff recognition and appreciation
• Encourage capacity building in all staff members to further organizational development and help staff realize their full potential
• Lead on-farm training for support staff and mission-based staff who may be experiencing a wide range of complex barriers
• Provide support to staff when needed and keep informed of staff well-being, needs, and concerns
• Occasionally you may find yourself managing staff who are in crisis situations brought on by diverse problems. Trauma-informed Workplace and Indigenous Cultural Safety training will be provided, and you will have support available.

Other

• Perform tours or other farm-related public activities as needed to support our fundraising and outreach goals.
• Work with community partners to support programming for staff members
• With Executive Director and Administrative Director, participate in budget planning for current and future years

Requirements

• Minimum of 3+ years of agricultural production experience, with at least one year in a leadership role
• Demonstrated understanding of sustainable and organic production
• Experience with irrigation, basic farm tools/equipment, and basic mechanics/plumbing/carpentry skills
• Strong organizational skills including multi-tasking, prioritizing, planning, and effective time management
• Motivated, flexible and able to work independently
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Demonstrated experience working with diverse populations is a big plus
• Valid driver’s license
• Access to computer and phone
• Be in excellent physical condition and able to lift 50 lbs.
• Patient and compassionate with a good sense of humour and excellent interpersonal skills.

Fluency in spoken Spanish and/or Kiswahili a plus.

This is a full-time position beginning ASAP in 2021. Workflow will vary according to operational requirements. Must be available to work weekends and occasional evenings as needed. Annual salary range starts at $47850 with room to grow. Two weeks paid vacation and seasonal flex-time, extended health benefits, and discounts on farm products. Our staff come from all walks of life and we believe our management team should reflect this, BIPOC and LGBTQ2 applicants are encouraged to apply.

Please send resume, cover letter and three work-related references to . Please include Farm Operations Application in the subject line of the email. Applications will be reviewed as they are received, and this posting will remain open until a candidate has been selected.

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Expected salary: $47850 per year

Location: Vancouver, BC

Job date: Fri, 15 Jan 2021 08:49:47 GMT