Job Description

Job Description

Job Description

Salary: $26.50-29.00 per hour

Are you looking for an exciting and meaningful opportunity utilizing your passion for farming and education to help your community? Come join a dynamic team dedicated to reducing food waste and expanding equitable and reliable access to fresh foods! Willing Hands, an Upper Valley non-profit, is looking for a Farm Manager to lead our garden program.

Job Summary: Willing Hands Farm Manager is responsible for directing all tasks related to growing produce in Willing Hands gardens and orchards along with engaging volunteers and the community in the organization's mission and organic farming. This position will be expected to create and execute a farm management plan that produces roughly 50,000 pounds of food each year. The Farm Manager is a core key ambassador for the organization and is expected to engage and teach volunteers, groups, Willing Hands staff, and the public about Willing Hands mission and organic agriculture. This position will engage, coordinate, and lead volunteer groups who provide the bulk of our labor force, support communication with garden partners, and manage crop and volunteer data to show the impact of this work. This position will supervise up to three seasonal employees or interns and work closely with both the Director of Programs and the Operations Manager to ensure that Willing Hands' goals and objectives are met. The Farm Manager is a year round, non-exempt position with seasonally variable hours: April-October - 40-45 hours per week and November-March 20-30hrs/week, for a total of 1664-1850 hours a year.

Key Accountabilities:

• Plan and execute a yearly garden budget and crop plan that is consistent with Willing Hands strategic goals.
• Coordinate, train, and manage volunteers for garden sessions and special group workdays in the gardens.
• Cultivate a diverse variety of vegetable crops on ~6 acres of land using organic, regenerative, and no-till agricultural best practices.
• Ensure positive experience for volunteers throughout the growing season.
• Work successfully and collaboratively as a team with other Willing Hands staff including the Operations Manager who will act as a mentor for the position and the Outreach Coordinator; Create strong collaborative relationships with key Garden partners, such as Cedar Circle Farm, Dartmouth Hitchcock, and contracted farmers.
• Supervision includes 1-3 seasonal Garden Assistants and potential interns.

Supervisory Responsibilities: Volunteer groups, Gardens Assistant, Interns

Duties/Responsibilities:

Develop and Execute Garden Plan (35%)

• Crop planning: Develop a yearly crop plan appropriate for each garden location, in collaboration with Operations team, that prioritizes produce that is highly sought by Recipient Organizations, increases nutritional variety of Willing Hands deliveries, and is rewarding for volunteers to cultivate. Play an integral role in decision making for program development related to the gardens, including program improvements and shifting needs of the gardens. Provide insights and recommendations for continuous improvement of farming systems and practices.
• Growing food With the support of the Garden Assistant and Volunteers, serve as lead farmer for all agricultural tasks including but not limited to supply ordering, seeding, planting, cultivating, equipment ordering and maintenance, pest-management, weeding, washing, and harvesting.

Volunteer Engagement (35%)

• Volunteer management & training: Foster strong relationships with volunteers with the dual purpose of providing efficient labor for growing food and fostering and understanding of the Willing Hands mission. Provide a positive, safe, and productive experience for volunteers. Coordinate and train volunteer teams to accomplish all tasks necessary to carry out Garden Program goals. Ensure regular communication and coordination with independent contractors supporting the garden work.

Administrative Duties (10%)

• Data collection: Label and transport produce from the gardens to Willing Hands, record harvested crops and weights. Maintain accurate harvest and volunteer records and up-to-date garden events calendar in the Willing Hands volunteer database, document volunteer attendance.
• Budget Development: With the support of supervisor and Executive Director, develop detailed annual Garden program budgets consistent with Willing Hands mission, program goals, and strategic plan.
• Communications: Generate weekly updates for the garden programs to share with volunteer crews, coordinate with staff and volunteers by email, text and/or calls about specific session details as needed. Take photos during the garden sessions to share with Willing Hands communications team for use in social media postings and regular updates to supporters.

Supervise Garden Assistant and Interns (20%)

• Train and Supervise a seasonal Garden Assistant. Teach the farm team, volunteers, and interns proper planting tactics, efficient harvesting methods, soil health, fertility, and organic pest control. Provide training and oversight to ensure the Garden Assistant who will work alongside the Farm Manager, independently, and lead volunteer sessions. Ensure garden tasks are completed as assigned. Manage the Gardening Assistants weekly schedule and any needed administrative duties. Supports Gardening Assistant with professional development.

Foster strong relationships with Collaborative Partners and Internal Team Members

• Outreach and partnership development: Support Outreach staff and represent Willing Hands with volunteer engagement, appreciation, communications, educational opportunities and events that connect volunteers to the work of Willing Hands and to each other. Build and maintain relationships with key partners, such as the town of Norwich, DMHC, Cedar Circle Farm, etc.

• Assist other Willing Hands staff with additional duties as assigned; these may include but are not limited to helping sort produce in the coolers, assisting with compost management at the Willing Hands facility, driving Willing Hands vehicles to/from gardens or other sites to transport food.

Position Requirements:

• Minimum of five years of management-level experience in vegetable agriculture production at a farm of a relatable scale and growing parameters. This experience must include day-to-day decision-making, experience developing season-long plans, and staff supervision experience.
• A passion for growing healthy food in a sustainable manner according to organic principles and regenerative agricultural goals.
• Ability to spend long periods of time outdoors performing often strenuous and sometimes monotonous agricultural tasks. Ability to safely lift up to 50 pounds, often repeatedly, and assist and train others to do so.
• Ability to use BCS, Mantis, and hand tools
• Personable and positive attitude and demonstrated ability to communicate with and manage volunteers in variable outdoor conditions, and work with diverse and multi-disciplinary teams;
• Excellent time-managementand organizational skills;
• Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• Commitment to safety protocols, to be an example, and ensure volunteers adhere to the same;
• Proficient with digital communications, comfort with Google Suite, and ability to learn, and use efficiently, additional digital platforms for data and volunteer management;
• Detail-oriented with attention to accurate record-keeping;
• Ability to act as an ambassador for Willing Hands and our mission any time working with volunteers, at partner farms, with supporters, and with the general public.
• A valid driver's license.

Preferred Experience:

• Servesafe training for food handling
• Volunteer management and/or teaching/education experience

Additional Requirements and Considerations:

• This position requires flexibility in schedule and working hours during the growing season (April through October. This includes the likelihood of evening and weekend duties and regular overtime.
• During November through March hours may be reduced depending on the individuals interest, the needs of the position, and the availability of other assignments within the organization.
• This position is based in our Norwich, VT location which has a greenhouse, garden, and composting on-site, as well as three additional garden locations. These include the Farmacy Garden located on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock campus in Lebanon NH; the River Road garden on Route 5 in Norwich, VT; and the Garden at Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center in East Thetford, VT.

General Expectations of all Staff

• Understand and support the mission of Willing Hands as expressed by the Board
• Greet the public through all channels of communication with courtesy and respect
• Coordinate and integrate efforts with staff working on other Willing Hands programs
• Work in a safe manner and report any safety hazards to the Executive Director
• Maintain individual workstation and office in a clean manner
• Practice good work habits of flexibility, efficiency, punctuality, dependability, and confidentiality
• Strive to grow existing skills and learn new ones
• Employ effective communication skills by sharing information, listening to others, and giving positive input
• Work as a team member by helping others ,making suggestions for improvements, and accepting constructive feedback from all team members.

Benefits and Work Environment

• Paid time off and holidays
• This position is based in our Norwich office
• Mileage is reimbursed at the current federal reimbursement rate for all approved work travel with a personal vehicle.

• Opportunity to set professional development goals with supervisor
• Regular meetings of Willing Hands staff

• Healthcare, vision, dental, EAP, and retirement benefits.

• We care deeply about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable work environment

Willing Hands Mission is to reduce food waste and expand equitable and reliable access to fresh foods. Willing Hands grows, gleans, and recovers nourishing fresh food and distributes it for free to our neighbors in need through a network of nearly 80 human service organizations in the greater Upper Valley region of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Willing Hands is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, race, color, religion, sex, Veteran status, national origin, or disability with respect to employment, volunteer participation, and the provision of services.

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