Organization
Founded in 2005, Urban Tilth hires and trains local residents to cultivate agriculture in West Contra Costa County to help our community build a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system. We use our 7 different school and community gardens and small urban farms to
strengthen our community’s capacity to provide for ourselves, speak for ourselves, and fight for the future we need.
Position Description
Urban Tilth has an immediate opening for a Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist at the North Richmond Farm. In this position, you will plan, lead, and execute all work days and tasks pertaining to our crop row food production at the 10-acre North Richmond Urban Farm. In this position, you will implement Urban Tilth’s growing practices and production management used to manage our 1-acre production area farm while identifying and making suggestions to improve our current systems. The Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist will lead a small crew of farm coordinators to maintain farm operations and farm infrastructure such as our annual planting plan, nursery plan, scheduled irrigation maintenance, cover cropping plan, and other regenerative practice implementation to run our farm
sustainably. Additionally, the Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist will work with our CSA and Farm Stand team to improve the timing and yield of produce being grown in crop rows and distributed to our 3 CSA Box programs and FREE Farm Stands. The Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist is also responsible for making sure all organic certification and food safety data collection and documentation is completed to comply with all requirements. The Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist is responsible for working with the farm crew, farm education, community engagement managers, and communications team to coordinate all farm projects, including farm improvements, maintenance, volunteer events, youth and community workshops, and special community events. This position is also a leadership role that will help to develop the skill sets of all young urban farmers who come to learn at our farm by serving as a mentor to the farm crew and the larger community. The Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist will also learn how to be responsible for making sure the farm team documents and tells the story of the North Richmond Farm to the larger North Richmond, Richmond, West County, and Urban Tilth community.
This position is for someone with a “calling” to hard work as a farmer on the land, not someone who is just looking for a “job”.
Position responsibilities:
- Improve growing practices and production management in all areas of the farm.
- Work with the Farm Specialists and Farm Crew to create and maintain farm operations infrastructure such as a coordinated annual planting plan, nursery plan, scheduled irrigation maintenance, cover cropping plan, and implementing other regenerative practices that it takes to run a sustainable farm
- Work with the CSA and Farm Stand teams to improve the production and distribution of North Richmond Farm produce
- Co-create clear communication protocols and procedures with CSA and Farm Stand, Farm Community Engagement, and communications teams
- Ensure all data collection and documentation to support organic certification and food safety requirements are completed within deadlines according to all requirements
- Support the development of the skill sets of our new urban farmers
- Assist with the creation and coordination of the farm crew’s weekly and monthly work plans
- Serve as a mentor to the farm crew
- Develop and improve training for our farm crew as it pertains to small-scale bio-intensive urban farming practices
- Work with the Farm Collective and Crew to coordinate all farm projects, including farm improvements, maintenance, planting, harvesting, washing and packing produce, planning, and special community events.
- Support the Farm Education Manager with the development and delivery of farm community workshops, after-school, and other youth programs.
- Create and maintain farm maintenance plans for the North Richmond Farm
- Plan, lead, and/or co-lead site development and maintenance workdays
- Work with the Farm Collective and Crew, Farm Community Engagement Manager, and the Communications team to ensure effective community outreach for the North Richmond Farm programming and community events
- Work with the Farm Specialists and Crew to ensure weekly social media project updates with photos, captions, and titles
- Work with the Farm Specialists and The Communications Team to document and tell the story of the North Richmond Farm to Urban Tilth funders and the larger North Richmond, Richmond, West County, and Urban Tilth community and Urban Tilth funders.
- Work with the Farm Specialists and Crew to maintain daily, weekly, and monthly data collection for all North Richmond Farm programs including but not limited to: before and after maintenance photos, volunteer day photos, sign-in sheets, workday logs, production logs, food safety logs, labeling and management
- Complete all timesheets and submit all expense reports weekly to support funder billing
- File monthly reports for your area of specialization before the 5th day of each month for the prior month
- Create and maintain relationships with stakeholders, organizations, and individuals
- Accurately fill out and submit timesheets for every pay period on time
- Assist in fund development for the North Richmond Farm and Urban Tilth as a whole
- Deliver presentations at annual board staff retreats and strategic planning meetings
- Attend ALL Urban Tilth staff meetings, farm crew meetings and the Annual Strategic Planning Retreat
- Participate in ALL Urban Tilth projects, programs, and events including the Summer Apprentice Program and MLK National Day of Service
- Attend training and conferences to continue to develop professional skills
Additional Administrative Responsibilities:
- Crop Row Planting Plan
- Crow Row Data Tracking
- Harvest and Distribution logs
- Standard Operating Procedure Logs (SOPS) related to food safety harvest handling.
- Wildlife Intrusion Log
- North Richmond Farm Harvesting Log
- Tools and Equipment Cleaning Log
- Soil Amendment and Compost Log
- Compost Preparation Log
- Chemical Application Log
- Tool Cleaning Schedule
This role will have opportunities for pay raises depending on performance and organizational funds available at the time.
Required Skills:
- 3-5 years minimum experience leading growing practices on – organic, small farms, or large-scale community gardens
- Driver’s license and clean driving record
- High proficiency in organic and or regenerative farming: composting, drip irrigation installation and upkeep, propagation techniques, harvesting, plant care, pest management, orchard care, cover cropping, mulching, and watering skills
- Experience and proficiency in logging and data collection for produce harvesting, food safety logs, crop row amendment tracking, crop row planting tracking, and farm volunteers and program participants and other areas of data collection as needed
- Experience working in Richmond and comfortable moving around in North Richmond
- Excellent farm production planning, timing, and time management skills
- Collaborative yet self-driven work style
- Comfortable managing multiple tasks and picking up new tasks as needed
- Experience working with immigrant and low-income communities of color
- Experience working with youth and young adults
- Experience working in social justice organizations
- Proficiency in online social media, communications
- Proficiency in Google Suite including Google Drive, Sheets, & Docs
- Excellent conflict resolution, verbal and written communication skills
Desired Skills:
- Bilingual Spanish
- Experience operating BobCats, front loaders, forklifts, and 2-Hand Tractor.
- Carpentry experience
- 2-5 years of environmental education experience
- Experience designing garden/farm education programming
- Familiar with ASANA project management software for project and task delegation and tracking
Compensation:
- Hourly position: $27/hr
- 75% FTE position (30 hours per week)
- Some weekends and holidays required
*People of color, North Richmond, Richmond, and San Pablo residents, LBGTQ, and formerly incarcerated are encouraged to apply
How To Apply:
Please email your cover letter, resume, and references to: employment@urbantilth.org
ATTN: North Richmond Farm Hiring Committee – Farm Co-Manager Crop Row Production Specialist
Urban Tilth has a great team and we are doing great things.
To learn more about our work visit our website: www.urbantilth.org, Facebook page: facebook.com/urbantilth, or Google Urban Tilth.