Youth Garden Project Produce Manager Job

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Taylor in Employment, Gardening, Local Food // 0 Comments

Youth Garden Project Produce Manager Job in Moab, Utah – 2021

The Youth Garden Project cultivates healthy children, families, and community through educational programs and the profound act of connecting people with food from seed to table.

Youth Garden Project Produce Manager Position Overview:

The Youth Garden Project Produce Manager will provide leadership in produce distribution, preservation, and value-added goods production in addition to helping with farm work and tasks. This position is a key staff on the admin team of the organization that exhibits leadership and supports YGP in its events and ongoing growth and development. This position should expect seasonal variability in the amount of time working on the farm and in the kitchen. This is a full-time, year-round, benefitted position supervised by the Executive Director and is a new position beginning in 2021. Target Start Date: January 6, 2021.

Successful candidates will demonstrate a strong work ethic, flexibility, excellence in self-directed and collaborative work, skillful prioritization of tasks and time management, and will represent YGP’s mission of cultivating healthy children, families, and community through the process of connecting people with food from seed to table.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities Produce/Preservation/Kitchen:

Prioritize tasks associated with the harvest and timely processing of produce for value-added products or preservation for later use.
Implement a detailed plan for meeting value-added products budget goals.
Work collaboratively with the Farm Manager to effectively harvest and distribute produce to Community Supported Agriculture shareholders, the community, and other YGP programs.
Act as the point of contact for restaurant sales and other public produce distribution efforts.
Complete the Kitchen Manager certification through the Utah Health Department. Management and upkeep of a farm-to-table commercial kitchen.
Stay up to date on Utah Department of Agriculture and Food regulations, and any others that dictate guidelines for food safety and the preparation of value-added goods for sale.
Work with the Outreach and Development Coordinator to expand Garden Dinner Fundraiser initiatives and similar revenue-generating food-centered events.
Collaborate with the Outreach and Development Coordinator to incorporate volunteers into kitchen work as needed and manage kitchen rentals.
Engage Seed Crew (youth development and employment program for 14-18 year olds) in produce processing and preserving projects at least once per week over 9 weeks of the summer program.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities in Garden & on Site

Contribute to the annual crop plan to maximize produce needs for programs and value-added production.
Participate in daily farm tasks and labor. Design an effective schedule in collaboration with the Farm Manager to support them in necessary farm projects and work while also prioritizing processing of produce.
Help the Farm Manager implement approved plans for short- and long-term improvements to growing spaces and systems.
Generally, work together with the Farm Manager to achieve goals for the site and production spaces.
January-March when production is slowest, this position will spend more time working on the farm than in the kitchen.

Other Responsibilities

Partner with the Youth Programs Director on the intersection of youth and the kitchen including integrating students into kitchen happenings, and working with Seed Crew during the summer to help teach food processing skills.
Provide leadership for and be a part of a team to carry out fundraising events such as Garden Dinners, Annual Plant Sale, and Harvest Festival.
Work with the Executive Director to meet income and expense budget goals.
Be an enthusiastic representative of the Youth Garden Project at all times.
Several evenings and approximately 1 weekend day per month for YGP events will be required during the growing season.

Desired Skills and Experience

At least one growing season working on a farm/garden using organic growing practices.
Canning, jamming, freezing, dehydrating, and other preservation techniques.
Varied experience in cooking and preserving both personally and professionally.
Familiarity with fruit and vegetable storage needs.
Knowledge of commonly used plant varieties in cooking and for market sales.
Comfortable using a variety of ingredients and working within different food genres/dietary preferences.
Creativity and a passion for seed-to-table food.
Strengths in time management, prioritization, and multi-tasking.
Ability to communicate effectively and positively with staff and community members.
Strong interest in working at an educational garden and furthering the mission of the Youth Garden Project.
Enthusiasm for learning and working collaboratively internally and in the community.
Proficient with Microsoft Office software and G Suite.

Benefits:

Annual salary dependent on experience and paid twice monthly
Paid sick leave (accrued at 8 hrs per month) & vacation (10 days to start plus Dec 24-Jan 1)
Option to enroll in small group insurance plan (75% of premium company paid)
3% matching simple IRA program

The Youth Garden Project provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.