Company description As the leading herbal brand in North America, Gaia Herbs cultivates health and wellbeing by stewarding sustainable relationships between plants and people. Our unparalleled dedication to purity, integrity and potency is meticulously proven by science. We use organic methods from seed to shelf and offer the industry’s only traceability program, MeetYourHerbs®. Job description

Job Summary

This position manages all farm operations, including: planning, scheduling, staff management, plan execution, as well as oversight and documentation of the company’s organic farming operations from seed selection through greenhouse, field, harvest and post-harvest handling.

 

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Collaborates with Purchasing department to develop annual farm plan including crops, seed, greenhouse planting, acreage, labor, fertility, amendments, and harvest requirements to meet required raw material demand
• Plans, develops, and executes the annual farm budget as well as capital expense needs
• Develops and tracks Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the farm
• Communicates with Operations groups to inform harvest timing/yield and fresh harvest plans
• Procures seed, amendments, fertilizers, and supplies; develops and executes plans for their efficient usage to maximize crop quality and yield
• Manages farm team staff; monitors and approves work hours, develops and executes staff training, resolves problems
• Coordinates and supervises all farm team activities throughout the season
• Manages greenhouse operations and staff
• Monitors plant health, determines and implements applications and pest management programs to achieve high quality yield
• Develops and manages a program for regular soil testing and subsequent fertility and amendment plans
• Maintains compliance and documentation for Organic certification and leads annual farm audit
• Ensures compliance with applicable government regulations and health and safety standards
• Liaises with the farm maintenance team for repair/maintenance of facility and equipment, and purchasing of any new equipment
• Monitor field conditions and coordinate needed activity to optimize performance of each field
• Organizes and coordinates contractors for land prep and other sub-contracting issues
• Tracks and maintains the crop seed bank for the next year crop production
• Codifies farm operations through record keeping and data analysis
• Oversees the Gaia Farm vegetable program and assigns resources to meet the objectives of the program
• Collaborate with Quality Control for pre-harvest sampling program
• Support Marketing/PCW needs for farm tours, events and community relations
• Support Gaia Sustainability goals through collaboration with Sustainability Manager and development of practices and programs to improve environmental performance of farming operations
• Coordinates seasonal staff arrival and departure with PCW team
• Coordinates H2A staff housing assignment and maintenance, purchasing supplies as needed

 

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position supervises operations and staff for the farm at Gaia Herbs, Inc.

 

Qualifications

Education and/or Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science or related field
• 5+ (five) years of experience supervising people
• 5 (five) years of farm management or equivalent experience
• 1+ (one) year of experience working on an organic farm

 

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Valid North Carolina driver’s license
• Valid U.S. Passport
• Bilingual in English and Spanish strongly preferred; willingness to take lessons to learn to speak Spanish if not bilingual is required
• Knowledge of organic farming requirements and procedures
• Knowledge of herb cultivation practices and experience with Western NC (or similar climate) growing conditions preferred
• Knowledge or experience with Greenhouse operations preferred
• Excellent communication skills
• Knowledge of H2A visa requirements preferred
• Ability to write strategic business plans
• Ability to read and comprehend simple instructions, short correspondence and memos
• Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small groups situations to customers, clients and other employees of the organization
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio and percent and to draw and interpret graphs
• Ability to travel up to 25% of the time

 

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand and walk. The employee is regularly required to sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, talk or hear; and taste or smell. Specific vision abilities required by this job include the ability to be able to view a computer screen. Employee should be able to move and lift up to ten (10) pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to fifty (50) pounds. The employee must be able to climb ladders and work in high, precarious places.

 

Work Environment

The work environment of this position includes a standard office setting and outside farm setting. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is occasionally exposed to moving mechanical parts of farm equipment. The employee is exposed outside weather conditions, including cold, hot, wet and humid conditions. The employee may be exposed to extremely dusty environments. The noise level in the work environment is usually low.

 

The above statements are meant to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required of personnel so classified

Compensation this position is : salaried Application instructions Deadlineno deadline