Company description

Founded in 1978, employee and grower-owned Organically Grown Company (OGC) is the largest organic produce distributor in the Pacific Northwest. From locations in Oregon and Washington, OGC works with more than 300 growers and vendors to market and distribute produce to over 500 retail, wholesale and restaurant customers throughout the greater Pacific Northwest and beyond. OGC’s trademarked LADYBUG brand represents more than 30 Northwest, family-owned, organic and Salmon-Safe certified farms and is sold in markets across the United States and Canada. OGC has been recognized as a leader in sustainable business practices including sourcing 100% renewable energy in facilities, operating their own Clean Air certified truck fleet, support for fair trade and charitable giving. Their mission is “Promoting health through organic agriculture as a leading sustainable organization.” www.organicgrown.com

Job description

THE COMPANY:

As of 2018, we are owned by a Perpetual Purpose Trust, whose main purpose is not to extract a profit, but rather to help OGC and other like-minded businesses fulfill our mission – serving sustainable food and agriculture communities. We look for people who share our passion for organic agriculture and sustainable business practices; who value teamwork, candor, transparency and an egalitarian workplace; and who engage others with joy and gratitude. Our products are “just in time,” need careful handling, and change by the season. Our coworkers embrace that challenge and strive to provide exceptional customer experiences while in pursuit of operational excellence. We do all this with gratitude, integrity, collaboration, resiliency and grit. We believe in doing things a little differently here at OGC, and living our values authentically.

THE POSITION:

Reporting to the CEO, OGC seeks a dynamic Vice President of People and Planet. This role is responsible for leading a transformational human resources department grounded in strategy and operational activities, with a commitment to growing organizational vitality. Vision in manifesting the pillars of our company culture with and through all coworkers is key, including through leadership and development programs, recruitment and effective onboarding and retention strategies. People and relationships are at the core of OGC’s work and this position holds significant responsibility for ensuring these shared values are embodied in our internal and external work:

• We are passionate about produce and sustainability
  • We provide exceptional customer service
  • We share leadership and ownership
  • We act with joy and gratitude
  • We inspire trust in everything we do

Additionally, this position will guide organizational strategy and execution in relationship to sustainability initiatives. Responsibilities will include leading and collaborating in envisioning and implementing initiatives internally, in the trade and with community partners.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE:

VPs at OGC are grounded in fundamental systems and processes, while also playing a critical role in entrepreneurial leadership: creating vision, embracing continuous improvement, and managing projects that drive impactful, highly collaborative innovation. Ability to focus on the core business, while also supporting the development and execution of a broad range of supply chain, sales, logistics, warehousing, and transportation related business development activities is critical.

Successful leaders at OGC are humble, lifelong learners who are excellent listeners and teachers, and value deep, authentic collaboration with cross-functional teams. They also aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. They are motivated to be the CEO’s of their business areas, and are able to both set vision and simultaneously roll up their sleeves. They are innovators and change agents, who prioritize achievement and continuous improvement for growth that is grounded in data, analytics and holistic root cause understanding. They must be able to demonstrate and coach teams in effective problem understanding and solution creation/implementation, be creative out-of-the box thinkers and, above all, value mentoring and empowering coworkers at all levels. They believe that their own success is measured not by personal accomplishment, but by how their team is growing and contributing, both as individuals and as a whole.

The right leader for the Vice President of People and Planet role will authentically and passionately align with the OGC mission and pillars. This individual will have held relevant and progressively responsible roles in a growth and innovation oriented company of minimum of 200+ employees. This leader must truly and deeply care about high level social and economic issues, including the future of sustainable, organic agriculture, social equity, environmental issues, and corporate responsibility.

An ideal candidate has a demonstrated natural curiosity and truly believes that change happens through developing deep, systems-based understanding and personal relationships. This candidate embraces complexity, and has a healthy dose of patience and polite persistence built into the way they operate. Resilience, positivity, and creative, inclusive problem solving are core to the way the ideal candidate operates. Demonstrated experience scaling an organization and effectively leading change is vital.

Further qualifications include:

• A Bachelor’s degree or overall equivalent education and experience plus 10+ years in progressively responsible roles in a growth oriented company with direct responsibility for transformation human resources (SPHR certification preferred); additional sustainability leadership experience, extensive knowledge and personal commitment are critical.
• Extensive experience leading both strategic and tactical human resources, talent recruitment and development, compensation and benefits programs, and organizational design and development activities essential. Commitment to team development to foster a vibrant and successful organizational community required.
• An established track record of working as a hands-on partner with leadership teams (managers & supervisors) to implement short and long-range human resources strategies, plans, policies, and practices that align with and support the Company’s goals and dreams.
• Passionate personal alignment with OGC's mission, core values, and aspirations.
• Demonstrated capacity for creative problem solving, proactive partnership, and willingness to collaboratively push boundaries.
• Experiencing leading and partnering to achieve P&L responsibilities in the food production, retail, distribution, manufacturing, transportation and/or logistics industry required.

Organically Grown Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, more than $100,000

Application instructions

Deadline

no deadline