CitySeed’s mission is to engage the community in growing an equitable, local food system that promotes economic development, community development and sustainable agriculture. Our core programs are designed to support the entire food system - from field to shelf - and demonstrate our vision to support a sustainable model of local economy, urban community, regional agriculture, environmental stewardship, and well-being through food.

CitySeed’s year-round network of Farmers Markets brings local food directly to New Haven neighborhoods, while supporting CT farm viability.
 

Sanctuary Kitchen supports refugee and immigrant chefs and food entrepreneurs, while building intercultural understanding in our community.
 

CitySeed Incubates food business incubation services remove barriers to food entrepreneurship and link new businesses to local farmers.

CitySeed seeks a dynamic and driven leader with proven experience in program growth to lead CitySeed’s strategy to promote sustainable agriculture and agricultural viability, most notably including our network of farmers markets. The Director will have demonstrated expertise in food systems and engaging with agricultural producers and farmers.

JOB OVERVIEW

The Director of Agricultural Program is responsible for the program management, strategy, and development of CitySeed’s current and future agricultural programs, including our network of Farmers Markets. The Program Director will be a mission-focused, strategic, and community-oriented leader, leading CitySeed’s agricultural programs (most notably, the Farmers Markets). They will work closely with a broad network of stakeholders, including colleagues across CitySeed’s programs, Market Managers, a network of farmers and vendors, Farmers Market advisory committee members, and partner organizations. The Director will contribute creativity, organization, and humility to the team, and bring a lens of racial equity and economic opportunity to the work. Leading the Farmers Markets, and developing a long term strategy for CitySeed’s contributions to sustainable agriculture and agricultural viability will be at the forefront of the Director’s work. The Director will be a leader who can build on the success of the Farmers Markets for the past 17 years, and find new ways to grow and evolve in the future.
 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Programming Strategy and Implementation

● Develop and implement long-term strategy for CitySeed’s Farmers Markets, including vendor engagement, nutrition incentive programs, and market partnerships

● Develop a long-term strategy for CitySeed’s contributions to sustainable agriculture and agricultural viability, including the Farmers Markets

● Produce and implement monitoring and evaluation plans with relevant metrics to monitor the growth and success of agricultural programs over time

● Serve as a thought-partner with CitySeed Incubates food entrepreneurship program, to ensure CitySeed’s Farmers Markets are serving as a pipeline for local entrepreneurs; build strategic connections for farmers and market vendors with external retail and wholesale contacts

● Connect CitySeed’s work to larger trends in the national and regional food system to inform short and long-term programmatic strategy

● Support the Market Manager in building the capacity of the Farmers Market’s systems and processes by maintaining and coordinating various platforms to ensure the efficiency, sustainability and growth of the program over time

Budgeting and Financials

● Support the Executive Director on fundraising strategy related to the Farmers Markets; Lead program implementation and data collection related to key grants

● Support the Managing Director in developing an annual Farmers Market budget

● Oversee the Farmers Markets billing and accounting processes by supporting the Market Manager, CitySeed’s accountant, and Operations Manager

● Oversee the collection and input vendor transaction data and nutrition program data for creation of reports by supporting the Market Manager and Operations Manager Team Management

● Provide a consistent day-to-day leadership presence for the Farmers Market team

● Alongside the Managing Director, hire, train, supervise, and evaluate Farmers Market staff (1-3 staff) and interns (1-2 interns)
 

Partnerships and Outreach

● Establish and maintain intentional, diverse, and collaborative relationships with other organizations and partners to further the mission of the Farmers Markets and advance future programming that promotes sustainable agriculture and agricultural viability

● Represent CitySeed on various committees, task forces, or councils at the community and state-wide level; occasionally serve as a spokesperson for CitySeed’s agricultural programming

● Grow, maintain, and refine the role of the Farmers Market Advisory Committee

● Oversee the Market Manager in the recruitment, training, scheduling, and evaluation of Farmers Market volunteers Communications, Marketing and Branding

● Provide direction and input to the program’s communications strategy, and support CitySeed’s communications team in supporting to press inquiries

● Work closely with CitySeed’s Community Outreach Manager to create content for newsletter, website, social media, and other campaigns to promote the Farmers Markets

SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS
We anticipate that a successful candidate will have management experience in a nonprofit or values-driven organization, and direct or lived experience working with farmers and agricultural communities, low-income communities, or people experiencing food insecurity. CitySeed recognizes that experience and expertise come in many forms. If you have different experiences that you think are a good fit for the role, please apply so we can learn more about you.

Required Qualifications

● 5+ years of relevant experience, such as: nonprofit/program management, food systems, Farmers Market management, government services, community services, stakeholder engagement.

● Program leadership experience including: budget and fiscal management, goal-setting, team building and staff management, monitoring and evaluation, program growth and outreach

● Demonstrated knowledge of food systems and sustainable agriculture

● Strong written communications skills including: writing and editing, developing proposals, newsletters and social media content, and crafting outreach materials

● Experience taking initiative and managing complex projects that require organization, attention to detail, prioritizing activities, and meeting deadlines

● Passion for community-level food systems and a commitment to racial and economic justice Desired Qualifications

● Experience with higher-level organizational strategy and organizational growth

● Language skills in Arabic, Farsi/Dari and/or Spanish

● Knowledge of the New Haven food system and/or nonprofit landscape