Company description

Just Roots works in collaboration with communities to develop and expand access to local, sustainably grown food. We currently run two sustainable urban farms, located on Chicago’s southside and south suburbs. Our three core pillars are sustainable agriculture, education, and community building. 

We are a young, growing organization that was founded in 2017 and volunteer-run until 2021. We are currently a team of six staff and eight board members, with invaluable support from a host of seasonal staff, interns, volunteers, and community partners. To learn more, visit https://justrootschicago.org/our-team/
 

Workplace Values

Honesty, Authenticity, Empathy, Inclusion, Continued Growth, Respect
 

Organizational Values

Community, Equity, Transparency, Collaboration, Regeneration, Joy

 

Job description

Position Description
The Farm Manager serves as the lead facilitator at It Takes A Village Community Farm, a 3 acre community farm located in Sauk Village, IL. The Farm Manager is responsible for executing daily farm tasks, in coordination with Just Roots staff, interns, volunteers, and program participants, to organically grow over 40 different fruits, vegetables, and herbs on an annual basis.   

 

Primary Qualifications

• Believes in Just Roots’ vision, mission, and values.

• A highly organized person who is skilled at creating organizational systems and executing daily tasks on an urban farm. 
• Has the ability to do outdoor physical labor 9 months out of the year and 4-5 days/week at an efficient pace. 
• Has a minimum of 2 years of experience working at an urban farm/garden in Chicago. 
• Has 1-2 years of experience leading or supporting buildout projects at an urban farm/garden. 
• Has at least 2 years of experience in food systems or urban agriculture and a strong working knowledge of local food systems.   
• Committed to ongoing personal and professional growth.
• A self-motivated individual who’s able to complete tasks in an efficient manner.
• Has experience working with GSuite or another organizational tool. 
• Because our business is located in an area without access to reliable public transportation, we only recommend that applicants with access to a vehicle apply.
• Can work a Tuesday-Saturday schedule. 
• Can work in outdoor weather conditions and move supplies weighing up to 50 pounds.
• Lives in Chicagoland, preferably on the south side of Chicago or in a south suburban community. 

 

Primary Responsibilities

• Creates and implements the annual crop plan, production schedule, food safety plan, weekly farm plan, and daily task/harvest lists.  
• Leads all staff, interns, and volunteers in completing daily farm tasks in a timely and effective manner. 
• Leads buildout projects on the farm, in coordination with Just Roots’ Operations team. 
• Leads weekly harvests for all market channels.
• Utilizes paper and digital logs to complete daily reporting of farm tasks, harvest totals, expenses, etc.
• Participates in weekly team meetings.

 

Secondary Responsibilities 

• Works with the farm operations team to create a plan for annual market channel distribution. 
• Supports tours, volunteer groups, and farm events on an as-needed basis.   
• Supports organizational operations work. 

 

Salary & Benefits: 

The starting salary range for this position is $40,000 - $45,000. The ideal candidate is someone who is interested in growing with the organization. In addition to the above salary, we provide the following benefits:

• Regular professional development and opportunities for growth. 
• A competitive health and retirement benefits package and travel reimbursement
• A hybrid work schedule between November and March
• 10 PTO days/year, along with three full weeks off during the winter months
• Regular access to fresh produce from our farms.
• An inclusive team environment where we actively work to foster joy, mutual respect, and continued personal and professional growth. 

Equal Opportunity Employment: Just Roots works affirmatively to provide equal opportunity among its workforce and does not discriminate in the selection of its staff on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, income, marital status, or any other dimension of identity. We strongly encourage applications from diverse candidates, particularly individuals from groups that have been historically under-represented, including but not limited to women, people of color, and immigrants (including individuals who were formerly detained, incarcerated, undocumented, or who have navigated the immigration legal system).

Compensation

this position is: salaried, 35,568* - 50k

Application instructions

Deadline

October 09, 2023