Company description

Just Roots envisions caring communities that motivate and support all residents to participate and access food in ways that promote and sustain the holistic health of people and the environment. Guided by that vision, we strive to support our community in three primary ways:

1) Improved holistic health and well-being for residents through the production, harvest, and consumption of healthy, culturally affirming food.
2) The development of a thriving community that learns and shares about local, healthy, regenerative food practices together.
3) Greater collaboration and resource sharing among urban farmers working to support the development of a more local, regenerative, and community-driven food system.

We are a young, growing organization that was founded in 2017. We are a team of ten staff and nine 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/.

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. The Farm
Manager serves as the direct manager for the Farm Lead and Coordinator.

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 on a diversified fruit and vegetable
  farm.
• 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.
• Has experience with on-farm food safety and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)
  standards.
• 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.
• Has reliable and consistent access to a car and a valid driver’s license.
• Can work a Monday through Friday schedule, with occasional Saturdays.
• 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 Growing Young Leaders’ on-site daily farm tasks and works with the Program
  Manager to give feedback.
• 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.
• Consistently keeps the farm clean and organized, and maintains farm safety and farm
  aesthetics standards.
• 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 $50,000 - $55,000. The ideal candidate is someone who is interested in growing with the organization. In addition to the above salary, we provide the following benefits:

• A competitive medical, dental, and retirement benefits package
• A partial travel reimbursement
• Regular professional development and opportunities for growth
• A 4-day work week during the winter months (December-February)
• 10 paid vacation days/year and 2 consecutive weeks off in late December/early January
• Paid leave time
• 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, $50,000 - $75,000

Application instructions

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Deadline

January 16, 2026