Company description
Founded in 2011, The Urban Canopy is pioneering the local food cycle to create a more sustainable and equitable food system in Chicago. We are growers, distributors, composters and community members who seek to positively impact our city’s environment, people’s health, and local economy. We strive to make healthy produce accessible to all, reduce the miles fresh food travels, keep food waste out of landfills, and create and maintain local jobs.
Job description
Summary:
The Urban Canopy is a young organization working to build a local, ethical, sustainable food system in Chicagoland. We are seeking a skilled farm manager for Lead of our 2-acre outdoor farm in Auburn-Gresham. The ideal candidate has 3+ years of experience in production farming and managing a small team, excels at developing and practicing efficient hand-scale production methods, and is committed to environmental stewardship, local job creation, healthy-living initiatives, and community building.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
Develop and maintain a yearly budget with guidance from Urban Canopy Leadership
Guide the growth and direction of the branch; actively seek opportunities for improvement
Collaborative crop planning and continuous re-evaluation based on accurate data and analysis
Lead daily production work including: bed prep, planting, plant maintenance, documentation, tool inventory and maintenance, seed starting, monitoring soil health, watering, weed control, maintain compost, spring setup and farm winterization
Hire, train and manage farm crew
Lead all harvest work: upkeep harvest supplies, create harvest plan, monitor harvest efficiency, communicate with other branches on order fulfillment
Manage Branch communications with internal and external partners
Gather and analyze harvest data to track crop viability and inform budget
Build relations with neighbors, city departments, urban farm partners and broader community
Qualifications:
3+ years production farming experience, ideally small/organic
3+ years management experience
Able to lift 75+ lbs and work outdoors in all Chicago weather
Competence and experience with Excel/Google Sheets coding
Efficiency-minded, self-driven, hard worker, able to give and receive instructions critically
Entrepreneurial spirit, recognize opportunities and means for growth
Valid license + comfortable driving large passenger vans and small box trucks to fulfill job duties
Comfortable with the ambiguity and stressors common to a growing small business
Able to shift gears smoothly and maintain momentum on multiple tasks
Able to meet deadlines, keep organized, maintain responsive and effective communication
Commitment to high quality, healthy produce and food access justice
Schedule:
This position is year-round starting in early Spring. During the growing season, the Lead will work full time on the farm. In the off season we provide work in other branches, usually full-time if desired.
Additional Information:
Wage ranges from $22.00 to $26.00 per hour.
Paid Time Off (PTO) earned at a rate of 1 hour per 17.5 hours of paid work.
401k plan options with a 3% match after 1 year of employment
Maternity/Parental Leave after one year of employment.
UC employees have access to free and wholesale food: includes surplus produce from our markets and CSA, and occasional product from our partners.
Complimentary Compost Club membership: home pick-up option available to employees within our service areas.
Eligible for health insurance options with a $200 monthly stipend plus an additional $200 monthly for one additional spouse/child/dependent.
Compensation
this position is: hourly, $20/hr +
Application instructions
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Deadline
February 28, 2026