The Community Farmer Program Manager (“Manager”) works in conjunction with the New Leaf Agriculture Director (“Farm Director”) to implement the Community Farmer Program. Responsibilities include coordinating up to 40 refugee community farmers’ crop plans from greenhouse to harvest to distribution, managing community farmer invoicing along with the New Leaf Food Access Coordinator, keeping proper records for quarterly grant reporting, leading workshops and field days with the community farmers, and assisting the Farm Director with daily farm tasks.
Approximately 80% of time will be spent coordinating and implementing the Community Farmer program and 20% of time spent performing daily farm tasks in order to learn the farm’s systems, which will be taught to the program’s community farmers in workshops. This schedule will fluctuate based on the seasons and farm needs. Examples of farm activities include planting, harvesting, washing, packing, and greenhouse work.
Work Days: Thursday-Monday 7:30 am-3:30 pm, or otherwise noted by New Leaf Farm Director. Because weekends are when most community farmers are able to tend to their plots, this position requires working both of these weekend days.
We would be open to exploring a part time position Fri-Sun if Full Time work is not possible for a candidate.
A part-time schedule, Friday-Sunday, will be considered for the right candidate.
The farm address is 17312 Littig Rd., Elgin TX 78621.
Compensation
Compensation is $22 per hour for approximately 40 hours/week. PTO is accrued at 1.25 hours for every 20 hours worked. It also includes 5 standard holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day and 5 flex holidays paid out per the number of hours typically worked (3 if starting employment after mid-year).
Responsibilities:
Assist community farmers in crop and distribution planning seasonally
Assist community farmers in proper invoicing practices
Communicate with refugee, asylee and immigrant communities in Austin
Collect information from program participants about preferred crops and growing methods
Network with refugee organizations to develop working distribution relationships
Work to keep programs on schedule, within stated budgets and functioning smoothly
Support program growth and development as necessary
Assist Farm Director in designing harvest goals and distribution channels
Assist Farm Director in designing and administering educational programming for participants
Lead education workshops
Communicate effectively with the Farm Director
Communicate updates to the Food Access Coordinator on harvest and donation records
Keep updated records and create reports or proposals
Assist Farm Director with Field Tasks as needed
Be familiar with the MRC organization and represent it well in inquiries, tours, and events
Ensure cleanliness of farm facilities
Ensure the safety of all team members and volunteers
Qualifications:
At least 2 years experience in a managerial role on an organic farm.
Experience or ability to work with low-English speaking communities with patience, respect and inclusiveness
Willing to learn
Experience in program management preferably in the nonprofit sector
Experience in information gathering and data collection
Experience managing a team
Experience in teaching or leading workshops, preferably about farming or gardening
Respect MRC values
Work efficiently in all weather conditions
Can lift at least 50 lbs
Please send your resume and cover letter with two professional references to Farm Director Matt Simon at msimon@mrcaustin.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. Final candidates will need to complete a background check. We ask applicants to be open to discussing any findings with us as we may have questions.
Application deadline is October 1, 2023.