Job Summary
We are looking for a highly motivated, detail-oriented and energetic person for this position of Farm Manager. The Farm Manager keeps our educational spaces thriving, safe, and ready for learning. This is a farming and facilities role: you grow produce in the educational fields and garden, care for our animals, and keep the physical site, tools, vehicles, drains, restrooms, supplies, pest control, in working order for the thousands of kids and visitors who move through it each year.
The fields exist to serve our programming and feed our community. Success is measured by maintaining a continuous variety of fruits and vegetables growing across the whole year, so that whenever a group walks into the fields there is something to taste, compare, harvest, plant, irrigate or demonstrate IPM and regenerative farming practices. You'll plan a season of variety. You will train our educators in how to lead garden activities and collaborate with the education team on curriculum and increase their farming knowledge to then pass on that learning to youth through programming, so the garden and teaching stay connected.
This position requires a collaborative individual with a high level of organization and flexibility. You are approachable, a great communicator, and passionate about our mission. You get the big picture, while being a strategic thinker who can dive in and get the daily work done with a strong attention to detail. You’re playful, comfortable being you, and willing to share your personal magic with Farm Discovery students while creating safe space on the farm and in the kitchen.
Responsibilities
- Manage seasonal and day-to-day organic farming operations with ongoing coordination with Live Earth Farm production operations and Farm Discovery Program Team.
- Lead and manage planning, propagation and greenhouse work, crop planning, planting and rotation, soil fertility, composting, perennial fruit tree and berry care, harvesting, post-harvest handling, irrigation, pest and disease control.
- Manage goat heard and flocks of chickens through daily and seasonal husbandry. Raise chicks seasonally.
- Train educators in leading field activities, planting, harvesting, tasting, and work with the education team to develop, implement, evaluate and revise garden-based curriculum.
- Maintain function, order and cleanliness of garden, fields, animal pens, education barn, kitchen classroom, and restroom.
- Inventory, order and stock kitchen and bathroom and cleaning products, garden and program supplies, and first aid materials, noticing what's low before it runs out.
- Keep tools organized and in working condition (every tool has a place).
- Conduct and facilitate repairs on farm equipment, including welding and mechanical troubleshooting to minimize downtime.
- ·Support expanding Produce (donation and distribution) program, CCAC fellows and partnerships to include new farms and additional produce grown in the Farm Discovery fields and new volunteers
- Build and maintain strong working relationships with the host farm's owner and farm manager, to facilitate Live Earth Farm partnership including coordination of tractor work, irrigation support, shared equipment, gleaning, produce donations and facilities maintenance.
- Support program and administration staff on big events including u-picks, Fall Feast in the Fields, as well as smaller community building and fundraising events (Supporter’s Picnic, Holiday Sip & Shop, Land Stewardship Workdays).
- Coordinate farm volunteers and cultivate longer-term animal-chore volunteers; coordinate gleanings with service-corps fellows, route surplus produce (including donation runs with the farm truck), and ensure donation poundage gets logged.
- Participate in program evaluation (quantitative and qualitative).
- Supervise full and part-time staff, seasonal program staff, fellows, interns, and volunteers in field work.
- Ensure compliance with safety standards in all production processes and promote a safe working environment for staff.
Qualifications:
Required
- 2-3 years hands-on experience growing diverse vegetables, berries, and/or fruit at hand scale using organic practices.
- Practical facilities, equipment, tools upkeep skills: comfort with site sanitation, rodent trapping, drain, truck and roof maintenance, and keeping shared spaces organized.
- Animal-care experience (goats, chickens)
- Physically fit to meet the demands of working on farm with youth, experience/ability to
- dig beds by hand and with a BCS and the ability to lift 50lbs.
- Experience training or mentoring others in garden skills, orcontributing to educational curriculum
- Genuine ownership instinct, you notice what needs doing (a sowing window, a drifting tool, a dwindling supply, advancing pests) and followthrough.
- Warmth and skill in building working relationships, especially the ongoing partnership with our host farm.
- Comfort working around children and supporting educators in an
- outdoor setting.
- Willingness to work non-traditional hours, including evenings and weekends as farm/programs demand.
- Valid driver's license; physical capacity for the demands below.
- Spanish
Preferred
- Cultural identity and lived experience relevant to the youth we serve.
- Rooted in Santa Cruz County, particularly the Pajaro Valley.
Join our team as a Farm Manager where your expertise will help shape the future of sustainable farming practices while leading a dedicated team to success!
Pay: $26.44 - $28.85 per hour
Benefits:
- 401(k) matching
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Flexible schedule
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Professional development assistance
- Retirement plan
Work Location: In person
