POSITION FILLED – B.C. Land Matching Program Coordinator – Anywhere in B.C.

Young Agrarians is hiring a Coordinator for the B.C. Land Matching Program (BCLMP).

Location: British Columbia. Please indicate where you live on your application.

Deadline for Applications: Monday, April 24, 2023 at 12pm PST. This position will start when we find the right candidate. 

Do you love hearing the life stories of everyone you meet? Are you a person that gets joy from helping others learn and grow? Do you have a creative flair for outreach and event organizing? Would you consider yourself a computer-savvy person who can’t wait to check things off of your to-do list? 

If you have this magic mix of skills then we would love to hear from you!

We are seeking someone for the BCLMP Coordinator role with people skills who is great at building relationships, is process-oriented, enjoys working on a computer, and understands farming.

The BCLMP provides personalized land matching and business support services to farmers looking for land to start or expand their farm, and landholders interested in finding someone to farm their land. This new role will be a key core BCLMP team member focused on “front of house” coordination: program marketing and outreach, fielding inquiries, supporting with referrals and network building, and coordinating events and e-learning. 

To read more about the B.C. Land Matching Program please visit: youngagrarians.org/bc-land-matching-program. 

ABOUT YOUNG AGRARIANS

Young Agrarians (YA) is an educational resource network for new and young ecological farmers in Canada. YA recognizes the Indigenous lands and territories that we work on and alongside. YA is committed to providing programs and services that are inclusive and available to farmers and friends of diverse backgrounds. Since 2012, the YA network is volunteer-driven, with farmers across the country organizing on-farm events and building community to create spaces for knowledge sharing and growth. YA began as a seed of an idea and since has grown into a dynamic educational network and set of programs that target the educational needs of new and young farmers.

YA’s Grow-a-Farmer Strategy works to deliver the following programs:

1. National: aggregate resources and opportunities online;
2. National: coordinate educational and networking events on and off farm year-round, as well as e-learning;
3. Prairie provinces: on-farm apprenticeship training program in regenerative agriculture;
4. BC: land access programming and supports; and
5. Western Canada: business mentorships.

YA works to grow the sector by supporting new entrants through farmer-to-farmer learning. The theory of change is to engage new and young farmers and the farm-curious online, bring them together to network and learn together on and off farms, support access to training opportunities and resources, and when ready to start farms, provide educational supports for on-farm training, land access, business readiness, and peer mentorship. The long-term goal is to grow connections to each other and the land in order to grow a resilient and climate-adapted food system for a healthy future.

WORKPLACE CULTURE

We strive to create a workplace that reflects the diverse communities we collaborate with and serve. The organizational culture is focused on bringing your whole self and working together to support farmers to overcome barriers and challenges through educational supports and resources.

COMPENSATION & HOURS

• This is a full-time, year-round position
• Start date approximately early May, 2023
• 35 hours per week at $30 / hour
• Mileage is reimbursed at provincial rates

Roles & Responsibilities

Grow the inventory of land and farmers in BC through digital and grassroots outreach:

• Continue to develop BCLMP marketing materials to reach more landholders and land seekers.
• Connect with diverse individuals and organizations across the province to raise awareness of the BCLMP
• Respond to inquiries from landholders and farmers and maintain participant
• records.
• Publish and promote land opportunities on the YA Blog and YA UMAP.

Assist farmers looking for land and people with farmland:

• Provide preliminary support to land seekers to identify their vision and needs, and direct them to resources and referrals.
• Provide preliminary support to landholders to develop their vision for land sharing, and direct them to resources and referrals.
• Liaise with Land Matchers to transition support for farmers and landholders at the appropriate readiness stage for matching.

Build the provincial network:

• Maintain and grow the land access resources tailored to land sharing and farm start-up on the YA website and U-Map.
• Support the roll-out of the provincial BCLMP E-learning strategy by developing and promoting e-learning content.
• Coordinate annual networking and educational activities in each BCLMP region.
• Provide digital outreach and education, including newsletters, blogs, social media, and media pitching to reach farmers and landholders provincially and regionally.

Support with program administration, evaluation, and funder reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• Experience and / or education in farming and food systems.
• A high level of self-motivation as part of a remote team.
• A love for process-oriented workflow management, with attention to detail and deadlines. 
• Strong relationship-building and outreach skills to engage people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds. 
• Joy and ease in communication, outreach and stakeholder engagement.
• Ability to communicate both in writing and verbally to create an environment of empathy, curiosity and engaged listening. 
• Up-to-date on best practices for social media and website engagement, and creativity and comfort working on various social media platforms.
• Experience coordinating community events.
• Working proficiency and ability to adapt to and learn how to use online platforms: Google Workspace, Calendar, Gmail, WordPress, Mailchimp, Zoom, Social Media, and Salesforce.
• A home office in British Columbia, with a computer, solid internet connection, and either a landline or cellular phone with good reception/service.
• Ability to work during regular business hours, with some flexibility for evening and weekend work.

Assets

• Experience representing a non-profit organization and cultivating partnerships to realize the mission! 
• A degree in food systems or agriculture, or experience providing technical assistance to farmers in production and / or business planning.
• Strong leadership and decision-making capacity.
• Experience or interest in creating video content.
• Experience or interest in e-learning.

To apply  

Please submit applications by email to Taina Uitto at om [at] youngagrarians [dot] org with the following:

• Subject line: Firstname Lastname – BCLMP Coordinator
• Please attach a PDF cover letter and resume as one document with the following file name: Firstname Lastname – BCLMP Coordinator.pdf.
• In your PDF cover letter/resume, please indicate where you are located.
• In your PDF cover letter/resume, please include your social media handles.

Please answer the following questions in your cover letter:

• What is motivating you to apply? 
• What skills and abilities can you bring to this position? 
• What is your experience and understanding of working with farmers?

Optional: In a video (up to 1 minute), please tell us what inspires you about farming/farmers. Feel free to have fun and be creative! Videos should be submitted in one of the following ways: 1. As an attachment to the same email containing your PDF, or 2. As a link in your PDF to a video hosting platform where we can view the video. Your video can be filmed as an Instagram Reel or Tiktok and the link submitted.

Deadline for Applications: Monday, April 24, 2023 at 12pm PST. This position will start when we find the right candidate. 

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we will not be available for phone calls or lengthy email inquiries. If you have 1-2 questions, please ask by email. Thank you for your time and interest!

LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUNG AGRARIANS

Website: youngagrarians.org
Facebook: facebook.com/YoungAgrarians
Instagram: @youngagrarians

The B.C. Land Matching Program is funded by the Province of British Columbia, with support from Columbia Basin Trust, Cowichan Valley Regional District, Bullitt Foundation, and Real Estate Foundation of B.C.