Young Agrarians BC is hiring a Land Matcher for the Central & Northern B.C. region! Are you a connector? An intuitive networker? That person in your friend group who always has the dirt on hot jobs and cool apartments? Do complete strangers tell you their life story at the drop of a hat? Did you once set up your friends from college, and now they’ve got kids and you gave a speech at their wedding and they send you a thank you card every year?
Young Agrarians needs someone with that magic matchmaking quality to connect farmers seeking land with farmland owners who have land to lease. If you’ve got equal parts people skills, passion for local food systems, and a desire to spend hours (yes, hours – please love admin, regulations and leases!) poring over spreadsheets and the B.C. Land Title Act, we’d love to hear from you!
Young Agrarians is on the hunt for a talented communicator and project manager who understands the agricultural landscape to provide land access support as the Central / North Land Matcher through the B.C Land Matching Program. This position will work to facilitate access to land for new farm businesses by screening farmland opportunities and farmers ready to start farm businesses, facilitating match making, and developing legal contracts between parties, as well as providing remote land access assistance for the development of leases, in the region. The BCLMP program focuses on relationship development and the creation of secure leases, ensuring that both parties have thought through risks and opportunities as best possible before beginning an arrangement.
Young Agrarians embraces diversity, and we are excited about building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills.
Application Deadline: 5pm Tuesday, April 23, 2019
ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Develop a land and farmer inventory through outreach and responding to inquiries from landowners and new farmers;
- Screen farmers who want to start new farm businesses for enterprise readiness, and connect them to business supports and other available resources (such as loans) to develop their agricultural projects;
- Assist landowners to evaluate their land opportunities for agricultural viability and clarify their land usage vision and terms;
- Register land opportunities and farmers looking for land on the YA UMAP digital land listing inventory;
- Publish on-going land opportunities and resource content on the YA Blog.
- Provide hands-on, personalized, matchmaking to support land seekers to find the most suitable land opportunities for their farm projects; and support landowners to find the most suitable farmer(s) for their land opportunities;
- Facilitate introductions and site visits;
- When a match is identified, facilitate negotiations between parties;
- Provide a final legally reviewed contract between proponents;
- Conduct follow-up program evaluations and match check-ins;
- Coordinate an annual Land Linking Workshop to grow the base of engaged and informed landowners, and new and potential farmers;
- Disseminate tools: BC Land Access Guide, Lease & License Templates;
- Engage with local governments, Ministry Staff, organizations, and communities to gather data on land access, and deliver a final report on land access needs in the region.
QUALIFICATIONS
- You have experience and/or education in farming and food systems, such as a Bachelor’s degree with a focus in agriculture, or experience delivering extension services/technical assistance to farmers in areas such as farmland assessment and business planning.
- You have a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to community engagement, and experience working with people from diverse backgrounds.
- You are detail-oriented, highly motivated and have the ability to meet deadlines and make progress without direct supervision, as part of a remote team.
- You are fluent with Google Drive, MS Office, social media platforms, Mailchimp, and WordPress.
- You are able to outreach, facilitate, and communicate both in writing and verbally with empathy, curiosity, engaged listening, and attention to detail.
- You can write creative communications content and facilitate structured conversations; you possess a joy for working with people.
- You have experience gathering qualitative data through surveys, consulting with stakeholders, and preparing reports.
- You have strong proven leadership and decision making capacities with a willingness to “do what it takes” to get the job done.
- You are looking for a flexible schedule with some evenings and weekends required.
- You have a valid BC driver’s license and vehicle and are willing to travel around the region.
ASSETS
- Experience working in non-profit(s).
- Agronomy, soil science, real estate, and/or business planning experience.
- Negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution experience.
- Aptitude for / or ability to understand and explain regulatory frameworks in easy to understand terms such as the ALC, BC Land Titles Act, BC Farm Classification, and municipal bylaws.
- Familiarity with local and regional food systems, and an existing network of relationships within the agricultural community.
- Experience working with regional/municipal and provincial governments.
DETAILS
- Compensation: $30/hour, 35 hours/week. Must have own computer, phone and vehicle. Work km’ will be reimbursed at provincial rates .58 cents/km.
- This is a remote position, and the applicant must be based in Central/Northern B.C. Please include your location in your application.
START DATE – As soon as possible!
Please send a resume and cover letter c/o Darcy Smith to: land@youngagrarians.org by 5pm Tuesday, April 23, 2019. Please include “Land Matcher” and your full name in the email subject line. Email a single attachment with a one page cover letter and resume sent as one PDF document, with your first and last name as the file name.
Interviews may be conducted as resumes come in. If you read this job description after the expiration date and want to send your resume in because you have the qualifications and this is your dream job, please do send your information in.
No phone calls please. Thank you to all applicants.
This position is funded by the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture as part of the B.C. Land Matching Program, and delivered by Young Agrarians.