Position Filled! National Programs and Operations Director

Location:  Remote office  within Canada.  Preferably Western Canada. Please indicate where you live on your application.

Deadline for Applications:  December 31st, 2023. This position will start when we find the right candidate.

Leadership is your jam! Supporting a team to grow impact is your North Star! Helping to scale-up an organization is a fit for your skills and passion. 

You can oversee, lead, and support teams through project delivery. You trust your staff to be the knowledge keepers and know how to cultivate a respectful, supportive, and inclusive workplace with emotional intelligence. You are a systems thinker who can identify, assess, and problem solve bottlenecks. You keep your eye on the big picture and know when to dig deep into details. You have a proven track record of talking policy, programs, evaluation frameworks, and impact. 

JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

Young Agrarians is looking for a long-term dedicated person with solid program delivery experience. The National Program and Operations Director will be responsible for overseeing the Young Agrarians team and programs, with a special focus on the relational and collaborative ecosystem within the organization, supported by the web of operations and communication systems that enables mission delivery.

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 building community and educational  spaces for knowledge sharing and growth. YA began as a seed of an idea and since has grown into a dynamic 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. Prairies: 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 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, emotional intelligence and leadership, and working together to support farmers to overcome barriers and challenges.

COMPENSATION & HOURS

• This is a full-time, year-round position
• 35/hrs/week
• Starting rate: $40/hr 
• Mileage is reimbursed at provincially-approved rates
• Vacation 6%, plus bonus week at the end of December
• Employment contract is renewed annually

ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Human Resources:

• On-going oversight of staff teams.
• Support knowledge transfer and relationship building across provinces and program teams.
• Continue to oversee and develop human resources management, recruitment and onboarding processes.
• Strategize to reach solutions, create learning opportunities, and conduct meaningful, collaborative performance reviews
• Cultivate positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Administration & Operations:

• Work with the Operations Manager to administer systems.
• Oversee IT systems – which include Salesforce, UMAP, and WordPress, and other organizational accounts – to ensure they are leveraged and maintained.
• Support development and implementation of CRM Strategy, and knowledge transfer to staff. 
• Ensure organizational succession of knowledge systems and contacts through conscientious work planning, Standard Operating Procedures, and workflow documentation.
• Review legal paperwork for staff and contractors.

Program Management & Delivery:

• Provide direction to provincial and program teams by implementing the YA strategic plan and facilitating updates.
• Work with staff and contractor teams to ensure that deliverables are being met to funders, including overseeing and conducting final report reviews. 
• Provide support and management direction to program and provincial managers. 
• Support with program development as appropriate and as time allows, including overseeing  program tools, materials, and best practices, internal and external resources, and metric tracking.
• Support the strategic direction of YA communications, including implementation of YA brand and cohesive graphics.
• Represent YA at sector events, including facilitating YA activities, presenting about YA, and networking.

QUALIFICATIONS

Farm Literacy:

• Passion and dedication to building resiliency through food systems. 
• Strong connection to and familiarity with the food and farming community in Canada, with a minimum of five years of experience in diversified sustainable / ecological / organic agriculture.
• Solid understanding of the challenges faced in the sector (bonus if you’ve worked with new farmers on farm start-up).

Non-Profit Management Experience:

• Experience working in a management role in the non-profit, charitable sector, managing projects and programs, and budgets.
• Ability, creativity, and vision to identify organizational needs and address them in a strategic manner.
• Proven decision making skills with a willingness to structure, delegate, and communicate to get the job done.
• Driven to set and meet deadlines to make progress on deliverables and achieve goals. 

Human Resources:

• Joy working with people!
• Strong listening, reflecting and publishing skills.
• Ability to help break down conceptual complexity to simplify and provide specific direction and feedback systems. 
• Ability to manage a remote team and aptitude for online project management systems. 
• Passion for leading teams and working collaboratively with others.
• Experience providing human resources support to deliver programming and create a positive work environment and culture.
• Experience with workforce expansion, succession, and streamlining current procedures.

Communications & Outreach:

• Cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to community engagement, and experience working with people from diverse backgrounds. 
• Comprehensive understanding of public communications for organizational outreach and storytelling, community engagement and donor cultivation. 
• Ability to listen to stakeholders and appropriately respond to and direct programming to respond to the needs of the community. 
• Ability to build relationships, outreach, facilitate, and communicate both in writing and verbally with empathy, curiosity, and engaged listening.
• Demonstrated consulting, coaching, and facilitation skills.

The Capital Side of Impact – Fundraising & Financial Management:

• Demonstrated capacities for identifying funding opportunities, and building and cultivating strategic partnerships with funders.
• Experience developing grant applications, funding proposals, sponsorships, and donations.
• Literacy with general accounting and financial management as well as budgeting. 
• Understanding of project reporting through annual and longitudinal evaluation and impact assessment tools.

Administration & Technical:

• Excellent administrative skills and organizational capabilities with a love for process-oriented workflow and workplace documentation.
• Excellent technical and problem-solving skills.
• Technical proficiency and fluency working in Google Workspace, Salesforce, WordPress, Meet/Zoom, and an understanding of programs and platforms like Canva, Mailchimp and various social media accounts. Ideally you are proficient beyond being a basic user and understand administering platforms for an organization.
• Experience as an administrator in a Salesforce environment.
• Experience leading strategy for development of technology solutions, especially CRMs.
• Home office: computer, reliable high-speed Internet connection, and stable cell phone reception or land-line.

TO APPLY

Please submit applications by email to Taina Uitto at om@youngagrarians.org with the following: 

Subject line: Firstname Lastname – National Director

Please attach a PDF cover letter and resume as ONE document with the following file name: Firstname Lastname –  NationalDirector.pdf. 

In your application, please:

• Indicate where you are located
• Answer the following three questions in your cover letter:
  • Why are you excited about helping to grow the next generation of farmers in Canada?
  • What is your leadership style working with teams?
  • What is your greatest strength in program management?
• Provide a short summary of the number of years of experience you bring in reference to the qualifications listed.
• Clearly list on your resume what computer programs or platforms you have proficiency working with (e.g. Google Workspace, Salesforce, WordPress, Zoom, Mailchimp, Canva, social media, etc.)
• Optional: submit a video (up to 2 minutes) to support your application and help us get to know you better. 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: December 31st, 2023.   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