About Us:
Cultivate Toronto is a registered not-for-profit organization with the goal of turning Toronto's front and back yards into a sustainable source of fresh, organic food for its urban inhabitants. Fuelled by a passion for healthy living, local produce, and environmental responsibility, we hope to contribute to sustainable urban living by providing the freshest, tastiest, urban-grown produce to GTA residents. We hope to improve access to local organic food, foster leadership and education, and engage and connect the community in the rediscovery of local food. Our backyard Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program is an innovative adaptation of the increasingly popular CSA model for alternative agriculture, and part of a greater movement towards access to safe, local food. We are a fun and ambitious group and are looking for new volunteers to join the Cultivate Toronto team.
Description:
The Garden Operations Manager is the driving force behind Cultivate Toronto's urban CSA program. Each growing season, the Garden Operations Manager is responsible for designing and implementing the farm plan, overseeing the growing of food in 15 mixed vegetable market gardens, and working closely with the board of directors and executive team to determine the overall operations strategy. This is a part-time volunteer position with a year-round workload that peaks during the spring and summer months with a minimum commitment of 5-8 hours per week.
Duties:
- Planning the crops to be grown each season as well as the logistics of their production, harvest, and distribution.
- Supervising, training, and assisting the Garden Coordinators and Interns with the growing of food in 15 mixed vegetable market gardens across Toronto.
- Collaborating with the Community Relationship Manager to keep consistent communication with CSA participants (both landsharers, who donate the land that we grow on, and shareholders, who purchase a portion of the harvest) to address their concerns and keep the relationships mutually beneficial and productive.
- Documenting all aspects of the farm plan and writing an annual report.
Qualifications:
The ideal candidate is a motivated self-starter who works well as part of a team and is looking for a chance to develop their leadership and management experience. Also:
- Excellent knowledge of urban agriculture and demonstrated ability to grow a wide variety of vegetables from seed to harvest and maintain soil health using organic methods. Previous participation in a farming internship is preferred but not required.
- Past experience as a Project Coordinator/Manager or other role leading a program without direct supervision on a day-to-day basis.
- Strong team leadership skills and an outgoing personality.
- Strong organizational and time management skills and flexibility to travel to different garden hubs, multiple evenings a week, for the duration of the growing season.
- Capacity to collaborate and communicate with a remote team.
- Proficiency with Microsoft and Google products.
- Ability to commit for 1 or more years.
