Executive Director

ABOUT FARM FRESH RHODE ISLAND

Since 2004, Farm Fresh Rhode Island (Farm Fresh), a nationally recognized nonprofit food hub, exists to grow and strengthen Rhode Island’s local food system. Here’s how we do it! Farm Fresh owns and operates a 60,000-square-foot hub in Providence that houses aggregation, distribution, and processing activities, as well as a fleet of trucks. Our proprietary distribution software system and food system services improve viability for farmers and producers, while providing financial sustainability for our organization. We host the largest winter farmers market in New England, and we lease operating space for several local food businesses. Our programs—Farmers Markets, Farm to School & Community Education, Bonus Bucks, Hope's Harvest, Market Mobile, and Harvest Kitchen—are where the organization’s four core areas of activity are implemented:

• Operate and improve aggregation, processing, distribution, and sales infrastructure to connect regional farms, farmers, and fishers with profitable markets, at the neighborhood, institutional, and commercial levels.
• Support transactions and relationships between farmers, food businesses, and the public to foster a food system that provides accessible, affordable, and locally sourced food, while promoting farm sustainability.
• Educate and provide resources to the public to increase demand and participation in a fairer, connected, and resilient food system.
• Advocate for policies that support the well-being of the region’s farms, food businesses, and residents, and partner with organizations that share our values, vision, and goals to expand our impact.

For more information, please visit https://www.farmfreshri.org/.

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Farm Fresh seeks a visionary, entrepreneurial Executive Director (ED) to lead this nationally recognized food system pioneer into its third decade of innovation and impact. Based at Farm Fresh’s Providence food hub and reporting to the Board of Directors, the ED is the organization’s chief executive officer. The ideal candidate combines strategic vision with operational and managerial excellence, leading with curiosity, collaboration, and creativity to inspire staff, partners, community stakeholders, and funders. The ED provides overall leadership for Farm Fresh’s people, programs, and performance, ensuring alignment across strategy, operations, and culture. Success in this role will be defined by the ability to expand regional impact, strengthen teams, and further advance Farm Fresh as a model for regional food system innovation, ensuring the long-term financial resilience of the organization.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership & Culture

• Lead Farm Fresh’s staff and board in representing and implementing the organization’s strategic plan, financial objectives, mission, vision, and goals.
• Uphold FFRI’s management standards, values, and commitment to fairness, respect, and belonging, modeling ethical leadership with the organization’s staff and stakeholders.
• Supervise the senior management team, providing direction and feedback to enhance performance and development.
• Continuously evaluate the organization’s relevance, effectiveness, and results, and keep staff, board, partners, and stakeholders informed of the strategies, policies, and plans that guide the organization.

Financial & Administrative Management

• Oversee financial and administrative management in collaboration with the finance and administration team.
• Lead annual budget process, long-term financial planning, and tracking and management of contracts, grants, and restricted funds.
• Ensure that all mandatory regulatory and business filings and licenses are filed and updated in accordance with national, state, and local laws, as well as organizational bylaws.

Programs & Community

• Through oversight of program managers, ensure the success of all programs and that related management processes are completed and communicated to stakeholders.
• Lead, support, and participate in the development and implementation of special projects and partnerships.
• Develop strategic partnerships that advance Farm Fresh's mission, vision, and values, as well as its long-term fiscal health.

Communications & Development

• Collaborate with the communications and development team, aligning organizational values and strategy with communications and branding efforts.
• Support the communications and development team in developing and implementing an overall and program-specific fundraising strategy, including grants, contracts, sponsorship, and events.
• Serve as the organization’s public face to media, businesses, and institutions in collaboration with the communications and development team.
• Interface and collaborate with legislators, regulatory agencies, volunteers, and representatives of non-profit and for-profit sectors to be an advocate on issues relevant to Farm Fresh.

Facilities Management

• Support the facilities team in overseeing all properties, maintenance processes, rentals, subleases, and equipment.
• Keep the board and stakeholders informed about key issues related to property and facility management.
• Collaborate with the senior management team to successfully execute events, rentals, and other activities in Farm Fresh facilities for fundraising and earned revenue purposes.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 5+ years of executive-level non-profit, public, or for-profit leadership experience in food systems, food hubs, food distribution, community development, or related sectors.
• Proven success leading organizations with annual operating budgets and/or revenues exceeding $5M.
• Preference for candidates with experience working with agricultural industries, technical assistance services, supply chains, food distribution, food production, and/or community education.
• Passion for food systems, social justice, regional/local foods, value chain development, and serving communities.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Candidates should send an email with “Executive Director” in the subject line to: christophe@kkandp.com. Please include a current resume and cover letter in your application. Qualified candidates will be contacted directly.

Farm Fresh Rhode Island provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. If you require a reasonable accommodation to view or apply to this position, please contact us via info@farmfreshri.org.

COMPENSATION

The expected salary for this position is $140,000 to $150,000 per year. In addition, the position will be eligible for the following benefits:

• Contribution to monthly health insurance premiums (RI Health Insurance Exchange)
• 15 days of paid time off annually
• 15 paid holidays + 5 days sick leave annually
• 401(k) participation with company match

English, professional