Down to Earth Markets Hiring for Assistant Operations Manager at New York State Full Time

DATE POSTED 3/30/23

Down to Earth Farmers Markets has an opportunity for someone who is action-oriented and ready to step into a management role to get involved in the creation of a sustainable, local food system. Join a small, grassroots team to help guide the execution of our farmers markets and make sure we are meeting our mission and quality standards at the market sites.

Down to Earth Markets is hiring an Assistant Operations Manager who will report to the Senior Operations Manager. You will be responsible for helping to ensure that Down to Earth’s farmers markets run smoothly. This entails preparing staff, sites, supplies and equipment ahead of market days and helping to oversee market day operations by: managing the warehousing, maintenance, deployment, and recovery of market equipment and supplies, coordinating with the Marketing and Vendor Relations departments and community allies to make sure Site Managers are fully briefed for their market days, being in markets on market days to support and coach the Site Managers, assisting with the training of new Site Managers, overseeing in-market initiatives and programming, responding to situations that arise in the markets, and using in-market observations and Site Manager reporting to solve problems and improve operations. In support of the Senior Operations Manager, you may be asked to attend community meetings from time to time. This role is also responsible for filling in as a site manager as needed when a market is unstaffed or a team member needs to take time off.

Your success will be measured by how smoothly our supply and equipment logistics system operates, the confidence our Site Managers have in their supplies and equipment, our Site Managers’ understanding of what to expect on their market day and what is expected of them, and the satisfaction of our vendors, shoppers and site hosts in the quality and professionalism of our markets.

We are a small but mighty team and execute successful farmers markets year-round due in part to our collaborative nature as a team and a business. You will be a good fit for our team if you are ready to learn everything about how to run farmers markets, think on your feet, lead by example, love working out in the field but are focused and skilled in handling office tasks too, thrive on connecting to colleagues and community, believe in the importance of communication and follow-through, and are completely comfortable with telling people what to do in order to get everyone working together to achieve the best possible results.

We will train the right person, but you must bring:

• An interest in local food and agriculture
• A willingness to step out in front of situations to make sure things are done well and goals are met
• A love of checklists, plans, schedules and on-time execution
• The ability to work independently but stay connected to your team
• A good instinct for collaboration that ensures you are regularly trading information and ideas with your fellow team members and not waiting for other people to reach out to you
• Excellent customer service skills; a polished and friendly demeanor
• Excellent coaching and training skills
• A drive to keep things organized and well-documented
• Comfort with Microsoft business suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, Teams) where we do our business work and internal communications; basic office skills; basic social media posting skills; confidence in your ability to learn new software for inventory management and customer relationship management
• The ability to perform cleaning and maintenance and make minor repairs to market equipment
• The ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds, to walk and stand for several hours at a time, and to work outdoors in all weather conditions
• A valid driver’s license, willingness to drive as needed on a weekly basis to get to work sites, and a vehicle that you are willing to use to move supply bins and small equipment (e.g., a folding table); the ability to drive a van or small box truck when needed

This is a full-time, hourly position with a regular work schedule of Thursday through Monday (weekend work is required), with some market days starting at 6:30am and (very) occasional evening meetings. The annual compensation is $23.25 per hour, plus employer-subsidized health insurance, paid holidays, paid vacation, paid sick leave, and mileage and expense reimbursement. The work will take place at our Ossining office/storage site and in our nine market locations in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Westchester. A smaller percentage of your week may be spent on desk work in your home office. Running live events can be demanding, and the nature of this job requires flexibility, but we are very conscientious about work-life balance and respect our team’s time off and, under typical work conditions, our staff is able to set reasonable caps on work week hours.

To apply, email your resume to [email protected] with a cover letter that describes how your work and life experience have prepared you to meet the “must haves” listed above.

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All employment decisions that Down to Earth makes are based on organizational needs, job requirements and the employee’s or applicant’s qualifications. We are an equal opportunity employer. All job applicants are welcome regardless of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.