About Us:
Flowers bring solace, joy and healing. Founded in 2017, What Cheer Flower Farm is an award-winning nonprofit growing, rescuing and giving away 100,000+ flowers per year to Rhode Islanders via food banks, hospices, recovery centers, domestic violence shelters and the like. We are an urban farm, remediating former factory land. We do not sell flowers, we give them all away freely! Our funding comes from thousands of supporters, grants and our annual Flower Festival held on site in late August. Our small staff of four is supplemented by many eager volunteers.
About the Farm Field Manager:
This is a full-time, year-round role based at our urban farm in Olneyville, Providence. You will be a key member of our collaborative, hands-on, management team. Hours vary with the season, but you must be available to work most Saturdays throughout the year and early mornings during peak season. The position is budgeted for $60-70k depending on experience plus health insurance. This role has a solid career path as the Farm continues to expand.
Overarchingly, you will handle our growing and gleaning operations, using organic practices to produce a steady supply of quality stems for our in-house floristry department to give away to the community. Plus, you will also have an important public-facing role. Your principle responsibilities will include:
- Managing the Farm’s fields (currently 2/3 acre, expanding to 2 acres in future seasons)
- Creating a planting schedule of 35-50 varieties to ensure you can harvest for an extended season. Selecting varieties that work well for floristry’s needs, including vase life. Tracking harvest and adjusting crop plans.
- Managing the physical layout, soil and irrigation of the fields for healthy plants and ease of access. Determining how additional fields should be built out as we remediate more of the land.
- Training, inspiring and managing a mainly volunteer farm crew, ranging from eager individuals to groups.
- Building a budget, selecting vendors for everything from compost to seeds, bulbs and plugs, as well as tools and equipment, and soil itself (as a remediation site, all our soil must be brought in.) Coordinating with the Ops team with receipts for grant reporting purposes.
- Ensuring our fields look as stunning as possible for our annual Flower Festival held the weekend before Labor Day weekend each year.
-
Gleaning operations
You will build relationships with other flower farms, garden centers and the like to continue and grow our off-site gleaning operations. For example, our farmer gleans hundreds of stems at local Wicked Tulip Farm each year. -
Public-facing role
In addition to working with volunteers and other flower farmers, you will serve as an occasional tour guide for Farm visitors. You will occasionally be featured on our social media feed. In future seasons, you may develop and lead an on-site community flower garden with allotments for area residents. -
General landscape maintenance
With help from volunteers and occasional contractors, you will ensure the rest of the land including our trees, pollinator garden and the ‘weeds’ on the public and field-adjacent parts of our property are maintained.
In addition you may occasionally pitch in to help the floristry and delivery crew get buckets and bouquets out to the community. In turn the crew will pitch in to help you as required.
Skills and abilities required:
- Strong commitment to the Farm’s mission
- Experience working in an urban agricultural setting
- Great interpersonal skills and enjoyment in working as a member of a team
- Experience working with volunteers and enjoy training others
- Experience with or a strong desire to learn flower farming specifically
- Strong organizational skills, self-management skills and a sense of personal responsibility
- Clean driver’s license and the ability to comfortably carry loads of 50lbs.
Interested? Apply here https://forms.gle/DD7ztuD7Zxh7mUtt6 or contact us today at [email protected]