Santropol Roulant seeks a community-oriented farmer to grow food and community at our peri-urban farm in Senneville, Quebec
About Santropol Roulant
Santropol Roulant uses food as a vehicle to break social isolation between generations. Creatively and collaboratively, we strengthen and nourish our local community with our novel approaches to active community engagement, youth leadership, food security and social inclusion. The Roulant’s staff is young and dynamic with job descriptions and responsibilities that sometimes exceed their experience. As such, opportunities to learn and grow are key benefits of working at Santropol Roulant.
About the Peri-Urban Farm
As part of our mission of building a food system that is healthy, just, and sustainable, Santropol Roulant farms a 3-acre plot of agriculturally zoned and organically certified land in Senneville, in Montreal’s West Island. This land supports the production of fresh produce for our meals on wheels menus, our organic baskets program, our weekly farmers’ markets, surplus produce preservation program and provides educational opportunities for young people and urban communities to connect with the source of their food. We strive to produce food that is accessible to all regardless of socio-economic status, level of mobility, or degree of autonomy.
About the position
The successful candidate will work with Clémence, the other Farm Co-Manager, to manage and develop all aspects of Santropol Roulant’s peri-urban farm. This includes every element of production (from crop planning and seedling production to harvest), development and stewardship of strategic partnerships, grounds and equipment maintenance (including long-term soil fertility and crop rotation), administration (budgeting, expenses and record-keeping), distribution (market and organic baskets) and managing the farm team of volunteers and interns. As co-managers, each farmer will have responsibility for taking leadership in certain areas, and will collaboratively manage others.
In particular, the new co-manager will be asked to take leadership in the following areas:
Oversee field work, direct seeded crop management, and ground and farm equipment maintenance.
Develop and implement an irrigation schedule.
Manage the on-site compost and coordinate composting of food waste at the Roulant kitchen with the Kitchen Committee.
Coordinate delivery of produce orders for Santropol Roulant’s Meals-on-Wheels kitchen and the food preservation program.
Coordinate volunteers at the farm.
Furthermore, the two co-managers will be collaboratively responsible for the following dossiers:
Develop and actualize the vision for the farm’s role in addressing community engagement, accessibility, youth leadership, food security and social inclusion
Maintain the core principles of Santropol Roulant at our peri-urban site.
Bring the perspective of the importance of small-scale agricultural production to Santropol Roulant’s community (at events, in planning priorities, etc.).
Finally, as a full-time staff member:
Participate in collective responsibilities such as staff meetings, hiring committees, event planning committees, and other collaborative projects, as seasonal work load permits.
We are looking for candidates with the following interests, skills and experience:
Mandatory
Strong desire to use the farm to advance the goals and strategic vision of Santropol Roulant’s agriculture program, specifically in relation to its charitable and community building missions.
3 years experience in diversified organic vegetable production
Experience leading teams with diverse levels of experience
Experience with seeing a project through from beginning to end
Driver’s license
Oral bilingualism
Assets
Crop planning and field crop management experience
Experience operating and maintenance of farm machinery and equipment (tractors, rototillers, seeders, vehicles)
Experience with administrative elements of farm management, including budgeting.
Experience with volunteer coordination in an agricultural setting
Personal Qualities and Interests
Well-developed understanding of food politics, food sovereignty and how they relate to small-scale agriculture.
Ability to leverage opportunities, innovate and hold a global vision of the farm.
Attention to details and workplace safety.
Willingness to lead by example while engaging in physical labour and working outdoors in all types of weather.
Understanding of Quebec’s agricultural community, with a specific focus on the west-Montreal scene is an asset.
At ease with working under pressure while maintaining a supportive atmosphere for volunteers and colleagues.
Additional Details
This is a full-time, permanent position with a forecasted start date in late January 2016. It is a salaried position at $16.83 per hour, in accordance with Santropol Roulant’s Salary Policy which also includes health and professional development benefits and annual salary augmentations. We ask for a minimum commitment of 2 years, and candidates who are interested in a longer-term commitment (3 – 4 years) will be preferred. Please note that commuting to the farm daily (from April to October) may be time consuming for those who do not live near Senneville.
As an organization that works to break social and economic isolation and bring people together across social barriers, Santropol Roulant recognizes that people who experience structural oppression and marginalization have a lot to offer our community. People of colour, those recently arrived from other countries, people with disabilities, women, two-spirited and queer people, trans people, and other candidates who experience marginalization are strongly encouraged to apply and to self-identify in their cover letter. Our primary office space is step-free and has an accessible washroom, but our second floor and basement are not wheelchair accessible. This position in particular will require the candidate to be at the farm site over 50% of the year, which poses major challenges to those with limited mobility. Please contact Stephanie if you have any questions about the accessibility of our work area or your participation in an interview process.
To apply, please drop off or email your CV and cover letter to the Farm Co-Manager Hiring Committee at 111 Roy East or:
rh@santropolroulant.org
by Monday, January 11th, 2016 at 9am.
Due to the large volume of applications anticipated, we unfortunately will only be contacting candidates chosen for an interview. Interviews will take place the same week. For more information, contact Stephanie at 514-284-9335, write to stephanie@santropolroulant.org, visit http://www.santropolroulant.org, or stop by our office.