Down to Earth Farmers Markets
Down to Earth Markets has been creating and managing farmers markets for over 30 years. We're based in Ossining, NY and manage nine farmers markets in Westchester and New York City. We are a small, entrepreneurial, mission driven benefit corporation and Certified B Corp. that believes real food and committed people can make a difference for our communities, the environment and the future of farming.
Job Description
Down to Earth Farmers Markets has an opportunity for someone who is action-oriented and ready to move up 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 Operations Assistant 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, helping to oversee market day operations, and coordinating and collaborating with the Vendor Relations and Marketing teams to plan, execute and improve on our farmers markets. Tasks include participating in season planning, managing the warehousing, maintenance, deployment, and recovery of market equipment and supplies, making sure Site Managers are fully briefed ahead of their market days, being in markets on market days to support and coach the Site Managers, providing on-call support by phone/Teams to our vendors and Site Managers on market days, assisting with the training of new Site Managers, community outreach, overseeing in-market initiatives and programming, reviewing and following-up on reports from the markets, and generally working to solve problems and improve operations. 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, and the training period will include at least one weekly site management shift.
Your success will be measured by how smoothly our supply and equipment logistics system operates, the confidence our Site Managers have in understanding 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. Among many other things, you will learn the ins and outs of how a farmers market network operates, how to train and manage people, and about the people behind local food production.
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 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.
