Find your place in the field of good food

Our goal is to connect good people with good food. We advertise sustainable food jobs and training opportunities to help jobseekers and employers find each other.

Roots to Work is a project of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.

Job description

We are seeking an experienced applicant to fulfil the role of CEO / Director as part of a managed initiative to accelerate FarmEco’s development and establish its economic viability for long term planning. The post would be 2 days a week initially.

Role and Responsibilities

Operational role

• To work with the Chair and Secretary of the FarmEco board of directors
• Prepare a strategic plan, annual operational plans and annual budget and progressive future plan for approval by the board of directors.
• Oversee the implementation of these plans & budget spending.
• Help to ensure a sustainable income from individual, corporate, legacy and trust donations, farming activities, grants, events and facilities hire.

Staff management

• Recruit and mentor the others in the management team, including setting targets and carrying out annual appraisals.
• Ensure management and HR policies are written, followed by relevant staff and volunteers and are kept up-to-date.
• Ensure the organisation’s staff and volunteers are focused on achieving its mission and aims

Governance

• Build an effective working relationship with the chair of the board of directors
• Supply regular reports to the board and attend board, membership and sub-committee meetings
• Maintain a register of members of the organisation & ensure regular communication with them.
• Maintain awareness of risks and changes in the external environment that affect the organisation
• Ensure the organisation fulfils its legal, statutory and regulatory responsibilities

External relationships

• Build relationships with politicians, the media and government officials in order to advance the organisation’s aims
• Represent the organisation at external events and to the media

Monitoring and evaluation

• Establish mechanisms for listening to the views of beneficiaries on the organisation’s performance
• Establish and monitor key indicators of the organisation’s impact and financial health
• Provide written reports to evaluate how FarmEco is achieving its stated objectives.

Key skills

• Leadership skills: The prime role of this position is to motivate staff and volunteers for which the person would needs personal drive and energy to achieve this
• Advocacy skills: The role holder would need to be confident as the public and private face of the organisation and need to be able to effectively promote its aims
• Excellent interpersonal skills: The role holder would need to build relationships with a variety of people, from beneficiaries and staff members to senior corporate executives and opinion formers
• Communication skills: The role holder should be comfortable with public speaking and able to write clear reports to communicate what FarmEco is achieving.
• Financial acumen: The role holder would have to set and operate a budget and develop social enterprise activities that provide a surplus for the organisation
• A quick learner:  The role holder would need to develop an understanding of FarmEco’s prior development and its beneficiaries as well as the nature of FarmEco’s service provision and aims

Qualifications

An undergraduate degree is expected. A master's’ degree in the area you wish to work in – farming, social care or development, for example - can be helpful.

Relevant experience

Experience in management or organisational leadership is essential with experience in working closely with the non-executive board and committees. Experience of working in a farming social enterprise is helpful but not essential.

This role is being offered on a volunteer basis where an individual with relevant expertise is attracted to lead the development of FarmEco in managed voluntary capacity with the intention of identifying funds to take the role forward.

Application information

Send a covering letter and CV to FarmEcoNG13@gmail.com

Any questions also welcome at this address.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs