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

Farm Manager

Good Small Farms Ltd
Stroud, Gloucestershire

Posted: 20 Oct 2025

Deadline: 30 Nov 2025

Compensation: From £35,000 per year

Paid Full-time Permanent

Job description

At a glance:

• Farm manager of a 100 acre mixed farm outside Stroud, Gloucestershire
• Responsible for operations supporting market garden, livestock, tree nursery, agroforestry, sales and farmhouse rentals
• Permanent, full time position
• From £35,000
• Starting 1st January 2026

Background

Good Small Farms was established in July 2021 to demonstrate that it is possible to be a viable, mixed, regenerative small farm.  We are certainly mixed and regenerative and, relative to most farms, small.  We aim to reach breakeven, and thus viability, by the end of 2026.

The start up phase is evolving into a more steady-state phase where a different set of skills is required to lead the business. Eric, who has been running the farm since its inception, is looking to step back so a new farm manager can take the lead. The established enterprises within Good Small Farms (a market garden, tree nursery, livestock, agroforestry and farmhouse) need support to continue to grow and hone their skills while also collaborating together to be able to provide a wide range of produce year round.

To say that we are reaching a steadier state does not mean that we have stopped growing or innovating. We aim to develop our own chicken processing facility and are cooking up recipes for products that help us deal with gluts and keep hold of the value of the food we produce. We are exploring the possibilities of a production kitchen. There are plans for more ponds and tree planting on the farm too.

In parallel to the day-to-day operations, we are looking to distribute ownership more broadly while ensuring robust governance. This involves evaluating established examples of steward, employee and employee trust ownership and to start engaging our customers and the local community about that transition.

Job Description

The job is varied and ranges from helping to support each of the enterprises (moving the cows, harvesting in the market garden, turning the woodchip, managing farmhouse bookings) to engaging with partners and customers to see how we can collaborate more closely. However, at its heart, the role is about supporting the team to ensure they achieve their goals and have the resources to do so.  There is a lot of activity on the farm at any one time and the farm manager acts as conductor to the orchestra to make sure the activity is as smooth and joined up as possible.

The farm manager is responsible for overseeing the budgets of the enterprises as well as the overall company budget. They will work closely with both the enterprise leads and the finance manager to make sure budgets are on track and to quickly identify when they are not and come up with plans to rectify the situation. We are currently in both a Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreement and an SFI agreement; the farm manager will be responsible for overseeing these and submitting claims.  Similarly, the farm manager will be responsible for our organic and Pasture for Life certifications.

The role also includes ‘projects’ such as establishing a chicken processing facility, a catering kitchen, barn renovations, ecosystem enhancement work and initiatives supporting the sales and marketing team.  Occasional weekend working will be required, to cover running the market stall and watering seedlings or moving the cows, for example, but the team share these responsibilities so it is not a regular requirement.

Finally, the role includes engaging with the wider community.  We host an open day each year and host many farm tours and educational visits, from primary school to masters level students.

The farm manager will report to Eric, Director of Good Small Farms and, in due course, a broader board of directors.

Requirements

The ideal candidate will:

• Demonstrate a track record of successfully managing a team with compassion, enthusiasm and a sense of fun
• Be familiar with market garden scale vegetable growing
• Be familiar with livestock management (cattle and poultry preferred)
• Have worked in an organic or biodynamic mixed farm
• Demonstrate a high level of financial and numeric proficiency; there is no escaping spreadsheets, product masterlists, interoperability, Zettle, Stripe and the wonderful world of online procurement. This is not something we want to shy away from but to embrace to make our lives easier and our understanding of the business better
• Be a great communicator: in the end it is all about how to effectively communicate, whether this is working with the team, providing feedback in quarterly reviews or on farm tours explaining the advantages of agroecological farming 
• Network: part of the role is engaging with customers, other farms, policy leads and DEFRA. An ability and enthusiasm for networking is essential
• Ensure compliance with health and safety legislation

You may have some but not all of the requirements listed above but think that this really is the role for you.  If that is the case, please do still get in touch.  What is the worst that can happen?

Application information

Please email eric@goodsmallfarms.co.uk with a CV and a bit about yourself. We will be holding interviews in late November and early December, with a start date of 01 January 2026.

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs