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

To lead project delivery, strategic coordination, and community engagement across Herefordshire as part of the broader Marches Bioregional climate action initiative.

Salary: £34,983, pro rata (at 0.8 FTE)

Hours: 30 hours / week (4 day / week)

Contract: Part-time, fixed Term until 31.03.2030

Target Start Date: 1st December (or subject to candidate's notice period)

Responsible to: Herefordshire Food Alliance Programme Delivery Group and Project Bioregional Coordinator (based in Monmouthshire)

Employed by: New Leaf Sustainable Development - a community benefit society

Collaborating with and peer support from: Marches Food Partners

Work Pattern: This is a four-day-a-week role, with some flexibility around working hours (e.g. could be worked across 5 days). Occasional evening and weekend work will be required for project events and activities, with time off in lieu provided for additional hours worked.

Location:  This is a home-based position, but candidates must be based in Herefordshire as regular travel and attendance in person to events across the county will be required.

A full driving licence and regular access to a vehicle suitable for business travel are essential, as the role involves travel to locations across Herefordshire, including rural areas that are not readily accessible by public transport. Business mileage costs will be reimbursed.

About the Project and Herefordshire Food Alliance

As part of the Marches Food Partnership—a cross-border collaboration spanning Monmouthshire, Herefordshire, Powys, and Shropshire—Herefordshire Food Alliance is bringing a transformative regional project to Herefordshire, made possible by funding from The National Lottery Community Fund's Climate Action Fund. Monmouthshire County Council is the lead partner and the other partners are: Bwyd Powys Food hosted by Cultivate (Cwm Harry) Cyfyngedig, Herefordshire Food Alliance, Monmouthshire Food Partnership hosted by Monmouthshire County Council, Shropshire Good Food Partnership CIC.

The project’s vision is a connected community bound by a shared, low-carbon story of food. The project will bring together local community clusters, farmers, health stakeholders, and decisionmakers to build a community-led food movement. By promoting regenerative agriculture, improving access to healthy local food, and tackling climate risks, we aim to drive systemic change and enhance community resilience across Herefordshire and the wider Marches Bioregion.

Herefordshire Food Alliance is an informal network that includes local individuals, community groups, non-profit organizations, public agencies, and businesses who recognise that food has a key role in economic, social and environmental challenges.

Job Description

To lead project delivery, strategic coordination, and community engagement across Herefordshire as part of the broader Marches Bioregional climate action initiative.

• Lead strategic project delivery across Herefordshire, with particular focus on three community clusters, supporting local climate actions such as community growing, cooking projects, and low-cost veg box trials.
• Support and recruit local facilitators, cooks, and growers within Herefordshire community groups to deliver on-the-ground activities.
• Facilitate community assemblies and inclusive decision-making processes in Herefordshire clusters to ensure local co-production and ownership of climate actions.
• Facilitate effective project delivery in Herefordshire through coordination of the Herefordshire Food Alliance, organising regular meetings and nurturing key partnerships. 
• Build strong links with Herefordshire farmers and growers, facilitating farm visits, local food supply links, and participatory research into regenerative farming practices.
• Oversee local ‘Our Story of Food’ creative exhibits and events in Herefordshire to engage new and diverse audiences with food system resilience.
• Champion Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), actively removing barriers to involve underrepresented groups, young people, food-insecure households.
• Work in close partnership with the Bioregional Project Coordinator and county Project Coordinators for Monmouthshire, Powys, and Shropshire to ensure cross-border alignment and shared learning.
• Contribute local toolkits, stories, and case studies to the shared Bioregional Resource Hub, co-hosting regional learning circles, webinars, and the Annual Bioregional Convergence.
• Align project outcomes with local strategies and plans, including Public Health strategies, Herefordshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy; and support the creation of the new Food Strategy for Herefordshire (currently in development via council-chaired working group).    
• Document how project activity represents progress towards the Sustainable Food Places effort across six key pillars.
• Fundraise via grants and explore other revenue opportunities such as       sponsorship, to ensure that HFA meets its match-funding commitment towards the bioregional convergence.
• Support outreach across the county to bring the cluster outputs and learnings to the attention of the wider food system audiences across the county.
• Collect local monitoring data and carbon totaliser metrics in coordination with the central Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Coordinator to evaluate carbon savings and social impact.
• Keep project records and follow agreed project procurement procedure
• Create social media presence across relevant platforms, update website, and deliver regular email newsletters, ensuring effective communication of project activity through a variety of channels.
• Provide regular updates to Herefordshire Food Alliance members.

Person Specification (E = Essential, P = Preferred)

• Qualification in a food related subject - P
• Proven track record in delivering community-led climate, food, environmental, or sustainability projects - E
• Deep understanding of sustainable food systems, climate resilience, regenerative farming, and community action (particularly within rural contexts) - E
• Demonstrated experience in co-production, community facilitation, and deliberative processes (e.g. community assemblies or participatory workshops) -P    
• Experience engaging with diverse stakeholders, including farmers, grass-roots activists, community anchors, health boards, and local authority officers - E
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage localised cluster activities and track project monitoring metrics - E
• Practical commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, with an understanding of barriers to participation in rural and deprived settings - E
• Capacity to communicate clearly in writing and verbally – E
• Effective communicator with people and groups from diverse backgrounds – P
• Confident in the use of IT systems – E
• Understanding of strategic working – E
• Self-motivated and ability to see the bigger picture -E
• Self-starter with a collaborative approach, must also be comfortable with majority independent working - E
• Understanding of Sustainable Food Places purpose and approach – P
• Experience of contributing to project evaluation – E
• Experience of successful grant applications – P
• Experience of managing resources, budgets, and cash flow – E

 

For more information please see: https://herefordshirefoodcharter.org.uk/blog/posts/recruiting-new-project-coordinator Links to the other job roles available on this project will also be provided on this page as they become available.

Application information

To apply, please download the application form, available as Word Document or Google Document, complete and return it by the deadline to: hfdsfoodalliance@gmail.com

Closing Date: 9am Thursday 5th November

Interview Dates: Mid November (dates TBC)

Please mention Roots to Work when applying for these jobs