Full-time 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 our small, experienced team to help guide the execution of our farmers markets and ensure we meet our mission and quality standards at our market sites.
Down to Earth Markets is hiring an Operations Assistant Manager 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 supporting the Senior Operations Manager in 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 managing the sourcing, warehousing, maintenance, deployment, and recovery of market equipment and supplies, helping to make sure Site Managers are fully briefed ahead of their market days, being in markets on market days to support and coach the Site Managers, overseeing the execution of in-market initiatives and programming, reviewing and following-up on reports from the markets, providing on-call support by phone/Teams to our vendors, Site Managers and shoppers on market days, assisting with the training of new Site Managers, participating in season planning, some community outreach projects, and generally working to solve problems and improve operations at our market sites. 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.
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, community allies, 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 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
One to three years of work experience
Established coaching and training skills
The ability to perform cleaning and maintenance and make minor repairs to market equipment
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
A drive to keep things organized and well-documented
The ability to work independently yet stay connected to your team
A good instinct for collaboration that ensures you are regularly exchanging information and ideas with your fellow team members and not waiting for other people to reach out to you
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
Excellent customer service skills; a polished and friendly demeanor
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
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This is a full-time, non-overtime-exempt 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 $55,000 per year, plus employer-subsidized health insurance after 90 days, 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.
Click the Apply Here button or email your resume to jobs@downtoearthmarkets.com. Either way, please include a cover letter that describes how your work and life experience have prepared you to meet the “must haves” listed above.
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Down to Earth Markets is a mission-driven Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corporation using business as a power for positive change in the world.
All employment decisions that Down to Earth makes are based on organizational needs, job requirements and the employee’s or applicant’s qualifications. We are an equal opportunity employer. All job applicants are welcome regardless of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.
Updated 1/2/2025