Urban Adamah is an educational farm and community center in Berkeley, California that integrates the practices of Jewish tradition, mindfulness, sustainable agriculture, and social justice to build loving, just, and sustainable communities. We provide training programs, educational workshops, and community celebrations for more than 8,000 visitors annually.

About the Role

The Farm Associate is responsible for helping to maintain the annual, perennial, and animal  production on the Urban Adamah farm. The Farm Associate is also responsible for  helping to facilitate volunteers’ work and assist in produce distribution.  In addition to working with the Farm Director and the current Farm Associate, the Farm Associate will work closely with the Facilities Director, helping to maintain the growing spaces across the site. The Farm Associate’s responsibilities are specifically as follows:

FARM TASKS

The Farm Associate completes farm tasks as assigned by the Farm Director. This includes tasks associated with crops, livestock, and general farm maintenance. Areas of concentration include greenhouse management, perennial care and food distribution of our produce, plants and resources to partner organizations. Additional focus is on record keeping and online organization of farm documents.

EDUCATION

The Farm Associate will help facilitate field trips and summer camp activities in the field. This position acts as a liaison between the education team and farm team, helping to ensure a successful experience for all young learners on the farm.

VOLUNTEER COORDINATION

The Farm Associate is responsible for helping with Urban Adamah’s farm volunteer  programs which take place on Tuesday afternoons and once a month on Sundays. The Farm Associate’s tasks include, welcoming, training, and supervising volunteers on site.

ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES

The Farm Associate completes administrative tasks as determined by farm needs, Fellowship needs, and general administrative needs. This may include scheduling, purchasing, record keeping and data entry.

About You

At Urban Adamah all roads lead to the farm. The Farm Associate role interacts with all departments as well as the larger community. This role seeks a unique individual who is able to take direction from our experienced Farm Director, manage tasks independently once assigned, and interface well with young adults in our fellowship, campers during youth programming, and adults during public programs and volunteer days.

Specifically, this position requires someone who has a significant amount of experience doing perennial care and interfacing with groups of youth, young adults, and community members. We are open to applicants with varying levels and types of experience, provided that the applicant displays the skills required to successfully execute the job described above. You might be a good fit if you possess/demonstrate the following.

COMPETENCIES & STRENGTHS 

• Farming: You enjoy working with your hands, outside, in the soil, in all seasons
• Administrative & Organizational Excellence: You are comfortable maintaining multiple channels of communication (text, email, phone, Slack) and independently managing your workflow to keep projects on track
• Self-Awareness & Partnership: You communicate clearly and honestly and are comfortable giving and receiving feedback
• Openness: You regularly seek, incorporate, and share new information and feedback
• Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: You value the diversity of insight, perspective, and experience brought by people from diverse backgrounds. You are committed to reflecting on and addressing inequities stemming from privilege and oppression in your community
• Communication, Collaboration & Customer Service: You work well on a team and independently; you enjoy working with others and collaborating with colleagues across different departments in an organization; you can demonstrate how to successfully train, direct, and motivate others
• Possess Strong Interpersonal Skills: You communicate and collaborate well with a range of colleagues and other stakeholders
• Collaborative: You enjoy learning from and with talented colleagues, and are excited to be part of the success of the whole organization
• Strategy & Problem Solving: You are good at managing complex projects, competing priorities, and can successfully adapt and pivot when urgent issues arise

EXPERIENCES THAT COULD LEAD TO YOUR SUCCESS

You have experience in farming or food justice work
You have experience doing perennial care

PHYSICAL DEMANDS OF THE POSITION

The physical demands listed below are representative of those that must be met by an employee in this position. Some accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to succeed in the role:

• Typing, writing, reading, hearing, and speaking
• Use of hands, fingers, and feet to operate equipment
• Standing and walking for several hours, as well as sitting, squatting, crawling,  climbing, and lifting up to 50 lbs.

Additional Details

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

This is a full-time, benefited, and exempt position that includes healthcare, holidays, and paid time off. The salary range for this position is $53,000 to $59,000 per year. Comprehensive benefits include:

• 100% health care coverage for self and 50% coverage of dependents in a Silver Tier Kaiser plan or its equivalent in our carrier’s options
• 80% coverage of dental insurance for self
• Paid vacation days beginning at 15 days; 20 days in second year; incremental increase to 25 days
• 5 paid sick days per year
• Up to 20 paid holidays (a mix of both national and Jewish holidays)
• Tax-free retirement account after 2 years
• A pre-tax FSA for medical, dependent care, and transit
• Paid and unpaid parental, medical, and bereavement leave (following 1 year of employment)
• Paid Jury Duty leave
• Unpaid time off

SCHEDULE
General hours of employment are 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. The Farm Associate will at times need to work evenings and weekends and, on occasion, more than 40 hours per week to fulfill the duties of the position, in which case they earn overtime pay.

SUPERVISION
This position is supervised by the Farm Director.

Application Details

We deeply value the diversity of insight, perspective, and experience brought by people from diverse backgrounds. This includes Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian people, LGBTQ, and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities, Black Jews, Jews of Color, Sephardi and Mizrachi Jews. We also welcome applications from people of diverse religious, spiritual, and cultural backgrounds. We affirmatively seek to advance the principles of equal employment opportunity.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION INCLUDES

Cover letter, resume, three professional references with how you know them, and responses to the following short questions. Bullet pointed lists are welcome as responses to the short questions, if preferred by the applicant. (maximum 200 words for each).

• Please share how you personally relate to Urban Adamah’s mission.
• How has your personal background and lived experience prepared you to contribute to Urban Adamah’s commitment to cultural responsiveness, and diversity, equity, and inclusion?
• Based on the work outlined in the job description, where would you be excited to contribute and what would be a growth space for you?

Applications will be received and reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage all interested candidates to apply before as soon as possible. If you have any questions about the application or the position, please contact Debbie at debbie@urbanadamah.org.