Sheffield Organic Growers Permanent Part Time Veg Bag Co-ordinator and admin

Hi,

We have a great permanent part-time opportunity available here at SOG for the new year, see details below:

The joint venture Sheffield Organic Growers is a cluster of 5 independent businesses on a 19 acre site on the outskirts of Sheffield, just over one mile to the nearest bus stop. The applicant will need to find their own accommodation in Sheffield and be able to walk, cycle, drive or use public transport to get to the site.
Join our team of passionate land workers, dedicated to improving the soil, food sovereignty, bio diversity and human health and happiness in our friendly working environment. Learn and share skills that have positive impact on the land and society in our supportive ecologically focused business.

Job Title: Part Time Assistant Vegetable Bag Co-ordinator and Packer. Permanent contract, from Nick Johnson. From March start date is 07/03/2023 for Tuesday 9pm-5pm (working from home remotely via your home computer and a secure web browser, sometime hours need to fulfilled at my home computer space because of invoice input), Wednesday on site 8am-5pm, one hour unpaid lunch each day and paid tea break, of twenty minutes, Thursday on site 8am-5pm delivery driving will be part of the hours that make up this days work. Hours are reduced during the winter months, 4 hours Tuesday 1-5pm, Wednesday 9-5pm, Thursday 9-5pm with unpaid hour lunch and no tea breaks. Reduced hours start on 3rd week of November and run up to and including 2nd week of March.

Hours may vary due to high summer heat and you may be asked to come in up to two hours earlier, working the same number of hours as usual in high summer. The job may be extended with additional hours of delivery driving for the right person.

Hourly Rate: £10.80 per hour, statutory holiday entitlement. Holiday is to be taken ideally in August or late autumn. Possibility of overtime hours paid at the standard hourly rate. Full terms and conditions will be given in your contract upon offer of employment.

2 days of weekend working will also be required for our seasonal events – the Open Day in July and Apple Day in October. You may also be asked if you would like to attend farmers markets on weekends as part of possible overtime hours.

One month probationary period.
Closing date: February 5th 2022
Shortlisting: February 6th 2022

Interviews will be held: February 7th 2022 either remotely or in person.

Apply with CV and covering letter by email to: nick.h.johnson@hotmail.co.uk

Job Description:
Tuesday:
Hours will mainly be spent on administration tasks, working remotely from your home, these will include but not be exclusive of the following;
answering emails from customers,
managing website content and updating vegetables and other items in our online store,
liaising with webstore host should issues arise,
posting on social media and possibly maintaining weekly blog,
creating media content including basic videos for both social media and the website,
creating veg and fruit bag content each week by liaising with Nick as to what is available on the field and also what to buy from our wholesaler,
managing wholesale shop orders by updating a weekly excel spread sheet and receiving and processing shop/other box scheme orders e.g printing labels ready for harvesting the following week and invoicing shops/box schemes for the current week’s orders,
ordering from our wholesaler for the following week’s bags,
data entry for book keeping purposes and designing flyers for door step promotions.
Wednesday:
The day might start with some harvesting or packing of produce into bags, ordering and labelling the veg bags for the week’s delivery runs, receiving the wholesalers delivery and checking off all produce against the invoice received, packing veg and fruit bags and organising other staff members in the packing shed, loading the van with veg and fruit bags ready for Thursday’s deliveries.
Thursday:
Thursday’s day usually starts with some veg bag packing for Friday round then going off to do deliveries around 9am, getting back to site at around 3.30pm for some field work such as weeding, watering or planting in season and loading van or tidying shed off season.
Qualities of ideal candidate:

The ideal candidate for this job would have great enthusiasm for organic food production, be passionate about the principles of organic farming and have a good working knowledge of vegetable sales.
A good level of physical fitness will be needed of the candidate for this role, along with punctuality, as well as showing a willingness to take responsibility and initiative as part of a team. Holding a number of small jobs in the right order in your head on the go are all part and parcel of a day to day running of a veg packing shed, and the successful candidate must feel confident in their ability to perform this role. The ability to work at pace in a fairly high pressure environment of a busy packing shed in the summer months as well as a attention to detail and desire to make sure every bag is correct is essential.

A good familiarity with computers and programs/apps, as well as knowledge of how social media is best utilised to truly communicate the values at the heart of our business, are necessary to be able to meet the demands of Tuesday’s tasks. Communication skills and friendly attitude to other people working on site will also be valued highly of the right candidate for the job.
An ability to foresee potential problems and ask when unsure of exactly what’s required are paramount in order to assist Nick in the day to day running of a busy market garden. A clean driving license is also essential and ideally some prior experience driving larger vehicles, for the delivery driving role on the Thursday.