New Agrarian Program manager

The New Agrarian Program manager is responsible, in partnership with the New Agrarian Program team, for implementation of Quivira’s apprenticeship and fellowship programs and other beginning rancher and farmer support in Colorado and southern Wyoming.

The New Agrarian Program manager works collaboratively with the rest of the New Agrarian Program team, including three other regional program managers, to coordinate programming; support current mentors, fellows, and apprentices; and help to expand the programs in their region. This person is responsible for building supportive relationships with mentors and apprentices, supporting mentor operations to help guide them through the apprentice application and hiring processes, and facilitating communication and providing guidance for both apprentices and mentors throughout their year together. This person also works with the program director to identify organizational partners, support fundraising efforts and programmatic communications, and recruit new mentors and apprentices. 

The ideal candidate is a people-oriented facilitator who has previously worked with ranchers and farmers, in experiential education, regenerative agriculture, and/or in working lands conservation. The ideal candidate works well collaboratively, understands the complex connections between social, economic, and ecological dimensions of agriculture, and is passionate about solving current food production and land stewardship challenges. 

This position is based in Colorado, with flexibility around exact location; the candidate should be located on the eastern half of the state (Front Range or Eastern Plains preferred) or southern Wyoming. This position works in tandem with the New Agrarian Program Southwest manager located near Durango to support and recruit mentors and apprentices across the region. Each manager should ideally be within a 4-5 hour drive of the mentor sites they support. As the manager will be predominantly working with the Quivira team and New Agrarian Program community remotely, access to high-speed, reliable internet is a must. The position also requires travel to conferences, presentations, and other work events throughout the Rocky Mountain west (15-20 percent of work time is non-computer based.)

Primary responsibilities:

Program coordination

• Serve as the main point of contact for New Agrarian Program mentors, apprentices, and fellows in your region
• Support the application process for potential new program participants
• Support mentor/apprentice/fellow relationships and serve as a mediator as needed
• In partnership with the New Agrarian Program team, plan and conduct monthly supplemental education calls, fellowship modules, and regional apprentice gatherings, including orientation, mid-season gatherings, and graduation
• Conduct annual site visits to current mentor operations in your region
• Facilitate connections between current and future generations of food producers and land stewards

Recruitment and outreach

• In collaboration with the program director, design, implement, and evaluate Quivira’s program recruitment plans for the fellowships and apprenticeship
• Contribute to the New Agrarian Program monthly newsletter, Regeneration Rising podcast, and Quivira social media
• Work with the rest of the New Agrarian Program team to schedule, plan, and promote events online and in the West, including NAP 101, apprentice orientation, an apprentice stockmanship workshop, public field days, and REGENERATE Conference activities
• Assist program director with recruitment of new mentor operations in Colorado and Wyoming, including conducting site visits as needed

Administration

• Support grant writing and reporting efforts for the program
• Submit payment requests with attention to detail
• Using organizational templates, draft MOUs and contracts for partners
• Create meeting agendas and lead efficient project meetings

Additional tasks

• Represent Quivira and the New Agrarian Program at relevant conferences, workshops, and meetings
• Support fundraising efforts
• Collaborate with other staff members and engage with other Quivira program areas as needed
• Attend and actively participate in the annual REGENERATE Conference
• Participate in staff meetings, retreats, and strategic planning meetings
• Actively engage in Quivira’s diversity, equity, and inclusion and anti-racism efforts
• Other activities as assigned

We recognize and value the many ways to learn, grow and succeed professionally, and acknowledge that individuals acquire skills, knowledge and perspectives through diverse educational, professional, personal, and volunteer experiences. We take all relevant experiences into account when reviewing applications and ask that you share with us your unique strengths that you will bring to Quivira and to your work with the New Agrarian Program.

Required qualifications

• Established connections to Colorado’s agricultural communities (ideally, the regenerative livestock/ranching community)
• A passion for addressing issues in food production (with a focus on regenerative livestock/ranching operations) or land management in the arid and semi-arid West
• Experience with, and an interest in education – teaching, mentoring, or in some other capacity
• Skilled at initiating conversations and building rapport with a wide range of individuals—including mentors, beginning and experienced ranchers and farmers, and team members—through regular in-person meetings, phone calls, and written communication
• A valid driver’s license
• Access to reliable internet
• Comfortable working a computer-based job, with flexibility to travel to current and potential mentor sites, conferences, and workshops
• Ability to lift 25 lbs, and stand and walk for extended periods of time in varying weather conditions

Desired qualifications

• Experience working on regenerative ranching or livestock operations (specifically with entrepreneurship, management, land access, or other topics pertinent to supporting beginning ranchers and farmers)
• Experience working as an educator (preferably experiential/hands-on learning)
• Grant writing experience
• Experience with community organizing and networking
• Comfort using technology platforms like Slack, Google Suite, and Asana
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Ability to work with a highly-collaborative team
• Photography, design, or creative writing skills
• Experience or enthusiasm to host a podcast
• Demonstrated ability to juggle multiple projects
• Experience working with people in diverse environments and with people from different backgrounds

Quivira is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization. We embrace and encourage applicants of all ethnicities, national origins, races, colors, socio-economic statuses, ages, gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, family or marital statuses, disability status, physical and mental abilities, political affiliations, religions, genetic information, or veteran statuses.

• Reports to the New Agrarian Program director
• Full-time, 36 hours a week, salaried
• Salary range for manager level positions: $55,598 – $66,717 depending on experience, paid bi-weekly. Quivira uses a wage scale to determine pay rates and ranges for all positions within the organization.
• This position is primarily remote, but based in the Front Range, eastern Colorado, or southern Wyoming. All Quivira employees currently work from home with access to the Santa Fe office on an as-needed basis.
• No relocation compensation.
• After two months, benefits include health, dental, vision, simple IRA, paid time off, and short- and long-term life disability insurance