Company description

Philo Ridge Farm is a certified organic 400-acre farm located in Vermont’s Champlain Valley. We are a diversified farm in our fourth year of production focused on growing produce and raising meat. Our practices increase the health of our soil, produce a variety of nutrient rich foods, reduce the use of fossil fuels, and support our agricultural community. Our production spans vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, flowers, orchards, and livestock including sheep, chickens, turkeys, cattle, and pigs. We produce our own compost and hay on the farm. We believe in treating our employees, animals, and land with the respect and care. In addition to production, we are carefully measuring and monitoring our practices so that we can share our story and data gathered with others who are interested in understanding and supporting regenerative agriculture.

One year ago, we opened the Farm Commons Barn, a community gathering place with a commercial kitchen and market for selling products grown and processed at our farm. The market at the Farm Commons Barn is open seven days a week, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner in a casual counter-service style, as well as a curated grocery selection showcasing our meats, fresh produce and other products from local farms and producers. Additionally, the commercial kitchen and processing facility operates a production cycle continuously throughout the year handling the value-added food processing and butchering of our farm-raised animals. This facility is an important part of our business model, allowing us to welcome the public, to host events, and create value-added goods throughout the entire year.

Job description

Philo Ridge Farm is looking for a General Manager (GM) to be the creative, hands on, entrepreneurial driver of our diverse and innovative farm. The GM will provide inspirational leadership and oversight of team development, as well as thoughtful financial management of the business. They will be a key ambassador of our core values, company mission and the Philo Ridge Farm story.

The GM is responsible for all business operations, leadership development, internal communication, community engagement and marketing, HR and administration. They are supported by the Philo Ridge Farm Asset Manager, the business partner Bio-Logical Capital, and the Philo Ridge Farm Board, which includes farm owners Diana McCargo and Peter Swift, who live adjacent to the property. This is a multi-faceted role, with many diverse responsibilities, requiring patience and resilience, solid business acumen, entrepreneurialism, and a good sense of humor.

Managing Philo Ridge Farm requires an expert generalist, both curious and humble, who shares our passion for land conservation, growing produce and raising animals. As a calm, clearheaded leader, the GM must switch context often from long-term strategy to granular operating details – and see the connection between the two. Multitasking will be critical in this position; a typical day might include jumping in to help out with morning livestock chores, checking the previous day's cash handling, approving vendor invoices, reviewing the daily market menu with the Chef, leading a farm tour, planning infrastructure for next year’s Market Garden program, and interviewing a new dishwasher.

Between the Board members and the Bio-Logical Capital team, and the various department managers and their line staff, there are many different languages spoken (i.e. business, agriculture and hospitality industry terms) across the scope of the business, and a broad range of professional communication skills to navigate. The GM must move fluidly from language to language and group to group, translating between team members and ensuring that the content being presented is always aligned with the intended audience. In this role, the General Manager is a facilitator, an active listener, a clear communicator, a mentor, coach, mediator, and source of positive inspiration for the entire team at Philo Ridge Farm.

Strong candidates will be equally comfortable updating Excel spreadsheets as they are hosing off their muck boots.

Compensation

this position is: salaried, 50k to 100k

Application instructions

Deadline

July 31, 2019