Company description

Agri-Cultura Network (ACN) is New Mexico’s largest farming cooperative and is a community-driven model, building New Mexico’s small farming economy through sustainable and regenerative food justice.

The programs of the Agri‑Cultura Cooperative Network are focused in three categories: 

Wholesale Business, Community Engagement/Nutrition & Farming Education, and Farm Capacity Building.

The Wholesale Business program provides services to New Mexico farms to sell their produce to our customers. We aggregate the produce in a central facility, the South Valley Economic Development Center, and utilize their community commercial kitchen, the Mixing Bowl, to process and package the raw produce. The produce is stored in a walk-in cooler in the Mixing Bowl and delivered to our customers. We collect payment from our customers and distribute payments to the farms.

The Community Engagement and Nutrition & Farming Education program provides services to our neighborhoods through the La Cosecha CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, Community Cooking Classes, farm education in partnership with the Grow the Growers program, and other community events

 The Farm Capacity Building program provides technical assistance and collective solutions to improve the structure and adaptability of our farms. We host trainings and group discussions to address soil health, business practices, food safety regulations, and pest and weed management. Group purchases of seeds, irrigation supplies, and other items is another way we support our farms.

Job description

ACN is looking for an experienced Kitchen and Production Supervisor to organize and oversee the production and distribution of all ACN’s farm-fresh goods and value-added products. ACN requires the Kitchen and Production Supervisor to have deep knowledge in inventory management, production procedures, food safety programs and management skills.

Goal: To ensure an efficient and productive kitchen, production and distribution team, producing quality and consistent value-added products, while adhering to strict food safety guidelines. This position reports to the ACN Executive Director.

Responsibilities:

• Work with Kitchen Managers to formulate objectives and coordinate requirement compliance
• Estimate costs and prepare budgets in coordination with ACN Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
• Organize workflow to meet specifications and deadlines
• Monitor production and distribution, identify and resolve issues
• Supervise and evaluate performance of kitchen personnel
•  In coordination with Food Access Manager and Kitchen Managers, determine necessary resources for maximizing efficiency
• Oversee maintenance work and equipment purchasing
• Ensure output meets quality standards, including enforcing and documenting all health and safety precautions through daily review with Kitchen Managers
• Report to ED and CFO in monthly meetings with Kitchen Managers
• Co-develop, evaluate and revise operational systems with Kitchen Managers
• We know it's impossible to convey every task for a particular job. Our hope is that as your role evolves over time we can adjust your job description accordingly.

Requirements and Skills

• Must have a passion for social justice and alignment with ACN’s farming mission
• Three or more years of commercial processing experience
• Experience with inventory management and product tracking and documentation, ideally using Local Food Marketplace, or similar, software systems
• Proven experience as production manager or lead in commercial kitchen and/or commercial processing facility
• Understanding of quality standards and health and safety regulations, in particular HGAP certification
• Must have Food Handlers Certification, with deep understanding of allergens and food storage requirements and recommendations
• Knowledge of staff performance evaluation practices and budgeting
• Experience in reporting on grant deliverables
• Proficiency in MS Office
• Outstanding communication skills
• Excellent organizational and leadership skills and exceptional attention to detail
• Strong decision-making skills and results-driven approach
• Understanding and/or experience with Farm-to-Market distribution systems (ex: Farmer’s Markets)
• Familiarity with NM-grown fruits and vegetables
• Food systems knowledge and an interest in organic farming/gardening, shopping local
• Understanding development and coordination of value-added food production
• Bilingual (Spanish/English) preferred, but not required

Compensation

this position is: salaried, 50k-75k

Application instructions

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Deadline

April 06, 2025