Delivery Driver and Farm Maintenance Crew

Overview

New Entry Sustainable Farming Project's (New Entry) (www.nesfp.org) mission is to improve our local and regional food systems by training the next generation of farmers to produce food that is sustainable, nutritious and culturally preferred and making this food accessible to individuals regardless of age, mobility, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. In doing this work, New Entry provides critical training, career development, and economic opportunity to new farmers. New Entry is a fiscally sponsored project of TSNE MissionWorks (www.tsne.org).

Responsibilities

The Delivery Driver and Farm Maintenance Crew position is responsible for ensuring timely produce deliveries and providing good customer service to our Food Hub customers, ranging from CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shareholders, restaurants, corporate partnerships, and food access partners. When not on the road driving and delivering perishable farm products, the position will also provide field maintenance and landscape management services to the Farmer Training Team who manages a 15-acre vegetable production site with a demonstration plot, cover crops, and land care services on a historic property. This will involve mowing, clearing/trimming fence lines, brush clearing, weed trimming, hand weeding, harvesting, and other farm management and maintenance tasks. The position is a vital part of the New Entry Food Hub and Farmer Training teams, and as such will share in the responsibility of fulfilling program deliverables and reporting requirements.

This position is a temporary, part-time, benefited position working 30 hours per week through November 2019.

Delivery Driver

• Pickup produce from area farms;
• Deliver CSA shares and other produce orders to 20+ locations per week in the eastern MA/Boston area on time and during scheduled pickup windows;
• Work with customers, site coordinators and volunteers at various Pick-up Locations to trouble shoot delivery or pickup concerns and communicate issues back to Food Hub team;
• Provide friendly customer service to stakeholders at Pick-up Locations;
• Monitor operational and maintenance needs of delivery vehicle (gas, oil, windshield-wiper fluid) and schedule maintenance;
• Perform other Food Hub-related duties as required.

Farm Maintenance Crew

• Weekly field mowing and trimming;
• Bi-weekly deer fence line trimming;
• Brush / vegetative removal along rock walls and field edges;
• Road grading and filling;
• Support harvest and production of vegetables from demonstration plot;
• Oversee compost operations;
• Construction project support as needed;
• Equipment management and maintenance support.

Special Requirements

• A valid driver's license and the ability to safely drive 14 foot and 16 foot box trucks in urban settings (narrow streets, tight loading docks, and alleyways);
• Experience operating farm equipment (35/65 hp tractors, tillers, mowers, other equipment);
• Access to reliable private transportation to reach New Entry central farm training center/offices;
• Ability to work a flexible schedule with committed availability Tuesday-Thursday for produce deliveries;
• Ability to pass a criminal background check and driving record check.

The pay for this position is $19.50-21.00 per hour, commensurate with experience.

Qualifications

We will consider exceptional candidates who demonstrate a strong combination of the specific qualifications and skills described below.

• Delivery experience loading and unloading boxes;
• Experience in landscape management including cutting brush, mowing, trimming, road grading and maintenance, compost management, hand weeding;
• Experience planting, harvesting, and washing vegetables and produce;
• Carpentry or general handy-person experience;
• Experience maintaining small engines or landscape equipment;
• Customer service experience;
• Friendly, reliable, high energy level, comfortable with multi-tasking;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills;
• Team player, ability to interact with diverse personalities; tactful, respectful, flexible;
• Good reasoning abilities and sound judgment;
• Self-motivated and directed.

Preferred Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent;
• Previous experience in commercial farming or wholesaling;
• Experience driving a box truck in an urban setting;
• Experience handling produce and food safety training;
• Experience with small farm and landscaping equipment: 35/65 hp tractors, rototillers, mowers, weed whackers, other landscaping equipment;
• Cross-cultural experience.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those for this position. Reasonable accommodations will be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions. Work is performed in an outdoor warehouse/barn and farm/agricultural environment and at times, in close proximity to other workers.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is required to:

• Talk, hear and see in the normal range with or without correction;
• Safely drive, navigate, and operate 14' and 16' box trucks;
• Use hands or fingers, handle, or feel objects, tools or controls;
• Move, Traverse; sit (usually for longer periods of time); reach with hands and arms; occasionally Ascend/Descend; and position self (to), move;
• Lift up to 50 lbs. and move hand trucks with stacked bins repeatedly in and out of vehicles, trucks, and buildings;
• Safely use some heavy machinery;
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate;
• Ability to work outdoors in all weather conditions.

TSNE MissionWorks/New Entry envisions a society grounded in the principles of social and economic justice. As such, we strive to achieve excellence through a diverse and inclusive workplace that honors the unique talents and lived experiences of each person. Our vision and values are reflected in all our employment-related decisions, including hiring practices. Accordingly, TSNE MissionWorks actively seeks people who bring diverse backgrounds and perspectives to join us in our work.

As an EOE/AA employer, TSNE MissionWorks/New Entry will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, genetic information, veteran or disability status or any other factor prohibited by law.

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