Job Overview
The Land Connection seeks a Program Director to join the leadership team and lead organization programs. This role will focus on ensuring we provide innovative, high-quality programs to farmers, landowners, food businesses, and eaters throughout Illinois. The Program Director will provide our team with guidance and support, assist in raising funds and resources to support program goals, and develop and implement strategies and partnerships to grow our state’s local food and farm movement. The ideal candidate is a skilled leader and manager and is passionate about local food and farm systems. They are a self-starter with a proactive work ethic.
Primary Responsibilities
Program Management (65%)
- Oversee farmland programs, farmer training, and food access programs, which include direct supervision of 4 program managers/coordinators
- Ensure that programming aligns with the organization’s mission, vision, values, and strategic framework
- Provide direction and mentorship to staff members, including the recruitment, management, and training of program staff
- Manage staff to create annual work plans and individual project plans, as well as adapt plans to achieve goals
- Develop and manage evaluation tools to track impact of programming
- Assist in strategy development for the organization’s programs, identifying new opportunities and maximizing impact of existing
- Work with marketing and communications to disseminate outreach on organization and programming
- Coordinate with leadership team to develop annual budget for programming
- Represent The Land Connection at conferences and other public events
Fundraising (25%)
- Lead and oversee program staff to draft funding applications, budgets, and reports, as well as associated contracts and invoices
- Provide oversight and support for program sponsorship campaigns
- Establish and maintain a network of partnerships, including experts in our field, funders, and other experts in related fields
Administration (10%)
- Provide direct supervision and evaluation of program staff in alignment with organization policies
- Manage employee relations, including conflict resolution, corrective action, and grievance processes, ensuring consistent and equitable treatment of all staff
- Ensure program staff members and program operations are in compliance with all organization policies and procedures
- Participate in weekly meetings, staff member check-ins, project meetings, etc.
- Complete all necessary and required paperwork
- Other duties as assigned
Who you are
- You are passionate about The Land Connection’s mission. You believe in the importance of a strong local food and farm system. You believe access to food is a basic human right. You
believe that our status quo farming system needs significant reform to ensure future generations have access to healthy natural resources such as soil, water, air, and biodiversity. - You are a leader with a demonstrated knowledge of local food and farm systems. You bring at least 5 years of experience in a leadership role, which includes supervising multiple direct reports and managing basic human resources functions.
- You are an organized program manager with a track record of success. You have strong organizational skills. You can prioritize, multi-task, and manage multiple deadlines. You have experience managing project based work and program budgets. You have multiple years of experience writing grants, both government and non-government, as well as managing the associated budgets, metrics, contracts, and reporting.
- You are committed to approaching your work through a racial justice lens. You recognize the need for a redistribution of power. You are dedicated to your journey towards anti-racism.
- You value collective impact. You bring skill in leading a group of people towards a common goal. You work through differences and conflict while creating the conditions for groups to showcase their best work. You understand the significance of bringing others into work to expose new perspectives and generate better outcomes.
- You believe in adaptability, transparency, and integrity. You are a deep listener and reflect an understanding of others’ perspectives. You operate with sound judgment. Your relationships can be described as authentic. You are capable of staying focused, while also maintaining a willingness to change direction as needed.
In addition to these minimum requirements, all candidates must be able to work at a computer in a stationary position for extended periods. This position occasionally requires evening and weekend work, as well as some travel. The position occasionally requires moving equipment up to 50 lbs.
The Land Connection is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
To Apply
Send a letter of interest and resume with three references to [email protected]. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis.
