Rodeo Farm Coordinator, Windy City Harvest (Chicago, IL)

Title: Rodeo Farm Coordinator, Windy City Harvest

Exemption Status: Non-Exempt

Department: Windy City Harvest

Reports to: Senior Manager of Farm Operations

Year-Round Full-time

Supervises: Seasonal and year-round staff and Apprenticeship students.

Year-Round Full-time employees of the Chicago Botanic Garden are eligible for the following Benefits:

• 2026 A Guide to Your Benefits JP.pdf

Compensation Philosophy:

At the Chicago Botanic Garden, our compensation philosophy is rooted in our core values: Growth, Understanding, Resilience, and Trust through Transparency. We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels respected, valued, and appreciated.

Our objective is to create compensation and growth opportunities for our employees that are highly competitive, internally equitable and transparent. The foundation of our efforts is a straightforward approach that can be easily communicated by managers with defined pay ranges for all positions. When posting job openings, we share the minimum salary up to the budgeted amount.

The starting salary for new staff members is determined by considering the salary range assigned to the position and by reviewing the candidate's qualifications for the job as compared with job responsibilities. Prior work experience should be considered in determining the salary offer, provided that it is relevant to the job. Additional factors such as secondary language proficiency or advanced degrees that enhance performance may also be considered. A candidate's salary may exceed the minimum amount based on factors such as experience, additional skills (e.g., secondary language proficiency), or pertinent degrees that enhance the individual's contribution to the role but are not required. Opportunities for increased compensation are provided through referral bonuses, shift differentials, Thank You Pay, promotions, and periodic pay increases based on the Garden's overall performance and financial budgets.

Our total compensation and benefits package is people centric. We prioritize employee wellness across three pillars: physical, mental, and financial. Our goal is to offer innovative total rewards that support continuous professional growth, personal development, and provide the flexibility needed to balance personal and professional commitments.

Windy City Harvest is committed to a continuum of job training. This is a hands-on farming position, providing farm production support to all Windy City Harvest farm sites and providing guidance to program participants about agriculture. This job is 70 percent production-focused and 30 percent programming focused on workforce development training using farming to develop job skills, including submitting all paperwork in a timely manner. Rodeo Farm is an intensive 1-acre production farm that also houses a 1,200-square-foot hoophouse, 8 beehives, and a native plant propagation project on site. This position will also assist at Arturo Velasquez Institute, which has acre of production, including greenhouse propagation where Rodeo Farm's plants are started.

In this role you will be responsible for the following:

• Implement crop plan for sustainable vegetable production to meet a designated sales goal for 1-acre farm; utilize succession plantings, integrated pest management, and season extension in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• Manage hoophouse and season extension production.
• Create and implement farm, greenhouse, and landscaping area production schedules and be accountable for completing farm production tasks in a timely fashion. Forecast weekly labor management, tool, and supply needs; ask for support from supervisor as needed.
• Supervise Production Assistants throughout the year. Share supervision with Field Supervisors of Corps program participants. Working side-by-side with crews, set an example for modeling and implementing staff standards.
• Lead the Production Assistant team to open multiple Windy City Harvest farm and garden sites in the beginning of the season and shut them down at the end of the growing season.
• Assist farm production team in the oversight and training of on-site staff and program participants with production techniques, harvest and post-harvest handling procedures, and programming tasks.
• Maintain food safety (Good Agricultural Practices) and production logs. Report and log any broken equipment and materials that need to be purchased.
• Monitor and maintain small apiary with participants (6 to 8 hives).
• Assist with lab field day portion of Windy City Harvest Apprenticeship certificate program. Complete lab feedback forms in a timely fashion.
• Lead weekly farm walks with Field Supervisors and staff.
• Forecast weekly harvest availability; maintain and provide accountability measures for weekly harvest. Submit post-harvest paperwork in a timely manner.
• Send harvest availability and updates of any harvest changes to sales team by set deadline weekly.
• Meet, uphold, and be accountable for aesthetics and site maintenance as outlined in site maintenance guidelines. Follow weekly landscaping production schedule to maintain monthly site evaluation standards, in line with Chicago Botanic Garden aesthetics.
• Assist Aquaponics Coordinator with indoor production and systems maintenance during the off-season (November through February). Supervise Production Assistants during this time with aquaponics tasks such as harvest, packing, transplanting, seeding, and cleaning.
• Attend weekly staff meetings and any scheduled meetings as requested with information ready to present out about farm production and program participant highlights.
• Operate Chicago Botanic Garden vehicles and equipment in a safe and responsible way. Report any issues to supervisor immediately. Support with truck logs as requested.
• Make produce deliveries as needed.
• Work signature events as scheduled (Plant Sale, Fall Fest, Farmers Market Fridays). Schedule will be adjusted as needed.
• Safely transport supplies (tools, plants, amendments). Ensure program participant crews have drinking water on site; transport water as needed.
• Lead weekly safety talks with staff and program participants, logging each time.

Qualifications

Our ideal candidate will have the following:

• Minimum 3 seasons of sustainable vegetable production on a -acre site or larger
• PSA Grower Alliance grower certified preferred
• A valid driver's license with good driving record
• Ability to strategically plan and work full days independently while performing physically demanding tasks in all types of weather
• Experience following strict best practices for post-harvest handling and food safety standards
• Experience selling produce to a wide variety of markets, including walk-up customers at farm stands, restaurants, small grocery retailers, and/or wholesale markets
• Experience with organic food production, integrated pest management (IPM), and farm protocols
• Experienced in projecting availability and following crop plans
• Experience training and managing individuals from varied backgrounds and skill levels
• Flexibility and comfort with shifting demands and schedules. Working outdoors and in an urban farm setting is dynamic. Evening, early, and weekend shifts are part of this position
• Beekeeping, compost, hoophouse, and greenhouse management experience preferred
• Detail-oriented, flexible, dependable, and punctual work ethic

This is an urban farm setting. Staff must be able to work on their feet all day in all weather conditions performing manual labor. There will be frequent lifting, standing, walking, bending, farm tool usage, and machinery operation as well as speaking to public, staff, and program participants. There will also be daily use of small farm machinery and post-harvest handling equipment. Staff is required to lift, push, and pull items up to 50 pounds.

Come work in a setting that is like no other as you support our mission: We cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life. Take the first step toward being one of the employees who make the Garden one of the treasures of the Forest Preserves of Cook County. Apply today. Please note that applicants who do not meet the required qualifications will not be considered. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, basis of disability, or any other federal, state, or local protected class.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and qualifications required of personnel so classified. In accordance with Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, Chicago Botanic Garden does not discriminate on the basis of sex in its programs or activities, including in employment or admissions. Please call (847) 835-8264 to contact our Title IX coordinator should you have questions or concerns. Please do not call this number to inquire about job postings or the status of your application, or with solicitations from companies or third-party recruiters.