Food Forest Maintenance Coordinator

Reporting to the Education & Food Forest Care Manager, the Food Forest Maintenance Coordinator is a full-time position directly responsible for maintaining a variety of edible and ecological landscapes in the Boston area. The Coordinator will establish and implement the infrastructure needed to maintain Food Forests across the city, ensuring that maintenance is smooth and sustainable. The Coordinator will also be a key partner to food forest stewards, supporting and working alongside volunteer stewards to manage the landscape of each food forest with the goal of knowledge and skill transfer to stewards. This person must be an enthusiastic advocate to neighbors about ecological and edible landscaping techniques, and be passionate about building resilience in Boston through more equitable access to healthy green space and greater connection to each other and the natural world.

This position changes with the seasons. In the growing season, most of the Coordinator’s time is spent outdoors, taking care of the food forest sites in collaboration with volunteer stewards. In the winter months, the Coordinator splits their time between outdoors tasks and planning/administrative work. 

BFFC is in an entrepreneurial stage of learning and growth in a cutting-edge field, with clear priorities centering diversity, equity, and inclusion. This requires all staff to think creatively, collaboratively, and with an action mindset.

Responsibilities

Diagnose, Measure, and Plan

• Complete routine field walks (at least monthly) for each food forest and convey findings for use by BFFC’s Impact Team, volunteer stewards, and coalition partners
• Plan and coordinate annual update of plant map assessments and plant tags; include food forest stewards in the process so they stay up-to-date on their plants
• Manage ecological measures to track food forest health, safety, and other indicators for each food forest park
• Plan weekly maintenance and technical assistance of food forest sites and communicate weekly updates to stakeholders (manager, stewards, partners)
• Process measurement data (maintenance plan, food forest health, climate data, etc) and generate learning documents and suggested improvements to be shared with the Education Manager, the Associate Director, and the Engagement & Construction Director

Food Forest Care 

With the goal of transferring knowledge and skills to stewards through technical assistance and codification of ecological care practices:

• Plan, coordinate, and regularly conduct all regenerative landscaping and permaculture/agriculture techniques on all food forests, including: 

• Pest management of trees & plants (ecological methods)
• Winter and summer tree and shrub pruning 
• Replacement plantings 
• Building healthy guilds to support fruiting plants
• On-site composting systems

• Seasonally, create and update a food forest care and maintenance plan for each food forest site to be managed by the Coordinator in partnership with stewardship teams

• Plan & lead monthly landscaping and maintenance-based food forest workdays with volunteers (e.g., community members & stewards, as well as monthly maintenance days with outside partner organizations for large-scale projects)
• Provide technical assistance to stewardship teams to help them better care for their food forests, e.g., pruning, harvesting, planting, brush clearing & weeding, garbage pickup, watering/irrigation, gleaning, and more 

• Support teams to align the food forest care and maintenance plans with their their Maintenance Fund budgets so spending is prioritized according to their plans

• • Attend stewardship team meetings quarterly to build deep relationships with food forest stewards and discuss/align on the upcoming quarter’s food forest care and maintenance plans. Stewardship team and community meetings typically happen in evenings and weekends after stewards are out of work.

• Build and participate in a healthy team dynamic with stewards

• During the off-season (winter), the Coordinator will support stewardship teams in:
  • Creating & managing yearly seeding plan
  • Ensuring proper functioning of facilities, including winter growing facilities  
  • Plan and implement at least 2 workshops every winter for stewards
  • Generate steward learning resources by codifying food forest care practices and sharing with stewards
    

Repair &  Maintain

• Plan and manage all repair operations for food forests including: 
  • Path maintenance & edging 
  • Hardscape structures 
  • Irrigation and water capture systems
  • Power systems on site including solar
  • Repair any safety hazards on site 
• Obtain quotes to subcontract work where the Coordinator does not have training/skills to execute the above work safely and properly. 
• Manage communications deliverables on repair projects between subcontractors, staff, and lead stewards 
• Attend weekly 1 x 1 check ins with the Education & Food Forest Care Manager for repair needs & updates for all sites
• Primary driver and caretaker of BFFC’s work truck and truck policies and usage including, updates to the vehicle log and monitoring any repairs or upgrades needs the truck may need throughout the year 
• Execute tool maintenance so in good shape and ready for the growing season

General Program Support 

• Attend weekly staff coordination & Impact team meetings 
• Generate annual budgets with Dir. of Finance and balance through growing season
• Participatory engagement with BFFC network 
• Coordinate with Education & Food Forest Care Manager to create a certificate-style learning system for stewards 
• Co-manage signage and plant tags with the Education & Food Forest Care Manager – i.e., leading ordering of signage and plant tags & managing installation 

Qualifications

• At least 3 years of professional experience with demonstrated success in the field of permaculture, ecological agriculture, agroecology, and/or food forest maintenance. 
• Demonstrated experience in repair and maintenance in parks or in a related context.
• Horticulture teaching experience and the ability to support and educate community members how to execute plant and park maintenance tasks. 
• Experience managing subcontractors for on-time, on-budget delivery. 
• Experience managing volunteer events for park maintenance or in a related context.
• Experience managing youth in horticulture and maintenance is a plus!

Skills

• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Action-oriented with strong creativity and problem-solving skills to navigate complex community dynamics in Boston.
• Excellent organizational skills and capacity to prioritize and manage time well, with strong attention to detail.
•  Ability to work across lines of difference and build consensus both internally and externally. High level of emotional intelligence and cultural awareness.  
• Ability to work as a self-starter without oversight, and as a team player who productively engages with others within and outside the organization.
• Ability and desire to learn and grow in new situations and from mistakes; actively integrates feedback to improve.
• Ability to share a clear perspective, both oral and written.
• Familiar with using web browsers and Google suite tools (Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets), or similar with willingness to learn Google suite.
• Knowledge of Boston’s urban agriculture sector is a plus!
• Valid driver’s license, clean driving record,  & can drive a pick-up truck.

Benefits

• Salary: $60,700*
• Health Insurance
• 40 days Personal Time Off annually (includes: holidays, sick days, and vacation)
• Retirement match
• Professional development stipend
• Cell phone and laptop stipend 
• Travel stipend
• Access to a company vehicle for work purposes
  *BFFC is committed to internal equity for salary and benefits and therefore does not negotiate compensation. 

Location & Schedule

• This is a Boston, Massachusetts-based position that requires daily travel between Boston neighborhoods.
• The position requires mostly in-person work. 
• This position has fluctuating Tuesday-Saturday and Monday-Friday work weeks depending on the season and the needs of the work. Most work days end in the evening after working with volunteer stewards.
• We ask all staff to abide by COVID-19 guidance set by the City of Boston.

Apply

• Please submit an application through this link.
• We will begin to review applications on May 1 and will accept applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
• We will review all submissions, identify viable candidates, and contact only those individuals selected to continue in the search process.

Boston Food Forest Coalition is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We actively seek a diverse pool of candidates for this position.