Growing Chefs is hiring!
Do you want to support sustainable and just food practices? Build connections between kids and youth and their food? Make local, sustainable food accessible? Connect communities through food? If yes, then this might be the place for you!
We are currently looking for a Communications & Events Manager to join our team. We’re looking for someone who loves to collaborate, has phenomenal communications skills, is a creative and strategic thinker, is passionate about supporting food justice, and loves to manage a to-do list.
Contract Type: Full-time permanent, 32 hours per week
Salary: $48,096 Annually
Benefits: Health and dental plan (after 3 months employed); three weeks paid vacation (pro-rated to a 32 hour work week) + paid one-week summer shutdown per year + paid two-week winter shutdown per year; 12 paid personal wellness days per year (aka sick days); annual professional development funding; paid volunteer days; flexible work hours.
Reports to: Growing Chefs Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement
Location: Lower Mainland; hybrid work environment with dog-friendly office but freedom to also work from home (a minimum of two days per week must be in office). The office location is the SpencerCreo Centre at 610 Main Street, Vancouver. Will require regular travel to various locations throughout the Metro Vancouver region.
Anticipated Start Date: April 2023
Position Summary:
Work closely with the Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement
Collaboratively drive the organization’s communications strategy
Lead the administration of our annual events
Contribute to a vibrant team within a collaborative, care-based, person-centred organization
Actively collaborate to drive a strategic plan centred around food justice
Assist with maintenance of overall office organization and appearance
Perform other duties as required
Communications:
Working with the Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement, lead the strategic development and execution of a creative, engaging, bold, knowledgeable, evolving, playful, justice-centred communications plan
Drive the organization’s communications strategy and public profile
Participate in the organization's Communications Committee
Prepare communications reports, summaries, and guides to share with staff and board of directors
Support and guide the work of the Communications Coordinator
Support the writing and design of marketing and promotional materials, social media campaigns, e-newsletters, event invitations, and blog posts
Oversee and monitor social media platforms including engagement with followers
Support the Communications Coordinator to collaborate with program, community relations, and engagement teams to create content
Collaboratively update, maintain, grow, and analyze Growing Chefs' social media presence
Collaboratively update social media accounts, blog, newsletter, and website
Collaboratively organize media, photo, and video opportunities as needed
Collaboratively develop, monitor, and maintain annual communications calendar
Lead drafting and distribution of news releases, media alerts, and other stories
Stay abreast of communications trends, tools, and social media platforms
Perform other duties, as needed
Events:
Lead planning and execution of annual events
Manage team contributing to From Farms to Forks, Growing Chefs’ largest annual event
Design silent and live auctions, source auction items, make asks, and solicit donations
Track in-kind donations in compliance with CRA guidelines
Manage online event management platforms
Lead development of new events to increase engagement, community building, and fundraising
Input contact and donation information related to all events into Salesforce, the Growing Chefs CRM
Run regular Salesforce reports to monitor and analyze event fundraising, pull donor lists, and update and monitor donor pipeline to inform event and communication plans
Work with staff team and board/committee members to ensure exceptional stewardship of all stakeholders, including sending acknowledgment and thank you letters, scheduling thank you calls, and donor visits
Represent Growing Chefs at community activities in a way that enhances the organization's profile
Participate in and be present at events
Qualifications & Skills:
Creative and strategic thinker
Confident public speaker and organizational representative; comfortable communicating on the phone and in person
Ability to form and nurture new relationships, strong interpersonal skills, a collaborative working style
Supportive and dedicated team leader
Compelling writer and verbal communicator
Highly organized with the ability to prioritise and work on multiple tasks at one time
Strong attention to detail
Excellent computer skills, including proficiency with:
G-Suite (Google Drive, Sheets, Docs, Calendar, Gmail, etc.)
Website building platforms (we use Squarespace)
Email marketing tools and applications (we use Mailchimp)
Internal communication tools (we use Slack)
Comfortable using graphic design tools (we use Canva)
Demonstrated ability to work with a team as well as independently
The ability to research, gather, analyze, and report on information and data
Additional skills an asset but not required:
Experience working with Salesforce or other CRM database
Experience working in the nonprofit and/or philanthropy sector
Job Requirements:
Availability for occasional weekends and evening events.
Must be available and able to work two days per week in the Growing Chefs office
Available to present at all events and for lead up to events
Must be legally authorized to work in Canada
Must have valid BC drivers licence
Must be able to lift and move up to 30 pounds
The successful applicant will be required to obtain a Vulnerable Sector Check for working with children. Growing Chefs will cover the cost to obtain this check.
Growing Chefs operates on the on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), W̱SÁNEĆ, Lək̓ʷəŋən, and Xwsepsum (Songhees and Esquimalt) Nations. As we work towards a world with healthy, just, sustainable food practices, we continue to learn and explore how to uplift Indigenous food and cultural values within our local food systems.
Growing Chefs is an equal opportunity employer and employs personnel without regard to racialization, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, language, citizenship, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, physical and/or mental access needs, or financial ability.
To Apply:
Please submit your resume and the completed questionnaire below to hr@growingchefs.ca. Review of applications and interviews will begin on a rolling basis April 12th, 2023.
We ask that in lieu of a cover letter, please include in your email with your attached resume the answers to the following two questions in 450 words or less:
Tell us about your connection to local food systems and food justice.
What draws you to Growing Chefs?
Describe what you love about communications and/or event planning.
Next Steps:
You will receive confirmation via email that we have received your application.
Candidates selected to move on to the interview phase will be contacted to set up a date for an interview no later than May 1st
In recognition of the labour that goes into preparing for an interview, applicants selected for an interview will receive a $25 honorarium for their time.
Final candidates may be asked to prepare a small work project for review by the hiring committee. A $25 honorarium will be offered for the work project.
Final candidates will be asked to provide up-to-date references who will be consulted.