We’re Hiring! Organic Food Education and Knowledge Hub Coordinator

Do you have an interest in food education and member outreach? Enjoy planning engaging events and communications? Have a knack for organizing data and digital design? Do you have a passion for sustainable agriculture and the environment?

OCO is looking for an Organic Food Education & Knowledge Hub Coordinator to join our team at the Centre for Social Innovation (Toronto Annex) location. 

Hours: 30-40 hours per week

Contract Timeline: Between September 20th, 2019 – March 31st, 2020. Number of months pending funding and experience.

Salary Range: $36,000 – $45,000

Location: Toronto, Ontario

This position is funded through special youth employment funding. OCO will have a total of $16,000 – $24,000 to spend on the contract depending on funding and participant experience.

Eligible employers are responsible for hiring and verifying the eligibility of participants for the Youth Employment and Skills activities. To qualify, you must be:

• 30 years or younger when you started the internship
• unemployed, student or underemployed
• have not participated in any other Youth Employment and Skills Strategy program (that is, Agricultural Youth Green Jobs Initiative and/or Career Focus Program)
• a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

OCO encourages youth facing barriers to employment to apply. The Government of Canada describes youth facing barriers as follows:

Youth who face barriers often include youth who are early leavers from high school, recent immigrant youth, youth from visible minority groups, youth living with disabilities, single parent youth, youth living in low-income households, youth experiencing homelessness or precarious housing, and youth living in rural or remote areas. For these youth, barriers often intersect and they are more likely to be among the youth population who are involuntarily not in employment, education or training (NEET). Acknowledging that some Indigenous youth face unique circumstances, the YESS is designed to maximize opportunities for them, including more culturally-specific supports and services.

About the Organic Council of Ontario:

The Organic Council of Ontario (OCO) is the voice for organics in Ontario. It represents Ontario’s organic sector value chains and has a membership of over 1100 producers, processors, businesses and consumers.

Duties of the Food Education and Special Events Coordinator:

Organic Tours, Events and Outreach

• Organize and develop regional tours of organic operators – farms and businesses- in various locations around Ontario
• Organize registration and budgets for OCO events with the objective of generating revenue-neutral and/or fund generating events
• Solicit donations and sponsorship from OCO members
• Ensure tours and events achieve mission-related objectives – connecting organic businesses, improving knowledge of organic production among farmers, decision makers and the public
• Ensure events are well-promoted and evaluated for future
• Liaise with OCO partners to ensure new events add value and build on organizational synergies
• Organize the logistics and tabling materials for Ontario agricultural events, tradeshows and conferences and act as our key liaison at these events
• Ensure tours are documented using photography, video and other digital tools to create online “Digital tours” that increase access to direct knowledge and experience of organic and regenerative practices

Organic Standards and Certification Knowledge Hub

• Assist in building out OCO’s online presence by identifying and testing new digital tools to help with the organization of organic information
• Create a system to improve user experience with accessing information on Organic Certification and Standards
• Build on OCO’s research and web content translating key elements of the Organic Standards and regulatory system into engaging plain language blogs and promotional materials
• Assist the Communications and Membership Manager in creating an Ontario Organic Information and Data Systems page
• Assist with the development of other online tools such as OCO’s Online Store

Regenerative Organic Research and Education

• Research regenerative organic incentive programs, practices and technologies and translate them into engaging and informative blog posts
• Engage with members to learn about individual regenerative and organic innovations and efforts and translate these into online educational materials

Other

• Assist with OCO special projects, business development, communications and policy research and communication needs as they arise

Reporting to the Executive Director and Communications and Membership Manager.

The ideal candidate:

• Highly motivated, can work independently and in a team
• Excellent writer and communicator
• Ability to parse complex regulatory issues into simple and engaging communications
• Knows how to juggle and prioritize multiple priorities
• Curious and engaged systems thinker
• Takes initiative to constantly improve their work and the work of the organization
• Passionate and knowledgeable about food and agriculture; knowledge of organics an asset
• Experience with event planning, business development and/or project coordination
• Experience using or comfortable learning various online communications and website platforms (e.g. WordPress, Statamic, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Canva, Google Suite)
• Experience with or interest in contact management and/or online directory tools such as Hubspot or CiviCRM
• Digital problem solving and troubleshooting skills important
• Strong written communication skills and an eye for design
• Interest in data and/or information systems management
• Some understanding of the Ontario political climate and public sector
• Experience with communications strategy, marketing and designing campaigns an asset
• French language skills an asset

To apply, send a CV and cover letter in one pdf document to hiring@organiccouncil.ca by September 15th at 5pm with Food Education and Knowledge Hub Coordinator in the subject line.