Hiring - Big Green Program Manager
Big Green
Big Green Program Manager
Salary Range - $55,000-$65,000
Who We Are
At Big Green, we’re all about being Real! We love Real food, Real connections and Real impact. We build healthy places where kids can learn about and grow real food in and out of school. How do we do it? We are building a growing network of Learning Gardens at schools and community sites across the nation and you can see a sample of our work at 650+ sites in Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and Memphis. Our dedicated teams cultivate the relationships, programs and crops to make a difference in the lives of the kids and communities we serve.
Big Green began our work in Chicago in 2012 and we have since installed 200 Learning Gardens in Chicago Public Schools. At this scale, we focus on maintaining a strong Program team to support relationships with our schools, the school district, and our partners throughout the city. Our programmatic strength has been built on providing high-quality and consistent garden-based educational content for school communities and maintaining strong relationships with the leaders that champion this work in their schools and neighborhoods. We empower schools to take ownership of their gardens while we provide a foundation for their success. We seek a Program Manager who can steward the Chicago team in this ever-changing landscape as we work to create solutions for our schools and partners.
Hungry for more?
Position Description
The Program Manager is the leader of our local Program Team! You are a self-starter who can motivate and inspire team members and is passionate about excellent leadership practices. In this role you will steward the development, growth and outcomes of Big Green in Detroit or Chicago. You will lead a team dedicated to serving schools and the broader community and you will support, develop and inspire them to fulfill the Big Green Mission. You bring a strong understanding of the local and state level educational system to support Big Green to thrive within your region. Your team will host training sessions and facilitate experiences with teachers, principals, Garden Teams, volunteer groups, youth, and community organizations to build capacity within each school to have thriving gardens where children can learn and grow. Additionally, you will oversee all of the operational elements of our program and ensure we execute on our programs and mission with excellence.
Program Managers are a part of a collaborative leadership team that includes national and local leaders so that together, we can deliver locally on Big Green’s mission, vision and plan of impact. You will be supported in your development through collaboration, learning experiences, and a dedicated leadership team. Your success is our success! Your success means that across your region, there is a team dedicated to ensuring kids regularly engage with their Learning Gardens in deep and meaningful ways that support their growth and advance the goals of the school and its community.
Primary Responsibilities
Build and sustain a high functioning team that consistently delivers high quality educational programming and facilitates deep integration of Big Green Learning Gardens.
Manage the success of each team member. Inspire, coach, mentor, and develop staff members to take responsibility for their jobs and goals.
Engage in continuous improvement through cycles of coaching and feedback with your team and organizational leadership.
Develop and grow school district partnerships by building relationships with key district contacts and working with various departments across the district.
Guide the strategy, implementation, and associated communication of programmatic efforts.
Prepare regular reports to various stakeholders to demonstrate the value we bring to our beneficiary population.
Collaborate with the development team to advance funding leads and participate in the grant/funding proposal process.
Cultivate and lead the team in developing community relationships and strategic partnerships to advance our missing and impact.
Participate in the design, implementation, and evaluation processes of the organization to ensure the highest quality products and programs are delivered across the organization.
Work in partnership with project management through and after garden installation to ensure the built environment is safe, flexible, and well-suited for learning at all sites.
Serve as the project lead for special projects with guidance from the VP of Program or designee.
Lead activities that support building positive organizational culture and develop priorities which are delivered locally in coordination with the leadership team.
Required Qualifications
5 years of combined experience managing staff and programming in a service, educational, or nonprofit environment.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience in a related field.
Knowledge of and experience in management of people, principles, and practices.
Strong oral and written communication skills, including public speaking.
Demonstrated ability to work with diverse populations.
Demonstrated capacity to work effectively in or with schools.
Reside in the region of service.
Successfully complete Big Green and partner/district background checks and/or screenings.
Access to a vehicle and a valid driver’s license.
Ability to occasionally lift up to 50 lbs.
Preferred Qualifications
Demonstrated project management experience with ability to successfully coordinate several major activities at once.
Preferred experience in development and delivery of educational materials in K-12 setting.
Knowledge and skills, or willingness to develop knowledge and skills, in relevant areas including small-scale organic food production or home gardening, school gardens, urban gardening, botany, environmental science, health and nutrition, food systems, and food access.
Experience in collaborating with internal and external stakeholders including: families, communities, municipalities, and others.
Experience working with corporate sponsors and coordinating large scale volunteer events.
Experience with technical writing and developing in-kind donation requests.
Ability to work independently and with a team.
Ability to work with or learn various technology systems such as Google Suite, Salesforce, accounting software, etc.
To apply please send your resume and cover letter to Dianna Zeegers, Interim VP of Program at dzee...@biggreen.org by the close of business on September 10, 2021.