Job Description

About Durham College:

Durham College (DC) is leading the way as a post-secondary institution, offering an innovative and transformative student experience and hands-on learning opportunities. With this focus top of mind for our students and our employees, DC is proud to be one of the fastest-growing colleges in the province and annually ranked as one of the GTA\xe2\x80\x99s Top 100 employers.

The college offers a wide range of market-driven programs across multiple disciplines, including culinary management, farming and horticulture, business, IT, construction and trades, science and technology, health care, engineering, social and community services, justice, media, art and design.

With a focus on experiential learning, DC graduates are known for having the skills and knowledge employers need. More than 104,000 alumni represent the college, both locally and around the world.

Serving the Durham Region and Northumberland County communities for over 50 years, with campuses in Oshawa and Whitby, the college offers over 12,500 full-time post-secondary and apprenticeship students access to more than 145 full-time post-secondary programs \xe2\x80\x93 including four honours bachelor degrees and nine apprenticeship programs. Led by over 1,860 full- and part-time staff, DC has an estimated annual economic impact of more than $913 million on Durham Region.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Operate and grow Barrett Centre Ajax Urban Farm

• Complete ongoing environmental and market scans, asset mapping and community needs assessment.
• Identify potential partners for engagement with the Urban Farm, urban agriculture education, innovative farming models, and food insecurity initiatives.
• Develop and maintain strong, clear, and efficient operating procedures and processes for the Urban Farm.
• Oversee all community farm operations, including the planning, reporting, hiring, training and managing of farm crew members, the selection of crops and production systems, and other key decisions, while ensuring alignment with broader Barrett Centre goals.
• Work with community partners and leaders to reflect innovative and traditional methods of urban farming into the Urban Farm.
• Establish and maintain a robust reporting system for the Urban Farm to allow for metric and KPI tracking, annual reporting, and funding applications. The Farm Manager will be responsible for tracking and reporting on farm performance (including production yield, community engagement, innovation, research, food insecurity supports, and policy implications, while also comparing against performance and yields of the Whitby Campus Urban Farm).

Advance Durham College Whitby Campus urban farm operations

• Work with the Whitby Campus Urban Farm Supervisor to identify new systems and innovations for the existing DC Whitby Campus Urban Farm; support (as required)the purchase, implementation, tracking and documentation of each.
• Work with Whitby Campus Urban Farm Field Supervisor to integrate new systems into existing operations.
• Advise on integration of new urban agriculture systems into existing post-secondary curriculum Work with Whitby Campus Urban Farm Supervisor to maintain a robust reporting system to support tracking & comparing against performance and yields of both farms.
• Increase student work integrated learning and community education opportunities
• Support the establishment of field placement and other work opportunities for students and community members in the development and operation of the Barrett Centre Urban Farm
• Support development of new post-secondary credentials to address the goals and objectives of the Barrett Centre
• Support the education and engagement of community members, both on and off of the Urban Farm.
• Work with ORSIE to support its strategic objectives and create opportunities for students to engage in research activities.
• Support international projects at home and abroad, with the goal of transferring and sharing knowledge with countries not typically able to access these types of resources.

Community partnerships and participation

• Support the pursuit of appointments and participation on community, industry and other key groups and committees.
• Support the pursuit and establishment of formal partnerships to advance the goals and objectives of DC and the Barrett Centre.
• Present publicly about, and on behalf of, the Barrett Centre (including the Urban Farm, food insecurity, urban agriculture innovation and education, and policy implications).
• Contribute to the building of external panel/ roundtable to advise on the work of the Barrett Centre. Work with other members of the Weston Centre, Faculty of Hospitality and Horticultural Science and broader Durham College community to identify new opportunities to collaborate across programs and departments.

The successful candidate will have a completed a 2-year diploma with a focus in Horticulture or Agriculture. They will also have at least three years experience with farm management and operations including experience with: tree and nursery management, perennial gardens and perennial field crop production. Additionally, they will have experience with multiple production systems (hydroponics, field production, aquaponics, container, greenhouse production) and various types of agriculture models for food production (e.g., urban, rural, indigenous, rooftop, vertical, etc.). They will be competent working with farm machinery, construction and power tools (skid steers, tractors, line trimmers, saws, drills etc.) and have knowledge and appropriate skills related to farm planning and design. They will have experience managing a budget as well as achieving targets and preparing reports to support initiatives. They will have experience with customer service and community engagement to support strategic initiatives. Lastly, experience in program and curriculum development is an asset.

Please apply below by submitting your cover letter and resume to the online portal. Job Competition closes on December 11, 2023. Competition number ADP23-20.

We thank you for your interest in employment with Durham College however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.

Required Skills

Band 10: $83,443 to $104,303

Required Experience

Durham College requires copies of educational credentials as confirmation of completion as apart of the recruitment process. Confirmation of educational credentials may include, a copy of the credential/degree, official Canadian transcripts or an official evaluation of international credentials which determines Canadian equivalency.

This position is located at 1610 Champlain Avenue, Whitby, ON. .

Durham College