Position Title: Administrative Support Specialist

Supervisor: Executive Director

Employee Status: Full-time Hourly Non-Exempt

Food Connects is seeking an Administrative Support Specialist to employ their technical and interpersonal skills in support of our organization. We are an equal opportunity workplace and will not discriminate on the basis of disability or other legally protected categories. If an employee has a disability that makes it difficult to perform their job duties they are encouraged to notify us to discuss reasonable accommodations.

Who We Are

Food Connects located in Brattleboro VT is a regional food systems non-profit organization with strong roots in the community and a commitment to challenging the status quo. We value a balance of work and life which is why we offer a flexible hybrid-remote schedule for administrative positions. Our goal is to provide you with the tools to do your job and the trust to get your work done in a way that works for you.

Food Connects has three programs: the Food Hub Farm to School and Vermont Harvest of the Month. These programs offer a multidisciplinary approach to strengthening local food systems.

Who Were Looking For

Behind every successful organization is a strong administrative structure. This position will play a key role in the administrative backbone of the company supporting our programs and people in various ways. This requires someone with a broad range of skills: you must be comfortable in various tech platforms and advanced spreadsheets internally motivated comfortable and approachable in various interpersonal situations a problem-solver highly organized and proactively communicative.

What You Will Be Doing

The Administrative Specialists primary responsibility is to upkeep internal systems and act as the staffs go-to HR person. This means theyll have their hands in most aspects of Food Connects including: general business operations administration finance and HR. While this role wont be responsible for any of these areas theyll play a critical role in supporting their success. Your technical skills will be put to good use in our efforts to go deeper into transforming the food system into one that puts producers and consumers first.

Core Competencies

• Technical Expertise: The ability to demonstrate depth of knowledge and skill in a technical area.

• Building Collaborative Relationships: The ability to develop maintain and strengthen partnerships with others inside or outside the organization who can provide information assistance and support.

• Analytical Thinking: The ability to tackle a problem by using a logical systematic sequential approach.

• Thoroughness: Ensuring that ones own and others work and information are complete and accurate; carefully preparing for meetings and presentations; following up with others to ensure that agreements and commitments have been fulfilled.

• Time Management: Can organize time for optimum efficacy with regard to deadlines collaboration competing priorities and personal work style.

• Managing Change: The ability to demonstrate support for innovation and for organizational changes needed to improve the organizations effectiveness; initiating sponsoring and implementing organizational change; helping others to successfully manage organizational change.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Human Resources (40%)

• Serves as primary day-to-day HR administrator including: recruitment and retention strategies maintenance of job descriptions onboarding benefits administration policy training and compliance and offboarding.

• Acts as HR liaison to our HR Contractor available for compliance interpersonal and general support.

• Leads efforts to bolster FC staff culture and cohesion including staff engagement exercises professional and workplace development efforts and annual review processes.

• Maintains records and information - sometimes in a manner that maintains confidentiality - including: basic employee documentation personnel files complaints and benefits paperwork.

• Reviews and prepares data for time and attendance tracking regular audits for workers compensation insurance additional as needed.

• Partners with the Executive Director to ensure compliance with the Compensation Philosophy and Employee Handbook including maintenance updates and creation of new policies as needed.

• Works with the Executive Director to ensure that all human resource-related matters are handled appropriately and in compliance with applicable local state and federal regulations and laws.

Finance (40%)

• Assists Executive Director and Bookkeeper with various finance systems including AR AP customer and vendor outreach.

• Assists Executive Director and Bookkeeper with month end reconciliations and reporting as needed.

• Supports adherence to the companys finance operating manual as needed.

• Supports organizational budgeting and projection processes.

• Supports regular cashflow management.

General Administration (20%)

• Tracks spenddown of grant funds and monitors fund appropriations to ensure contract compliance.

• Partner with Executive Director on internal systems development.

• Implements current processes and procedures - offering improvements is a plus!

• Assists department staff with data input tracking analysis and comparison to benchmarks.

• Manages the info@ email address and directs inquiries/concerns to appropriate personnel as needed.

• Supports event coordination and list management.

• Supports staff in the use of various tech platforms including: Netsuite Slack asana G-suite and Rippling (our HR platform) serving as account administrator for certain platforms as needed.

Miscellaneous

• Assists with other projects and systems as needed to support FCs operations.

Skills and Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 2 or more years prior administrative experience.

• 2 or more years prior experience working in a group setting.

• Strong interpersonal skills including nonviolent communication and conflict resolution.

• Demonstrated experience and comfort with technology.

• Ability to manage their own schedule and prioritize tasks independently.

• Clarity and groundedness in a fast-paced environment.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills both written and verbal.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior role as Office Manager or HR coordinator or similar.

• Prior experience in a non-profit setting.

• Familiarity with our regional food system or local farming community.

Working Conditions & Physical Demands

Food Connects aims to make reasonable accommodations to enable individuals of all abilities to perform the essential functions of their role.

• Schedule: This position is expected to work between 32-40 hours per week and be available to work between 8am and 5pm Monday through Friday.

• Location: The position is based in the Food Connects office in Brattleboro although Food Connects promotes a flexible working schedule that allows for a hybrid-remote model. This role is required to work a minimum 3 days per week in office in order to experience what its like to live out our mission on a day-to-day basis. Evening and weekends may be required rarely and with plenty of notice for planning.

• Working Conditions: This position entails extensive use of a desktop or laptop computer sitting or standing at a desk workstation.

Compensation and Benefits

• This is a full-time hourly non-exempt position.

• Pay is $22.50/hour negotiable depending on experience.

• Benefits:

• 15% Employee Discount on Food Purchases through the Food Hub

• $3000 annual Health & Wellness Stipend

• Accrued PTO (up to 27 days)

• Beginning after 90 Day intro period:

• Access to vision and dental insurance

• Employer-paid Short Term Disability and Life Insurance.

• 2% Retirement Contribution (SIMPLE IRA) no employee contribution required