Job Summary: | The Farm to Institution (F2I) Outreach Specialist will work to establish a farm to institution initiative within the Extension Community Food Systems Program. The primary function of this position is to foster regional food supply chain and market development for Wisconsin farmers through outreach activities that focus on value chain coordination and capacity-building, including network development, direct education, tool and resource development, evaluation, and grant writing.
Key partners and audiences will include farmers, institutional food service staff, locally-based Extension educators, as well as state and local organizations and agencies. In addition, this position will lead a project and team to carry out the work of the Grains to Trays Project, a USDA-funded grant project to build supply chains for regionally grown grains to enter Wisconsin institutions. The project work will include institutional recipe development and pilot testing, development of topic-specific outreach materials, leading a project team, focus group facilitation, and project management.
Responsibilities connected with this position include: - Identify and address infrastructural, regulatory and contractual barriers to processing and distribution for F2I supply chains through grants and partnerships - Grant project management, including leading a multi-organizational project team, oversight of timeline for grant deliverables, budget oversight, preparation of materials for PI review and submission to USDA grant manager - Partner with producer-serving organizations to align production capacity building efforts with F2I market development opportunities - Co-develop engaged research projects with practitioners based on Wisconsin farm to institution needs and national program trends with an emphasis on grower profitability and market development - Co-lead pilot projects to test profitability and scalability of F2I innovations (e.g., local menu items, new supply chain partnerships) - Provide technical content, training, and one-on-one support to farmers, processors and distributors regarding Farm-to-Institution contracting processes through grant and fee-for-service contracts - Oversee recipe development, testing, pilot testing for the institutional food service environment - Writing, editing and reviewing outreach materials for print, web, and social media - Facilitating work groups, focus groups, and other collaborative learning groups - Plan networking and education events including webinars, tours, field trips, or other events - Engage with national networks and collaboratives to advance national research, outreach and evaluation tools - Grant project/program evaluation and reporting |
Responsibilities: | Delivers and assists with planning outreach program activities, strengthens partnerships, ensures adherence to policy, and assists with program administration to promote stable and productive relationships between the university and local community. Strives to expand and ensure access to programs, facilities, and educational services to diverse audiences. May assist with tracking and managing the outreach program budget. - 10% Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program
- 10% Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program
- 15% Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members
- 30% Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials
- 5% Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement
- 5% May assist with the monitoring of outreach program budget spending
- 5% Leads the implementation of programs, policies, and procedures through oversight of day-to-day activities for program staff and student and community volunteers
- 5% Develops, facilities, and participates in state, regional and/or national networks
- 15% Secures grants and provide project management for grant-funded F2I projects
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Institutional Statement on Diversity: | Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.
For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion |
Education: | Required Bachelor's Degree
Preferred Master's Degree Relevant degree programs include but are not limited to Food Studies, Food Systems Planning, Food Science, Nutrition, Food Supply Chain Management, Sustainable Agriculture. |
Qualifications: | Required: - Minimum of 2 years of professional experience in areas such as farm to school/institution, community food systems, child nutrition, institutional food service management/leadership, sustainable agriculture, regional food distribution, or food supply chain logistics - Experience managing projects and/or project management training - Excellent written communication skills - Experience working with farmers and other agricultural supply chain professionals - Demonstrated skills and/or training to convene and facilitate multi stakeholder meetings, events, and focus groups - Experience conceptualizing, developing, and disseminating outreach materials, e.g., written, digital, or virtual - Attention to detail - Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and in a team-oriented environment - Ability to work on multiple projects concurrently and meet deadlines with limited supervision.
Preferred: - Experience working with food service professionals in the institutional food setting including: schools, colleges, hospitals, corporate cafeterias, or food vendors - Demonstrated experience managing food system, nutritional, or institutional food service-related projects with an emphasis on growing food value chains and/or conducting outreach and education - Experience planning or conducting statewide or regional outreach events and activities - Skilled in convening remote and/or virtual teams with geographically, professionally, and culturally diverse members - Experience writing and managing grant proposals and projects, including federal grants. |
Work Type: | Full Time: 100%
This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location. |
Appointment Type, Duration: | Terminal, 24 month appointment. This position has the possibility to be extended or converted to an ongoing appointment based on need and/or funding |
Salary: | Minimum $55,000 ANNUAL (12 months) Depending on Qualifications |
Additional Information: | Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment. |
How to Apply: | We are eager to learn more about how your experience and passion may align with this position. Please submit a cover letter referring to your related work experience and a resume detailing your educational and professional background. Please keep in mind, applicants need to articulate all required qualifications in their cover letter and/or resume. Applicants who have preferred qualifications should share those too in the cover letter and/or resume. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine who may advance to preliminary interviews. |
Contact: | Lindsey Farnsworth ldfarnsworth@wisc.edu 608-890-2433 Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information. |