Head of Farming

Bristol
c. £45,000

The Soil Association (SA) is the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food. We are working to promote innovation in agriculture, make good food available to everyone and enable practical change on the ground. We are at an important moment in our 67 year history. Over the last few years, we have refreshed our strategic approach and set out ambitious goals to 2020.

As Head of Farming, you’ll lead the SA’s work with farmers throughout the UK, promoting best practice, increasing the uptake of organic systems and engaging new farming audiences. Reporting to the Director of Innovation, your key responsibilities will include:

• Managing the producer support team to develop and drive a concerted programme of work with farmers in line with the SA’s strategy.
• Leading our knowledge exchange activities, further developing and delivering our programme of ‘field labs’, farm walks and other events.
• Understanding producers’ needs and developing our capacity to provide the technical, business, supply-chain and policy support they require to improve their performance in line with organic principles.
• Developing and promoting our producer membership offer to SA licensees and other farmers.
• Acting as lead ambassador for the SA with the farming community throughout the UK, including speaking at events, supporting the communications team and enabling others to represent the organisation effectively.

To succeed, you’ll need a strong understanding of organic farming, supply chains and markets together with a broader knowledge of the UK agricultural sector and policy environment. You’ll need to be credible with a wide variety of external stakeholders and have excellent networking and relationship skills. Finally, you’ll need to be a confident manager, able to plan strategically, lead a team and play a full role as a senior manager within the SA.

In return, we offer you the opportunity to work in a diverse and challenging role within a vibrant organisation committed to addressing some of the most fundamental issues affecting our health, wellbeing and environment.

For further information or to apply, please contact James Stephens at Morgan Law by emailing soilassociation@morgan-law.com or telephone 0207 747 6815. Application by CV and Covering Letter. Closing Date for applications will be 12 noon on Friday 14th June.