We're hiring a Communications & Events Manager!

Growing Chefs is hiring! 

Do you want to support sustainable and just food practices? Build connections between kids and youth and their food? Make local, sustainable food accessible? Connect communities through food? If yes, then this might be the place for you! 

We are currently looking for a Communications & Events Manager  to join our team. We’re looking for someone who loves to collaborate, has phenomenal communications skills, is a creative and strategic thinker, is passionate about supporting food justice, and loves to manage a to-do list.

Contract Type: Full-time permanent, 32 hours per week

Salary: $48,096 Annually

Benefits: Health and dental plan (after 3 months employed); three weeks paid vacation (pro-rated to a 32 hour work week) + paid one-week summer shutdown per year + paid two-week winter shutdown per year; 12 paid personal wellness days per year (aka sick days); annual professional development funding; paid volunteer days; flexible work hours.

Reports to: Growing Chefs Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement

Location: Lower Mainland; hybrid work environment with dog-friendly office but freedom to also work from home (a minimum of two days per week must be in office). The office location is the SpencerCreo Centre at 610 Main Street, Vancouver. Will require regular travel to various locations throughout the Metro Vancouver region.

Anticipated Start Date: April 2023

Position Summary: 

  • Work closely with the Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement 

  • Collaboratively drive the organization’s communications strategy 

  • Lead the administration of our annual events

  • Contribute to a vibrant team within a collaborative, care-based, person-centred organization

  • Actively collaborate to drive a strategic plan centred around food justice

  • Assist with maintenance of overall office organization and appearance

  • Perform other duties as required

Communications:

  • Working with the Co-Executive Director, Communications & Engagement, lead the strategic development and execution of a creative, engaging, bold, knowledgeable, evolving, playful, justice-centred communications plan

  • Drive the organization’s communications strategy and public profile

  • Participate in the organization's Communications Committee

  • Prepare communications reports, summaries, and guides to share with staff and board of directors

  • Support and guide the work of the Communications Coordinator

  • Support the writing and design of marketing and promotional materials, social media campaigns, e-newsletters, event invitations, and blog posts

  • Oversee and monitor social media platforms including engagement with followers 

  • Support the Communications Coordinator to collaborate with program, community relations, and engagement teams to create content 

  • Collaboratively update, maintain, grow, and analyze Growing Chefs' social media presence

  • Collaboratively update social media accounts, blog, newsletter, and website 

  • Collaboratively organize media, photo, and video opportunities as needed 

  • Collaboratively develop, monitor, and maintain annual communications calendar 

  • Lead drafting and distribution of news releases, media alerts, and other stories

  • Stay abreast of communications trends, tools, and social media platforms

  • Perform other duties, as needed

Events: 

  • Lead planning and execution of annual events

  • Manage team contributing to From Farms to Forks, Growing Chefs’ largest annual event

  • Design silent and live auctions, source auction items, make asks, and solicit donations

  • Track in-kind donations in compliance with CRA guidelines

  • Manage online event management platforms

  • Lead development of new events to increase engagement, community building, and fundraising 

  • Input contact and donation information related to all events into Salesforce, the Growing Chefs CRM

  • Run regular Salesforce reports to monitor and analyze event fundraising, pull donor lists, and update and monitor donor pipeline to inform event and communication plans 

  • Work with staff team and board/committee members to ensure exceptional stewardship of all stakeholders, including sending acknowledgment and thank you letters, scheduling thank you calls, and donor visits

  • Represent Growing Chefs at community activities in a way that enhances the organization's profile

  • Participate in and be present at events

Qualifications & Skills:

  • Creative and strategic thinker

  • Confident public speaker and organizational representative; comfortable communicating on the phone and in person

  • Ability to form and nurture new relationships, strong interpersonal skills, a collaborative working style

  • Supportive and dedicated team leader

  • Compelling writer and verbal communicator

  • Highly organized with the ability to prioritise and work on multiple tasks at one time 

  • Strong attention to detail

  • Excellent computer skills, including proficiency with:

    • G-Suite (Google Drive, Sheets, Docs, Calendar, Gmail, etc.)

    • Website building platforms (we use Squarespace)

    • Email marketing tools and applications (we use Mailchimp)

    • Internal communication tools (we use Slack)

  • Comfortable using graphic design tools (we use Canva)

  • Demonstrated ability to work with a team as well as independently

  • The ability to research, gather, analyze, and report on information and data

Additional skills an asset but not required:

  • Experience working with Salesforce or other CRM database 

  • Experience working in the nonprofit and/or philanthropy sector

Job Requirements:

  • Availability for occasional weekends and evening events. 

  • Must be available and able to work two days per week in the Growing Chefs office 

  • Available to present at all events and for lead up to events 

  • Must be legally authorized to work in Canada

  • Must have valid BC drivers licence

  • Must be able to lift and move up to 30 pounds

  • The successful applicant will be required to obtain a Vulnerable Sector Check for working with children. Growing Chefs will cover the cost to obtain this check.

Growing Chefs operates on the on the land of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), W̱SÁNEĆ, Lək̓ʷəŋən, and Xwsepsum (Songhees and Esquimalt) Nations. As we work towards a world with healthy, just, sustainable food practices, we continue to learn and explore how to uplift Indigenous food and cultural values within our local food systems.

Growing Chefs is an equal opportunity employer and employs personnel without regard to racialization, ancestry, place of origin, ethnic origin, language, citizenship, creed, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status, physical and/or mental access needs, or financial ability.

To Apply:

Please submit your resume and the completed questionnaire below to hr@growingchefs.ca. Review of applications and interviews will begin on a rolling basis April 12th, 2023. 

We ask that in lieu of a cover letter, please include in your email with your attached resume the answers to the following two questions in 450 words or less:

  1. Tell us about your connection to local food systems and food justice. 

  2. What draws you to Growing Chefs? 

  3. Describe what you love about communications and/or event planning.

Next Steps:

You will receive confirmation via email that we have received your application. 

Candidates selected to move on to the interview phase will be contacted to set up a date for an interview no later than May 1st

In recognition of the labour that goes into preparing for an interview, applicants selected for an interview will receive a $25 honorarium for their time. 

Final candidates may be asked to prepare a small work project for review by the hiring committee. A $25 honorarium will be offered for the work project.

Final candidates will be asked to provide up-to-date references who will be consulted.