Program Associate 1, The Pasture Project

~ The Wallace Center at Winrock International is a national leader in sustainable and equitable food systems development supporting entrepreneurs and communities as they build a new, 21st century food system that is healthier for people, the environment, and the economy. ~

To achieve this vision, the Center builds and strengthens linkages in the emerging chain of businesses and civic efforts focused on making good food-healthy, green, fair, and affordable food-an everyday reality in every community. The Wallace Center is a unit within the Enterprise and Agriculture Group of Winrock International and works primarily in the United States.

The Pasture Project, a program of the Wallace Center, increases farm vitality and environmental conservation by expanding pasture-based agriculture in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. We do this by supporting those currently grazing and assisting others in transitioning corn and soy operations. We identify and pilot different strategies for increasing sustainably-managed acreage.

These include: 

• the Grazing Broker program which matches non-operating landowners and graziers;
• land trust partnerships which protect particularly vulnerable lands by generating income through grazing;
• training existing technical service providers to better promote and support grazing;
• encouraging rotation or seasonal use of row crop fields for cattle grazing; and
• advancing policy that supports pasture-based agriculture. 

Intensive, high-stock density grazing has the potential to significantly improve the environmental performance of agriculture in the areas of water quality, soil quality, wildlife habitat and greenhouse gases.

It also offers farmers a profitable and stable enterprise for their operation, consumers a healthy food product and supports humane treatment of animals. The Program Associate position offers the right candidate a rare opportunity in a cutting edge and critically important area of sustainable agriculture.

Position Overview

The Program Associate will support the Center's Pasture Project, working in coordination with other staff, consultants, and partner organizations to achieve project goals. Project goals are ambitious and multi-faceted and the project is structured as a continuous adaptation of methods.

The person in this position must manage many pieces of work occurring simultaneously, helping ensure that all are on task and each element of the project is progressing effectively. He or she should thrive in a fast-paced environment, be adaptive, comfortable moving forward in the face of uncertainty, and able to build strong working relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and skills.

The Program Associate will also at times lend support to other Wallace Center projects and program development efforts. The position reports to the Program Officer, Wallace Center.

Responsibilities 

Assist with the implementation and management of The Pasture Project, helping to support other Wallace Center work as appropriate. Roles and responsibilities include: 

• Work with the project director to build systems, approaches and structures that improve the management of this diverse and multi-faceted project. Understand the project as a system and continuously seek to improve how it functions.
• Serve as a member of the project team - having responsibility for both helping implement current approaches and helping the project director design and assess new approaches to accomplishing project goals.
• Provide relationship management, excellent and timely customer service, appropriate conflict resolution, and help strengthen the Center's wide network of allies and partners.
• Drafting, editing and/or proofreading web content, promotional materials, press releases, etc.
• Coordinate logistics, operations and time management, e.g. meeting and travel planning, coordinating complicated project schedules, timelines and deadlines.
• Assist with the development of new funding opportunities and funding proposals.
• Conduct research and/or helping commission the development of research to support the project.
• Work with staff, consultants and partners to ensure timely entry of project evaluation data, conducting analysis of the resulting data and helping engage the whole project team in understanding what we are learning from the evaluation and how we might improve our approaches.
• Assist with managing and tracking project financial commitments. Duties include processing consultants' and sub-awards' paperwork (contracts and legal agreements) for hiring and/or granting; working with consultants and subawards to ensure proper and timely payment of invoices; and overall support to the awards management processes and grants/contracts administration.
• Assist with the completion of progress reports and the processing of financial reports to funders and help keep track of financial status of awards and overall program(s).
• Perform other duties as necessary and (or) assigned.
• Some local and out-of-state (US domestic) travel will be required. 

Qualifications  

Education: 

• Degree in agriculture, rural development, agriculture economics, business, ecology or related fields preferred. 
• Master's degree strongly preferred. 

Experience: 

• A minimum of two years of related experience. 

Desirable experience includes: 

• Familiarity and comfort with complex, multi-faceted interventions.
• Business and business development experience.
• Background and knowledge-base in animal agriculture and pasture-management.
• Practical field knowledge and direct on-farm experience.
• Having provided direct technical assistance to farmers.
• Ability to research an issue and share findings in an organized and clear manner.
• Outreach and communications experience with key stakeholders including business and state and federal government agencies.
• Grant writing and proposal preparation experience.
• Work with culturally diverse populations and communities.
• Having lived or worked in the Upper Midwest or having some experience with the culture of that region or rural culture more generally.

Skills: 

• Excellent organizational and information management skills, with an attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to think systemically, listen well, ask thoughtful, probing questions, and engage creatively and collaboratively. You should be someone who can quickly and clearly analyze the strengths and weaknesses of a system, build a response, and bring others on board.
• Takes initiative, self-starter and self-directed, but also comfortable with a diverse and highly integrated team.
• Demonstrated excellent communication skills (written and oral). Fluent in English for both writing and speaking. Outgoing and communicative by nature.
• Ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple concurrent tasks.
• Ability to quickly learn new policies and procedures, and to navigate the language of contracts and compliance.
• Cultural competency in communicating with a wide variety of stakeholders, ranging from national leaders in the field to grassroots organizations
• Experience or proficiency using Microsoft Office software, including: Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint.
• Must have legal status to work in the U.S.