Temporary Market Manager

The City of Somerville seeks a Temporary Market Manager for The Somerville Mobile Farmers’ Market. The market is led by Shape Up Somerville (SUS), an initiative of the City of Somerville’s Health and Human Services Department, and supports SUS’ mission to improve equitable access to healthy, affordable food.

Employment Details

Dates of Hire: June 14^th – October 29^th

Market Schedule: July 9^th – October 16^th, Fridays 9:00AM-6:00PM and Saturdays 8:45AM-4:30PM. Must be available to work: 1.5 days each week in market season on Mondays and Thursdays; and a minimum of 13 out of 15 market weekends.

Pay: $20/hour, 16 hours per week before and after the market season (June 14^th–July 9^th, Oct. 18^th–29^th) and 30 hours during market season (July 9^th–Oct. 16^th). Not Benefit Eligible.

Essential Functions

• Weekly ordering and aggregation logistics
  • Order produce each week based on sales trends and budget
  • Manage aggregation logistics such as produce pickup and drop-off sites and times as well as orderly storage for easy loading on market days
  • Adapt the market model as needed to adhere to COVID-19 safety and sanitary protocols.
• Drive the market van
  • Meet farmers for produce pick-up at various sites throughout Somerville
  • Arrive on time and safely to each of the four market sites
• Manage staff and market
  • Weekly scheduling of staff and volunteers in coordination with SUS Coordinator and Groundwork
  • Ensure that roles are properly distributed between staff
  • Ensure staff, volunteers and customers are adhering to COVID-19 safety and sanitation protocols.
  • Coordinate volunteers, and delegate at-market management of volunteers to other staff if necessary and appropriate
  • Offer and hold other staff to a standard of excellent customer service
  • Manage the line and restock produce, and cover other market roles as necessary
• Weekly accounting
  • Reconcile sales each week by downloading transactions and comparing to financials
  • Set produce prices as needed
  • Create and present preliminary season-end totals and analyses
• Help manage market operations and communication
  • Report weekly on market to SUS: news, needs, sales trends, and customer feedback
  • Propose policy changes as necessary

This is a safety sensitive position.

Recommended Minimum Qualifications

• Valid driver’s license, good driving record, and experience driving vans
• Management, administration, or business background
• Customer service experience

Desired Knowledge, Abilities, and Skills

Knowledge: Retail or customer service; understanding of food systems, environmental racism and justice, and issues of equity and oppression; awareness of and sensitivity to cultural and linguistic diversity; produce knowledge (cooking, farming, health, etc.)

Abilities: Flexibility; working with many types of people; teamwork; strength to lift up to 50lbs

Skills: Technology and computer literacy to learn and utilize Square, Excel, and debit/credit/EBT card processing software; bilingual or multilingual skills preferred

Work Environment

Work requires some agility and physical strength, such as standing or walking most of the work period. This work requires lifting heavy objects and carrying them. There may be need to stretch and reach to retrieve materials. Usually, the work will require extended physical effort over a significant portion of the work day. Duties generally do not present occupational risk. Injury could occur, however, through employee failure to properly follow safety precautions or procedures. Examples of injury include bruises from falls, cuts or burns, or muscular strains from lifting, pushing or carrying heavy equipment or work materials. May be exposed to wet/humid conditions, extreme temperatures, oils, moving mechanical parts, and/or potentially hazardous agents/chemicals. May be exposed to elevated noise levels.

Physical and Mental Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the position’s essential functions.

Physical Skills: Work effort principally involves standing, reaching, bending and walking to perform work tasks, with intermittent periods of sitting. May be required to lift and carry up to 50 pounds, and push/pull up to 95 pounds.

Motor Skills: Must be able to frequently talk/listen, grasp, push, reach, stoop/kneel/crouch, and use repetitive wrist/hand/finger movement. Must be able to regularly move and operate mechanical equipment. Minimal motor skills are also required for activities such as operating a telephone, personal computer and/or office equipment.

Visual Skills: Visual demands include clarity of vision, three-dimensional vision, precise hand-eye coordination, and ability to identify and distinguish colors. Employee will also require visual skills to constantly read documents for general understanding and analytical purposes.

Send your resume and cover letter by May 7, 2021 to

City Hall Personnel Office
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville MA 02143
Fax: 617-666-4426
TTY: 1-866-808-4851
Email: employment_opportunities@somervillema.gov

City of Somerville residents are especially encouraged to apply.

The City of Somerville is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability or any other protected category. Women, minorities, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply. Auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures will be provided to qualified individuals with disabilities free of charge, upon request.

Individuals with disabilities who need auxiliary aids and services for effective communication, written materials in alternative formats, or reasonable modifications in policies and procedures, in order to access the programs and activities of the City of Somerville or to attend meetings, should contact Nancy Bacci at 617-625-6600 x2250 or NBacci@somervillema.gov.