Installation Crew Leader

The Seattle Urban Farm Company specializes in designing, installing and maintaining vegetable gardens, perennial fruit plantings, and chicken coops for residents of Seattle and its surrounding neighborhoods. We’re currently seeking a qualified individual to oversee the installation of new projects for our company. As the Installation Crew Leader, you’ll be responsible for directing a crew of one to four people in creating the hardscape for productive vegetable and fruit gardens. Work involved in a typical installation varies by the project, but can involve clearing sod and old landscaping; manual tillage to create mounded raised beds; building framed raised beds using timbers, landscaping rock, or salvaged materials; building retaining walls and terraces using timbers, diamond block, or landscaping rock; constructing chicken coops using salvaged materials, and occasionally constructing stone walkways and patios. We frequently take on unusual projects, and we’re excited to have your creativity and input in helping us implement new techniques and materials in our designs. If you have professional hardscaping skills and want to apply them to producing food in an urban environment, this is the job for you!

Duties/Responsibilities: The Installation Crew Leader will be responsible for directing a crew in the installation of vegetable gardens, home orchards, and chicken coops from start to finish. The productivity, aesthetics, and longevity of our installations are very important to us. You must be able to make sure each crew member has these ideals in mind while working on a project, and be willing to put in full effort to ensure each project embodies these ideals upon completion. Our crews often include apprentices and volunteers, so you must be able to provide an educational experience to these crew members while maintaining efficiency at the jobsite. Depending on scheduling and work load, you may be asked to assist in other areas of our business, including vegetable transplant production in greenhouses, garden maintenance for customers, and equipment maintenance and repair.

Qualifications:
Applicants must:
-have experience and skill necessary to construct raised garden beds, retaining walls, and terraces from timbers and landscaping rock. Experience working with salvaged materials is a plus.
-have ability to manage a crew fairly, safely, and efficiently.
-be able to maintain crew morale during physically demanding jobs.
-be able to think creatively and independently to solve problems and work out details on installations.
-be able to operate rototillers, sod cutters, pick-up and dump trucks with manual transmissions, and other powered landscaping equipment.
-have good record keeping skills.
-have basic knowledge of organic soil management for vegetable production.
-have basic knowledge of planting perennial fruit crops.

Other Information:
The Installation Crew Leader is a full-time, seasonal position starting January 2010. Compensation is dependent on experience.

To Apply:
Please submit a resume and cover letter to Brad Halm (brad@seattleurbanfarmco.com), or call us at 206-816-9740. Thanks!