Job Title: Nursery Office Manager

Location: 319 105th Avenue, Oakland, CA 94603
Effective Date: June 1
Job Type: Full Time

Our Mission and Core Values:
Planting Justice is a grassroots organization with a mission to empower people impacted by mass incarceration and other social inequities with the skills and resources to cultivate food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing.

• Sustainability: We aim to operate in a way that is environmentally, socially, and economically responsible.
• People focus: We put people’s needs and satisfaction at the center of our organization.
• Excellence: We strive for the highest standards in everything we do.
• Collaboration: We work together to achieve shared goals and outcomes.
• Integrity: We strive to act with honesty, awareness, fairness, and transparency.
• Accountability: We take responsibility for our actions and outcomes, and practice restorative justice in times of conflict.
• Learning: We believe in continuous curiosity, learning, and growth, both as individuals and as an organization.
• Persistence: We have an ongoing commitment and effort to work towards creating positive change, even in the face of obstacles, setbacks, and resistance
• Joy: We believe joy is not just an individual feeling, but it is also a social and political act that can be cultivated through the pursuit of justice, equity, and freedom for all.
• Creativity: We like to work smarter not harder and find innovative solutions
• Acceptance: We acknowledge and embrace the inherent value and worth of all individuals, regardless of their race, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, religion, or any other defining characteristic
• Respect: We treat all life with dignity and value unity across differences.
• Empowerment: We give our people the freedom and support to take initiative and make a difference.

Job Summary:

The Nursery Office Manager will work collaboratively with the Nursery Manager and Director of Horticulture to steward the overall management of the East Oakland nursery, but to specifically steward ordering and inventory; support the Nursery Manager with meetings, volunteers, and staff; and support the Office Clerk with sales

Responsibilities of the Office Manager

• SALES
  • Assist Nursery Office Clerk with the following tasks as needed
  • Keep track of orders to make sure you don’t fall behind!
  — Contact old orders that are still ‘processing’ and record them in the ‘Contacting Processing Orders’ sheet to ensure no orders slip through the cracks
  — This should be done at the end of every month
  • Contact customers about OOS orders to see if they would like to refund/replace and follow up as needed
  • Greet, assist, and check out in-person customers

 

• PLANT ORDERING
  Propagation Team Lead and Horticultural Lead will train and assist as needed
  • Keep the Ordering Calendar up to date with the organizations we order from, including,
  — their contact information
  — what we order from them
  — when we order from them, and
  — how we place/pay for orders with them
  • Place orders for all the necessary potted plants, bareroots, plugs, rooted cuttings, seeds, scion wood, and rootstock used at the nursery throughout the year
  • Keep the Nursery Office Manager and the Propagation Team Lead in the loop on all orders for the nursery
  • Maintain an accurate understanding of what plants are in demand by:
  — knowing the plants we have at the nursery,
  — knowing what plants are available from the PJ Farm and the nurseries we order from,
  — knowing what plants are in highest demand from our customer-base, and
  — knowing what plants have extensive followings on the waitlist

 

• NURSERY INVENTORY
  • Requires a solid understanding of plant health
  • Maintain an intimate knowledge of where everything is located in the nursery
  • Count nursery inventory
  —Count sellable stock, prioritizing OoS and low stock products + new varieties
  —Count not-yet-sellable plants that have been propagated
  • Separate out failed grafts and other un-sellable plants that might be easily missed by the shipping team when collecting and packaging orders
  • Address pest and irrigation issues that you encounter while counting inventory by either fixing the problem yourself of informing the Field Team of the issue so they may address it
  — Keep the Field Team in the loop about all pest and irrigation issues you encounter
  • Input inventory counts into the website accounting for local sales and plant death, updating information and images on existing profiles or creating new profiles as needed
  — Edit our product profiles to be uniform and informative (like the One Green World website)
  • Remove plants from the online sellable inventory when they suddenly become unfit to sell
  • Be on call to assist shipping crew to inspect plants and assess whether or not they are sellable
  • Maintain detailed and accurate records of all plants, sellable and unsellable, at the nursery
  • Keep nursery Organics Binder organized and up to date with the necessary documents for our organic certification

 

• NURSERY MANAGEMENT
  • On the 15th of each month, email the Media Director pictures and details for:
  — Plant of the Month
  — Sale of the Month
  — Nursery Volunteer Needs for the Month
  • Website management
  — Collaborate with Media Director and 2Hats to maintain a well-functioning website
  • Keep the nursery map updated and printed
  • Update office calendar monthly with events, birthdays, pay schedule, etc
  • Seek out and implement program improvement
  — E.g., implementing barcodes, Contacting Processing Orders sheet, website maintenance and improvement, UPS programs/grants, and more
  — Create and disseminate procedures and protocols for nursery tasks
  • Monitor nursery annual analytics and keep detailed records
  • Keep nursery Organics Binder organized and up to date with the necessary documents for our organic certification
  The following responsibilities are held jointly with the Nursery Manager
  • Plan and execute monthly Nursery meeting on the last Tuesday of every month focusing on political education, trainings, and healing activities
  • Give tours and train site visitors and volunteers
  — Sign off on volunteer hours and write letters when necessary
  — Ensure all volunteers have filled out liability waiver and we have it on file

Qualifications & Skills:

• Extensive knowledge of horticulture and plant care
• Familiar with Language Equity Guidelines
• Accurate reading comprehension
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Impeccable confidentiality
• Knowledge and practice of correct grammatical protocols, and spelling
• Ability to organize a daily workload by priorities
• Ability to meet deadlines quickly and in a changing environment
• Familiar with Google Suites and Microsoft Office Suite
• Familiar with PC and Mac operating systems

Work Style:

• Active listening
• Confidence
• Conscious of nonverbal cues
• Conciseness
• Self Awareness
• Proactive approach to problem-solving with strong decision-making skills

Education and Experience:

• Experience and skill are weighed heavily against academic degrees
• 2 to 5 years of experience in administrative, clerical, order/inventory
• Digital literacy with all devices
• Proven experience as an office manager, inventory clerk or other relevant administrative support experience

Physical Requirements:

• Walking short distances
• Bending, stooping, twisting
• Reaching above and/or below shoulder
• Handling/grasping documents or office equipment
• Sitting and/or standing for short or extended periods of time
• Clear speaking and adequate hearing sufficient to communicate effectively and respond appropriately in-person and/or on the telephone
• Vision sufficient to read source materials and computer screen data
• Repetitive motions for computer equipment use
• Requires exertion of force of 25-40 pounds occasionally, 10 pounds frequently, and/or 5 pounds continuously to lift/carry/move objects, files and documents
• Work is performed primarily in an office/home (remote); outdoors (farm); yurt (nursery) environment using standard office equipment

Compensation and Benefits:

• Minimum salary rate for the position of Nursery Office Manager begins at $25.00 per hour [$52,000 per year], with room for negotiation based on experience, with a 3% increase in annual pay per year.
• Benefits include 4 weeks paid time off plus 7 paid annual holidays, health care plus dental, vision, life insurance and chiropractic coverage beginning 60-90 days after the first date of hire
• Kaiser health care package plus dental, vision, life insurance and chiropractic coverage beginning 60-90 days after the first date of hire
• Annual professional development stipend of $500, plus other paid training opportunities.

Application Instructions: Please send a cover letter and resume to julia[at]plantingjustice[dot]org

Nature of Employment

Formerly incarcerated, Black and African-American, Latinx, Native and Indigenous, women, and LGBTQIA+ encouraged to apply. Planting Justice is an equal opportunity and at-will employer.