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Vital Farms · 5 hours ago

Senior Farm Associate, Accelerator Farms

Spencer, Indiana

Full-time

Onsite

Mid, Senior Level

$60K/yr - $80K/yr

3+ years exp

Vital Farms is a Certified B Corporation focused on ethically produced foods. They are seeking a dedicated Senior Farm Associate to oversee daily operations at their company-owned farms, ensuring optimal egg production and animal welfare.

AgricultureFarmingFood and BeverageOrganic Food

Responsibilities

Supporting training and onboarding of team members by sharing expertise, demonstrating procedures, and reinforcing biosecurity and welfare standards

Providing day-to-day guidance and coordination to ensure farm activities are completed safely, efficiently, and in alignment with production goals

Serving as a point of contact between farm associates and the live production manager, helping to communicate priorities and share updates

Identifying opportunities for process improvement and sharing recommendations to strengthen farm performance and team effectiveness

Ensuring proper scheduling and time off for all assigned team members

Helping the team effectively schedule and complete large tasks around the farm

Ensuring all paperwork is completed accurately and fully

Submitting all required daily, weekly, and monthly paperwork in a timely manner

Conducting all required farm sampling, including but not limited to bloodwork, tracheal swabs, manure samples, drag swabs, soil sampling, water, and feed samples

Completing and sending all sample submissions promptly

Managing rodent and fly monitoring activities, including checking and replacing fly cards, cleaning bait stations and tin cats, and baiting for rodents and other pests

Attending all internal and third-party audits of assigned barns

Attending all on-site pest observations completed by outside pest control companies

Ensuring birds are weighed on the predetermined schedule and completing welfare assessments at the time of weighing

Recording and submitting work orders through Micromain to the maintenance team and maintenance manager

Communicating feed inventories and requesting feed deliveries from the live production manager

Adjusting barn controllers only as directed by the live production manager

Leading discussions for assigned farms during weekly production calls

Responsible for day-to-day tasks and management of the farm including driving production outcomes, egg quality and animal welfare as directed by the Farm Manager

Communicate with Farm Manager and Team Leader on course of action to improve or resolve production related issues

Conduct weekly Lights on/Lights off flock observations

Monitor environmental conditions, make recommendations to equipment settings and/or equipment programming as needed to resolve issues as directed by the Farm Manager and Team Leader

Monitor feed levels/consumption; and communicate with team leader to make necessary orders/adjustments

Monitor bird health and work closely with Farm Managers and Farm Support to address any health challenges

Maintain Audit Readiness of assigned barns

Enter data and ensure accuracy of data into daily, weekly, and monthly paperwork and recording systems

Ensure proper removal and disposal of all mortalities

Ensure proper egg collection and packing is completed daily

Complete required monitoring of pasture including predation levels, biodiversity, and species counts

Ensure proper management of pasture and paddock rotation

Comfortable with performing euthanasia as needed in accordance with the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) euthanasia guidelines

Maintain facility security by ensuring all points of egress and ingress are secured

Be on call for barn alarms triggered by, but not limited to, utility and tech failure

Perform tasks as directed by Farm Manager and Team Leader, including but not limited to moving shade structures, opening and closing gates, clearing roads of debris, and maintaining fence lines to prevent predator access

Qualification

Poultry barn operationsAnimal welfare managementTeam leadershipData entry accuracyBiosecurity standardsCommunicationOrganizational skillsCreative problem-solving

Required

BS degree and/or equivalent experience preferred, ideally in relevant field

3+ years experience in poultry barn operations strongly preferred, relevant internship experience will be taken into consideration

1-2 years demonstrated experience leading, influencing, or motivating individuals or teams, either directly or through cross-functional collaboration

Must be willing to work nights, weekends and holidays

Ability to operate independently

Ability to lead daily operations and travel to 2-4 barns at any given time

Located within commutable distance (45 minutes) to assigned farm in Southern Indiana

Ability to travel 20% for company events, job fairs, team meetings and other business needs

Strong communication skills

Great organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously

Personal commitment to ensuring all milestones are met on time

Ability to manage multiple, time sensitive, priorities and deadlines

Creative problem-solving ability

Must be willing to work weekends, nights, and holidays as needed

You're no hero – You know the power of teamwork and celebrate the work of others before your own

You give a sh*t – You believe in acting like an owner and making Vital Farms a place to be proud of

You raise the standards – You know growth can be hard, but you strive to improve yourself and others each day

You can walk in someone else's boots – You seek to understand other's viewpoints and think that you get to better answers by sitting on the same side of the table

You don't walk on eggshells – You're not afraid to leave the bullsh*t behind and have honest conversations