Career Opportunities from Practical Farmers of Iowa

Grants Finance Manager

The finance department provides critical organizational support to process, track and manage all organizational income and expenses, and to ensure PFI’s financial sustainability and health to carry out its mission. Practical Farmers of Iowa is in an exciting phase of growth, which brings with it a need for increased efficiency of financial processes to control costs, mitigate risk and streamline internal processes for clarity and expediency.

As a primarily grant-funded organization with over 60 active awards, financial management of grants is of the utmost importance to PFI’s organizational health and operations. The grants finance manager will take primary responsibility of processes, staff training and oversight related to ensuring accurate and timely grant accounting and invoicing. This is a full-time position based in our Ames, Iowa, office with potential for a hybrid schedule. The applicant must be in the Ames office at least once per month. Strong preference will be given to candidates who can work from the PFI office a minimum of once a week. The salary range for this position is $55,500 to $60,000 with annual opportunity for merit salary increases and position advancement.

Senior Horticulture & Local Foods Coordinator

We’re seeking a senior horticulture and local foods coordinator to shape our horticulture viability programming and food systems development efforts. The farm viability department provides innovative, personalized support to help farmers achieve their goals.

We partner with farmers to implement new on-farm practices, develop markets and create robust farm business plans. We also make key connections across the food and agriculture supply chain, develop strategic partnerships and shape the policies that encourage resilient farms to thrive.

As the senior horticulture and local foods coordinator, you’ll help build, test and scale creative solutions that respond to the needs of PFI farmer-members; work to create opportunities for fruit and vegetable farmers to establish and grow resilient farms; and work with PFI’s partners to develop and cultivate local foods systems that expand markets for horticulture farmers and other local food producers. This is a full-time position with potential for remote work or work from our office in Ames, Iowa. The annual salary range is $54,500-$60,000, based on experience and qualifications. This position reports to Kayla Koether, senior farm viability manager, and requires some travel (mostly in Iowa) and a valid driver’s license.

Beginning Farmer Engagement Coordinator

Practical Farmers of Iowa is seeking a diligent, respectful and passionate person to serve as a beginning farmer engagement coordinator for the farmer-led education department. At PFI, our beginning farmer program works with farmers who have been farming on their own for 10 years or less or who want to start farming.

The farmer-led education department is the core of PFI’s long-standing farmer-led education efforts. This department annually delivers a robust educational program of field days, conferences, workshops and webinars. In addition, this department facilitates meetups and other mechanisms to build farmer peer networks and writes farmer-centered content for PFI’s media, including the PFI quarterly magazine, blog and email newsletters.

This is a full-time position based in our Ames, Iowa, office. The starting salary is $46,500 with annual opportunity for merit-based salary increases and position advancement. This position requires some travel (mostly in Iowa), a valid driver’s license, the ability to lift 50 pounds and the ability to walk long distances.