Farm Labor Outreach Specialist

About Extension:

UW-Madison's Division of Extension serves the people and communities of Wisconsin by addressing local, statewide and national issues, improving lives through research-based education, fostering partnerships and action, and facilitating positive impacts.

About the Farm Management Program:
Farm Management Program is part of the Division of Extension's Agriculture Institute and works with the agriculture community to develop research-based information, resources and tools that help inform decisions for profitable, healthy farm businesses. Agriculture is central to a prosperous Wisconsin, contributing over $100 billion annually to our state's economy and nearly 12% of our state's employment (providing over 435,000 jobs).

About this Position:
A robust farm labor workforce is essential to Wisconsin agriculture, and particularly critical for dairy and other labor-intensive ag industries. The Farm Labor Outreach Specialist position is designed to work with producers and agribusiness professionals to address challenges and incorporate research findings into outreach and education in workforce development/training and human resource management, that will help inform decisions for profitable, healthy farm businesses. The Farm Labor Outreach Specialist will help producers develop the skills needed to lead a safe and productive workplace culture, contributing to Wisconsin farm businesses' successful recruitment and retention of employees.

The Outreach specialist will:
-Collaborate with Extension colleagues and stakeholders to identify needs and develop and maintain robust, high-quality outreach education programs to find solutions to the most critical farm labor management issues facing Wisconsin producers.
-Develop and maintain specific expertise in farm management related to new and emerging human resource management and leadership challenges that present a risk and opportunity for farm businesses.
-Build trust-based relationships with individual and organizational stakeholders.
-Work with the Program Manager to facilitate programmatic efforts, maintain strategic direction, build partnerships, and seek a diverse funding portfolio to support the work.

The ideal candidate will have experience with developing and evaluating educational programming and a record of accomplishment of building positive relationships. The Division of Extension has a deep and profound commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity, believing that these values are foundational elements to eliminate disparities and expanding access for all. As Extension, we acknowledge the need for strategic and coordinated actions that help us form a more equitable, anti-racist, non- biased, and inclusive organization (https://blogs.extension.wisc.edu/oaic/call-to-action/). As such, all Extension employees are expected to foster and promote the values of diversity and inclusion.

• 25% Identifies, promotes, and maintains external partnerships to support the outreach program
• 20% Schedules and secures resources and communicates logistics in support of an outreach program
• 20% Delivers outreach program content and materials to community members
• 15% Researches, develops, and facilitates outreach program content and materials
• 10% Develops and evaluates curriculum and programs and provides recommendations for improvement
• 5% May assist with the monitoring of outreach program budget spending
• 5% Communicate plans, activities, and achievements to Program Manager, partners, and relevant stakeholders

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Required
Bachelor's Degree
preferred degree in the field of this position's focus.

Preferred
Master's Degree
preferred degree in a field related to this position's focus

Required:

- Three or more years relevant professional experience;
- Demonstrated skills in interpreting, utilizing, and applying evidence-based information and research findings;
- Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, both written and verbal, through a variety of technologies;
- Demonstrated ability to effectively work with people from different cultural backgrounds, including those associated with race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, socioeconomic status, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, and other aspects of human diversity.

Preferred:

- Experience working with farm/agricultural businesses human resource management and leadership, organizational development, occupational safety, agriculture economics or policy related to the position focus;
- Strong interpersonal relationship and problem-solving skills in a team setting;
- Demonstrated experience with building diverse, collaborative partnerships;
- Demonstrated ability to communicate scientific materials in written and verbal forms for a variety of lay and other audiences;
- Demonstrated ability to write grants and establish partnerships that pool or leverage public and private funds in support of the Institutional mission.

Full Time: 100%

This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Ongoing/Renewable

Minimum $65,000 ANNUAL (12 months)
Depending on Qualifications
Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and paid time off; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Benefits information can be found at (https://hr.wisc.edu/benefits/).

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

Division of Extension headquarters are located within Madison, WI, but the position location is flexible and will be determined based on programmatic needs, successful candidate's preferences, and availability of suitable space.

Occasional travel within the state of WI may be required. It is expected that employees will make individual arrangements for transportation adequate to meet position responsibilities and essential job functions. Information about UW-Madison Driver Authorization can be found at https://businessservices.wisc.edu/managing-risk/driver-authorization-and-insurance/driver-authorization/.

We are eager to learn more about how your experience and passion may align with this position. To begin the application process, click the "apply now" button. You will be prompted to upload the following documents:
-Resume
-Letter of Qualifications (cover letter)

Please submit a cover letter referring to your related work experience and a resume detailing your educational and professional background. Your cover letter should communicate your interest in the position and how your skillset aligns with the role. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine who may advance to preliminary interviews.

For additional guidance and resources on how to tailor your application materials to the job posting, please click https://extension.wisc.edu/careers/.

Trisha Wagner
trisha.wagner@wisc.edu
608-263-4176
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Outreach Specialist(OE009)

A47-EXTENSION/ANRCD/AGR/FARM/FARM MGMT

Academic Staff-Renewable

305497-AS