Produce Dept Assistant Manager
Produce Department Assistant Manager
Full-Time • Level 3 • $18–$22/hour, depending on experience
Do you want to know the farmers who grow our food by name and help bring the best of the season to your community’s table? If working with fruits and vegetables feels less like a job and more like a calling, we’d love to meet you.
Blue Hill Co-op is a community-owned natural foods cooperative serving the Blue Hill peninsula. Over the past nine years we’ve grown from under $3 million with 28 employees with 2026 sales projected at over $11 million with 85 employees. Our growth is rooted in a simple belief: that good food, sourced with integrity and grown close to home, builds a stronger local economy and a healthier community. Our produce department is the heart of that mission, and we’re looking for an Assistant Manager to help it thrive.
About the Role
As Produce Department Assistant Manager, you’ll work alongside the Produce Manager to keep our department vibrant, abundant, and unmistakably local. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who loves the work itself—the early-morning farm deliveries, the careful culling, the art of a display that makes people stop and reach for something fresh.
You’ll be a key partner in nurturing the relationships that make our produce special: the local and regional farmers and growers whose harvests fill our shelves through the seasons. When you help a small farm find a home for its crop, you’re helping build a resilient local food economy, and that’s the part of this job that matters most.
What You’ll Do
- Partner with the Produce Manager on ordering, receiving, and inventory to keep the department full, fresh, and seasonally responsive
- Build and maintain warm, dependable relationships with local and regional farmers and growers
- Create abundant, appealing displays that celebrate the season and tell the story of where our food comes from
- Uphold rigorous standards for quality, freshness, rotation, and food safety
- Help train, support, and schedule produce staff, fostering a positive and collaborative team culture
- Manage department operations in the Produce Manager’s absence, including opening and closing duties
- Connect with member-owners and customers, answering questions and sharing your enthusiasm for what’s in season
- Contribute to pricing, signage, and merchandising that balances value for shoppers with fairness to our farmers
- A genuine passion for fresh fruits and vegetables and a love of local food
- Prior grocery, produce, farm, or food-service experience (produce experience strongly preferred)
- Some leadership, supervisory, or team-coordination experience, or clear readiness to grow into it
- Prior experience managing inventory through a POS database is a plus
- An eye for quality and detail, and the stamina for physical, fast-paced work
- Reliability, a strong work ethic, and a collaborative spirit
- Comfort with early mornings, weekends, and the rhythms of a seasonal department
- Ability to lift up to 50 lbs and stand, bend, and move throughout your shift
- A belief in cooperative values and in the role good food plays in a thriving community
- Competitive pay of $18–$22/hour based on experience, within a transparent level-based wage structure
- A meaningful staff discount on the food you love
- A supportive, mission-driven workplace that values equity, belonging, and respect
- The chance to do work that strengthens local farms and the food economy of the Blue Hill peninsula
- Room to grow your skills and your career within the cooperative
What We’re Looking For
What We Offer
How to Apply
Send a resume and a short note telling us why local food matters to you to [email protected], stop by the Co-op to pick up an application, or submit your application and resume on our jobs page:
We can’t wait to hear what you’d bring to our produce department.
Blue Hill Co-op is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building a safe, equitable, and respectful workplace that values equity, belonging, inclusivity, and accessibility for all staff and stakeholders.
