Food Co Jobs (NOW HIRING)

General Manager

The Food Co-op of Port Townsend – Port Townsend, WA
Retained Search Partner: The Carlisle Group

The Carlisle Group is pleased to be partnered on a retained search with The Food Co-op of Port Townsend, WA in the search for their next General Manager.

The Food Co op—one of the original grassroots co ops founded in 1972—remains a cornerstone of the community. The store, approx.16,000 sf with 10,000sf of retail space and three additional building is sited in the heart of the community, in a unique location close to Townsend Bay. With 7,500 members in a town of 10,000, and 88% of our $25 million in annual revenue coming from member sales, the Co op is woven into daily life.

Our mission, working together to nourish our community, guides everything we do. Our 110 staff strive to uphold our values of respect, inclusion, participation, integrity, stewardship, love, and resilience, creating a place where people feel connected and proud to belong. The result is a values driven organization that is financially resilient and ready for the next General Manager.

Living in Port Townsend means being surrounded by beauty, creativity, and a deep sense of community. Victorian architecture, a walkable downtown, and easy access to beaches, forests, and mountains create a lifestyle that feels both inspiring and grounded. Thanks to the Olympic rain shadow, we enjoy moderate weather and year round access to the outdoors.

Job Purpose

To lead our cooperative so that it achieves the mission and ends policies determined by our board of directors:

Mission Statement: “Working together to nourish our community”.

Ends Policies: The general manager strives to provide these benefits to our member-owners and community while operating a strong grocery store:

• Strengthen and advocate for our local food system, with a vibrant culture of appreciation and support for local farms and producers.
• Treat people well, increasing equity and access by providing a safe, welcoming, and educational environment.
• Treat the planet well, by modeling environmental stewardship and regularly sharing our accomplishments and challenges with member-owners

Overview of Responsibilities

The job of the general manager is to ensure achievement of organizational results as defined in ends policies and to avoid unacceptable conditions as defined in executive limitation policies. The general manager has the authority to use any reasonable interpretation of these policies.

The general manager is empowered to make all decisions, create all policies, and authorize all engagements that they or they can demonstrate to be consistent with a reasonable interpretation of board policy as provided for in board/general manager relations policies.

The general manager’s performance will be evaluated through systematic and rigorous monitoring of expectations established in policies on asset protection, financial conditions, business planning and financial budgeting, staff treatment and compensation, treatment of consumers, membership equity and benefits, communication and support to the board, board logistical support, and emergency management succession.

A full set of the board’s policies is available upon request.

Reporting Relationships

The general manager reports to the board of directors, which is elected by the members of the cooperative. The board uses Policy Governance, a system that emphasizes vision and values empowerment and accountability. The board uses policy to define the results the general manager is expected to achieve within defined limits of prudence and ethics. The general manager has the authority to hire, direct, structure, and evaluate all other staff.

Qualifications

The board of directors is looking for the following competencies, skills, experience and attributes:

1. Accountability for self: Willing to be held accountable. Listens to feedback without defensiveness. Takes ownership and accepts responsibility for actions, decisions and impacts.
2. Anti-oppression: Advocates for and develops practices that cultivate diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout and on behalf of the co-op. Demonstrates commitment to anti-oppression and anti-racism throughout the co-op and cooperative community.
3. Building and leading teams: Effectively facilitates the formation of teams by creating a climate of trust, encouraging information sharing, active collaboration, and teamwork.
4. Business planning: Takes vision and strategies and turns them into operational plan(s) aligned to Ends/mission, vision and values.
5. Change management: Effectively implements organizational and business changes through thoughtful planning, engaging stakeholders in strategizing, communicating the vision, and measuring success.
6. Courage: Demonstrates resolve in the face of challenges. Willing to make unpopular decisions when needed, and to have difficult discussions with people impacted. Willing to take on appropriate risk for the betterment of the organization.
7. Discretion: Accurately assesses when to share information and when to keep information private.
8. Embraces cooperative business model: Expresses values aligned with co-op values. Articulates what makes co-ops unique, understands the importance of transparency throughout the organization.
9. Financial management: Knows meaning of financial variables, how to find them, and how to place them in business context. Creates and uses meaningful business and financial reports. Creates, and manages to, operating, capital, and cash budgets. Knows how to adjust key operational variables to respond to negative trends.
10. Managing people: Has experience of managing managers. Makes good hiring decisions. Inspires people to do their best through performance feedback, recognition, timely coaching and guidance, and appropriate delegation of work.
11. Relationship building with the board: Understands the need to build trust and a healthy working relationship with information-sharing and transparency. Sees the GM and board as filling different roles but working on the same team.
12. Retail grocery experience: As at least a store or operations manager. Familiar with how stores operate to meet goals, understands key metrics. Knows enough about administrative departments to effectively manage them.
13. Strategic thinking: Thinks conceptually, imaginatively and systematically about the success of the co-op, while considering the big picture and the long term.

This is a unique opportunity to lead a mission-driven, financially resilient, community-owned grocery in one of the most beautiful and engaged small towns in the Pacific Northwest.

Interested candidates should contact Brett Myers, Managing Director of The Carlisle Group, for more information regarding this retained search at bcm@tcgrecruit.com.