Leader of Culture and Processes

Semillero de Ideas is a lean, non-profit start-up that centers farmworkers as the drivers of much-needed innovation in agriculture. Our operations are currently rooted in the farmworker communities of Eastern Washington, although we are quickly expanding to agricultural producing areas across the US and Mexico.

There is nothing more important in our organization than the talented, creative women and men who form the backbone of our full-time staff. They represent a diverse set of expertise and lived experiences. Working together as peers, the team takes responsibility for designing and implementing our program. We embrace the concept of power with rather than power over, meaning that rather than those with higher hierarchical positions in the organization telling those with less authority what and how to do their jobs, we engage each other as content experts. This is not simply an ideological position, we recognize that none of us alone has the answers and that our best chance to effectively and impactfully move our work forward is when we work together. Together, the team iterates new interventions to move Semillero de Ideas’ work forward. Directly related is embracing failure as an important tool for learning. A key aspect of our culture is learning from failure rather than it being the trigger for disciplinary action.

We are an organization which aspires to have as few layers of hierarchy as possible, driving decision making, spending authority and accountability as close to those doing the work to the greatest degree feasible. 

We recognize that this approach is radically different from many other organizations; new staff who’ve joined Semillero have shared that they’ve had to rewire how they work. The successful candidate for this position will receive support and coaching at the start of their tenure to enable them to succeed in a flat organization.  Once onboarding is complete, this position will provide ongoing coaching and mentoring to both existing and new staff to continue to build and develop our internal culture of iteration, testing and learning.  

This is a senior position that will lead the development and implementation of an internal structure that fuels the creativity, vision and mission of Semillero de Ideas as it grows and expands across the western United States and Mexico. This position will make sure we have the processes needed not only to ensure compliance with funder expectations and legal obligations, but also to ensure that these processes increase staff’s ability to effectively and impactfully execute their work.  The Leader of Culture and Processes will work closely with  farmworkers, key stakeholders, senior and junior staff members and the board to ensure our systems continue to support rather than hinder innovation and creativity.