Production Operator/Coordinator

About Rust Belt Riders

Rust Belt Riders is a worker owned cooperative dedicated to the health of the environment and of its employees. Our mission is to “Feed People, Not Landfills”. We do this by providing businesses, organizations and individuals an alternative to the landfill for their food waste. We believe in creating and operating within a circular economy and actively practice workplace democracy. How we do the work is equally important to what we do.

Job Description
Lorain & Cleveland, OH – Soil Production Coordinator and Operator

The soil production team seeks candidates for a role split between manual labor and administrative support, including the responsibilities of Production Operator and Production Coordinator. This role will require being able to perform manual labor outdoors in most weather conditions, willingness to be trained to operate heavy equipment, and high capacity for task and project management, organization, communication, and team leadership.

In the production operator capacity, this role includes working with our team of operators to blend, bag, and ship our living organic potting soils. This position is located at our production site in Lorain, Ohio, with the intention to relocate to Cleveland in 2025.

In the coordinator capacity, this role includes working with our sales team to create the production schedule, implement improved manufacturing systems, ensure orders are fulfilled, managing inventory and supply chains, and improving inventory and finished product management systems.

The job will start with learning the basics of the operator position, with coordination responsibilities being added moving forward.

Responsibilities
Production operator:

• Blend soils, package soils, ship finished inventory, and receive ingredients inventory as needed in conjunction with the rest of the production team.
• Record production data as needed.

Production coordinator:

• Work with the sales team to understand the sales projections and develop a production plan that will meet the forecasted level of demand.
•  Plan all production staffing to fill orders sufficiently and have sufficient time for regular equipment maintenance, site maintenance, and record-keeping.
•  Maintain sufficient raw ingredient inventory levels to execute production plan.
• Accountable for making sure that all orders are completed to the correct quality standard and ready on time.
• Be a point of contact to trouble-shoot order fulfillment day-to-day.
• Work with the sales team to schedule order fulfillment dates.
  Communicate inventory availability with the sales team.
• Work with the Site Transition working group to plan for moving operations and establishing them at a new site.
• Create systems for integrating team feedback into process improvement.
• Implement process improvement to increase efficiency and improve working conditions.
• Work with the team lead to prioritize production activities, respond to unexpected situations as they arise, and remain within budget for the department.

Cooperative team member general responsibilities

• Noticing issues as they arise in your role, and bringing them to regular meetings, including interpersonal tensions arising from daily work
• Attending all Production team meetings.
• Digesting meeting proceedings by capturing the next actions and projects that belong to you and integrating them into your personal tracking systems.
• Tracking projects and tasks regularly including prioritizing projects in alignment with their teams strategic initiatives.
• Identifying misalignments between any fellow team member and the roles they are filling, communicating those to the team lead, or initiating an election process to support role-fulfillment.
• Conducting role & accountability scrubs regularly and bringing forward changes to meetings.
• Acting beyond your role when necessary to support the health and efficiency of the department, tracking those occurrences, and bringing them back to the standard meeting practice of the team for processing into further clarity for the team

Requirements

• Ability to lift 50+pounds repeatedly
• Willingness to learn how to operate heavy equipment and vehicles, such as front loaders, skid steers, bagging machines, and trommel screeners.
• A demonstrated ability to organize a manufacturing schedule.
• Raw material and finished product inventory management skills.
• Strong commitment to safety of self and others.
• Willing and able to work outdoors in all elements (rain, heat, cold, etc.)
• Excellent communication skills.
• Ability to be flexible and self-manage.

Desired qualifications

• Experience working in cooperative or collaborative organizations.
• Proficiency in Google Sheets.
• Interest in growing with the department and taking on other responsibilities to support the function of the team.
• Previous experience in a leadership or management position.

Please consider the following in applying to a position at a cooperative:
In a small company organized the way we are, the traditional employer-employee relationship is replaced with a partnership. This means that:

• You cannot expect the same kind of top-down service, support, and infrastructure as you would in a large organization. Rather, you will have the chance to share tensions with your team, and work through them together, finding solutions that accommodate a wider-range of input.
• You are regarded as someone who is really important in terms of how our company is doing, not just as someone who comes in and does their job.
• You will have more responsibility for the whole picture, and you will also be able to have a greater impact than in a larger organization if you choose to take that on.
• The company’s financials are fully transparent, the correlation between your work and our financial success will be a more immediate presence in your work-life.
• You will be required to contribute and take initiative. You will have to adapt to the fact that not everything will be in place, taken care of, or running perfectly.
• To work in this way, open and straightforward communication is essential. This is a strong part of our culture.
• These are the realities that come with working at a co-op as opposed to more typical workplaces, and they’re all worth it.  We’re excited to invite others to practice workplace democracy with us and share in learning how to do it well!

Benefits

• Worker Ownership: All jobs accumulate hours towards worker ownership eligibility.
• Generous PTO policy.
• Health and Dental Benefits for employees working 30+ hours per week.
• Opportunities for Worker-Ownership.
• Be a part of a team where your voice & perspective is taken into account daily.
• Being treated as an individual with unique needs.
• Achieve a healthy level of exercise while working.
• Opportunity for growth and increased opportunities within a startup environment.
• Free and discounted RBR service & swag.

Job Information

• Work experience:   General Labor, and office management skills
• Industry:   Manufacturing
• Salary:   $22/hr
• Worker Ownership Eligibility: Accumulate hours towards worker ownership eligibility.
• Location: Lorain, Ohio & Cleveland, Ohio
• Position: 30+ hours per week

Interested?

Email your resume and/or interest letter to patrick@RustBeltRiders.com using “Soil Team Member” as the subject line.