🌎 Ecological Landscape Worker @ SymbiOp Landscaping, Worker-owned

Portland OR

Description

SymbiOp Landscaping is seeking an Experienced Part-time Ecological Landscape Worker to join our worker-owned cooperative at around 16-32 hours per week. You will be a part of a landscape crew doing various landscape installation and maintenance projects, under the guidance of our landscape leads and designers. This position will be paid at $17-21 per hour depending on experience. We offer health insurance, paid time off, and retirement account after 90 days. There will be opportunities to be promoted to full-time or lead positions in the future. We are looking to fill this position in the next 4-12 weeks. SymbiOp’s mission is to create landscapes that are good for the people and the planet. We specialize in regenerative ecological landscapes that reverse climate change, restore habitats/wildlife, produce food, and are low maintenance. Ultimately, we want to transform all urban and rural landscapes into food forests and/or native landscapes. We also have a native plant nursery (SymbiOp Garden Shop) that’s mostly separate from the landscaping business. SymbiOp became a worker cooperative at the beginning of 2020 and has been growing steadily ever since. Feel free to read more about us on website - SymbiOp.com The candidate must have: • At least 1 year of professional landscaping and hardscaping experience, or equivalent. • Knowledge of proper landscaping techniques, pruning, planting, mulching, etc. • Proficiency in common hand tools and power tools. • Ability to lift 50lbs regularly and safely. And sometimes 70lbs, but rarely. • Comfortable driving a loaded pickup truck. • Ability to designate 2-3 days open for work per week for part-time, and 4-5 days per week for full-time. And notify the coordinator when your schedule changes. A work day is rarely more than 8 hours. • Willingness to cover someone else’s shift sometimes due to emergency. • Willingness to do intensive labor in the heat, cold, rain, and other uncomfortable weather conditions. We will call off work before the weather conditions get to dangerous levels. • Attention to details. Client centric. • Willingness to balance collective needs as much as individual needs • Proactive and compassionate communication. • Ability to adapt to unpredictable and fast-changing work requirements. (As a new business it’s nearly impossible to provide a completely stable and stress-free work environment, as much as we strive to do so.) • Eagerness to learn new things. • Don’t plan vacations during our busy seasons (Springs and Falls). • Enjoy landscaping work and don’t see a career change in the foreseeable future (at least 5 years). • Alignment with our SymbiOp’s mission and values. • We don’t care if you don't have a degree. • You must attend mandatory all staff meetings on the 1st Tuesday of the month. Attending weekly coordination meetings is optional but encouraged. All meetings and training sessions are paid at $15 per hour for everyone. • You must attend other mandatory meetings and training as they come up or as needed. Good to have one or more of these, but not required: • Knowledge of plants that can be used in native landscapes and/or food forests in the Pacific Northwest. • Knowledge of regenerative / ecological / indigenous / permaculture practices. • Experience in carpentry, i.e. building fences, arbors, garden beds, etc. • Experience in large tree pruning and removal (taller than 20ft). • Skills in cooperative participation such as group decision process, conflict resolution, facilitation, non-violent communication, etc. • Experience founding and operating a new business from the ground up. • Past experience that reflects a commitment to mission and values similar to SymbiOp’s. An intro to what it means for us to be a worker-owned cooperative: • We have a comprehensive value system that informs our ecological practices and equity & inclusion practices. • Please read our value system on our website before applying • Please also read our intro article on our regenerative practice before applying • Being a worker-owner comes with added perks and responsibilities, financially, physically, and emotionally. • The worker-owners meet at least once a year to vote on long-term issues facing the cooperative such as governing structure, wage structure and benefits, profit sharing, bylaws, future vision and expansions, etc. • The worker-owners also elect executive team members who make decisions on business operations on a day-to-day basis. • Each worker-owner has equal voice and equal voting power. We do our best to reach consensus on as many large decisions as possible. • Any worker is eligible to become a worker-owner of the cooperative after going through required training and working at least 2000 hours or a year, whichever is longer. There's also a financial buy-in which we will elaborate during the interview. • The existing worker-owners will approve new worker-owners based on criteria such as work performance, long-term commitment, and alignment of mission and values, etc. • The cooperative reserves the right to terminate a worker if they don’t intend to become a worker-owner, or fail to meet the worker-owner criteria at the end of the 2000 hours or 1 year. This is to ensure that eventually, most workers are committed owners. • You will not have these perks and responsibilities until you become a worker-owner. Our company culture that you can expect: • Our workers have 10+ years of experience cultivating ecological landscapes, and even more years of experience with plant care in general. We come from a multitude of identities and backgrounds.You can learn more about the workers on our website symbiop.com/about • A friendly and caring work environment. Many of our workers also hangout outside of work when they can. • Everyone is accountable for their mistakes, willing to receive feedback, and striving to improve. • Regular check-ins and open communication with your leads, supervisors, and likely your teammates too. • Seasonal reviews of your performance, also where you can give feedback to the company. • While we value the input of our most experienced and skilled workers, we also value the input of our entry-level workers too, even if you are not a worker-owner yet. We have a very collaborative culture. • All workers enjoy a hefty employee discount when shopping at the SymbiOp Garden Shop. Your next steps: Send us an email with the subject “Landscape Worker for Hire”. Please tell us why you want to work with us, when you can start, how many hours you can work per week, days and times that you definitely cannot work, and any upcoming vacation in the next 12 months. Please also attach your resume and at least 2 relevant professional references. Based on your email, we may schedule a phone and/or an in-person interview with you in 2-4 weeks. Thank you for your time! License #9913