Farm Account Manager

Position summary:  
The Farm Account Manager is responsible for management and oversight of American Humane Certified (AHC) under American Humane’s Farm Program.  This includes coordination and scheduling of physical audits, field data collection, following up on corrective action measures, ensuring that billing and certifications are up-to-date, and cultivation, development, and retention of producers/processors. 

The Farm Account Manager provides field support for AHC to producers and others in the food-chain industry and work with the Farm team on the AHC farm animal welfare standards and their implementation in the field.  This position also coordinates Farm Program attendance at industry meetings and assists with development, maintenance, and implementation of Farm communications materials as well as the Farm audit database. As part of the Farm Program the Manager seeks to educate farmers/ranchers as well as retailers on the value of third-party certification of animal welfare practices and to educate the agricultural industry and the public about the benefits and importance of animal welfare and humanely raised food. 

Responsibilities:

• Execute the current American Humane Certified Standards and communicate with American Humane Certified producers/processors regularly
• Meet with and cultivate producers/processors with the end result of their signing agreements and becoming part of American Humane Certified Program
• Maintain agreements with producers and processors and manage updates to these documents as needed
• Oversee and manage producer registration, auditing processes, data collection for online reporting and systematic tracking, and producer process improvement concerning AHC standards
• Educate and assist producers/processors in effectively using the online Producer site and other web-based tools to track and record audits, and certification process
• Administration of multiple Producer accounts through the certification process and revenue tracking/recording in coordination with the Farm team
• Meet with producers/processors and advisory scientists
• Coordinate with contractors responsible for audits and re-inspection audits and shadow a representative sample of audits
• Represent AHC at scientific meetings and workshops on animal welfare and farm animal audit issues
• Write reports, memos, and correspondence in response to questions regarding the American Humane Certified program and standards
• Prepare and communicate technical information to internal and external stakeholders
• Systematically track multiple producer accounts and their related activity with AHC
• Provides stories, data and content for use on website, appeals, funding proposals, projects and general public information
• Monitors national and international farm animal health and welfare trends as well as legislative and regulatory activity and keeps senior management updated on emerging issues

Essential experience, knowledge, skills and abilities:
Diversity of experience in some or all of the following fields: agricultural animal health and welfare, agriculture industry (including allied groups), food supply chain, marketing and sales, government (state or national), agricultural engineering, principles and practices associated with animal welfare including animal husbandry, humane education and employee training.

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related field
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; active listening
• Adept at building collaborative relationships and demonstrating diplomacy with diverse constituencies, including farmers/ranchers, trade organizations, retailers, food services and academics
• Demonstrated ability to provide effective and timely decisions
• Ability to work collaboratively and to uphold the tenets of the program
• Takes a collaborative and proactive approach in addressing program needs
• Possesses client service attitude and ability to think on feet as well as maintain positive demeanor at all times
• Exhibits sound judgement, discretion, and professionalism
• Adept at quickly learning new software and technologies
• Demonstrated proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

Direct reports:  

• None

Physical demands and work environment: 

• Position may be remotely based with strong preference for location within easy driving distance of an airport.  Remote and telework requirements based on organizational policy and manager discretion
• Extensive travel, including outside of regular office hours, nights & weekends, often to remote locations
• Exposure to barns with intensive animal production
• Exposure to bio secure environments, requiring donning of protective gear
• Occasional lifting of boxes weighing more than 25 pounds
• While performing the duties of this position, the employee will be regularly required to:
  • Sit for extended periods
  • Look at and work off of a computer screen for extended periods
  • Talk, hear, and exchange information over the telephone and in person