Business Administrator

Outstanding in the Field; Mount Vernon, Northern (WA, KY); Hybrid; USD 44,000 - 47,000; Full time

Job summary

Viva Farms is a non-profit Farm Business Incubator and Training Program dedicated to creating a just and resilient local food system. The Business Administrator will oversee bookkeeping, HR operations, and grant management, ensuring smooth day-to-day administration and accurate financial reporting.

Ideal candidates will have 3–5 years of bookkeeping experience, strong organizational skills, and proficiency with QuickBooks, Google Suite, Excel, and MS Office.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of bookkeeping experience.
• Experience managing business and HR operations for a similar-sized organization.
• Fluency in Spanish is highly preferred; English required.

Responsibilities

• Bookkeeping, budgeting and financial reporting, including AR/AP and payroll support.
• HR administration, onboarding, benefits, timesheets and staff reviews.
• Grant management, reporting, and general administrative tasks.

Skills

Organizational skills

Multitasking

Communication skills

Team player

Problem solving

Tools

QuickBooks

Google Suite

MS Office

Excel

Job description

Viva Farms is a non-profit Farm Business Incubator and Training Program with a mission to create a more just and resilient local food system. We empower beginning and limited-resource farmers by providing bilingual training in holistic organic farming practices, as well as access to land, infrastructure, equipment, marketing and capital.

Viva Farms is committed to maintaining a welcoming, respectful, and inclusive environment for its diverse community of farmers, staff, students, volunteers, and partners. Viva Farms provides equal opportunity for its programs and activities and does not discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, pregnancy, disability, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or any other status or condition protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds.

Under the direction of the Deputy Director, the Business Administrator is responsible for developing and implementing business management and human resource operations for Viva Farms. The Business Administrator will execute administrative activities to ensure that the organization runs efficiently, including regularly scheduled administrative and HR activities, as well as developing improved systems for productivity. The successful candidate will facilitate HR activities including new employee on-boarding and familiarization with company policies and procedures, as well as assisting existing employees with human-resource related issues, including employee time‑keeping, payroll and employee benefit programs. This position will also conduct regular bookkeeping activities, including monitoring of Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Deposits, Bank Reconciliation, and the creation and analysis of reports and financial statements to facilitate business operations and grant management activities. The Business Administrator will play a key role in devising and implementing improved systems and standard operating procedures across the organization, in partnership with key staff.

The ideal candidate for this position has excellent organizational and multitasking skills, analytical proclivity, a keen interest in developing and improving administrative systems, a great sense of humor, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and is open to feedback and flexible to the needs of the organization. Fluency in Spanish is highly preferred, but not required.

Essential Responsibilities

1. Bookkeeping, Budgeting and Business Analysis (70%)

• Conduct tasks associated with Accounts Receivable, including monitoring outstanding invoices, generating monthly invoices and receiving payments from customers.
• Conduct tasks associated with Accounts Payable, including entering bills and properly accounting for expenses through monthly expense reports and bank reconciliation.
• Provide support for and conduct tasks associated with creating grant budgets, grant invoicing and financial reporting, and other fundraising-associated accounting.
• Conduct basic accounting functions in accordance with good accounting practices and develop and improve upon existing systems.
• Prepare financial statements and reports and perform basic financial analysis.
• Prepare and reconcile monthly employee expense reports and reconcile in Quickbooks.
• Develop and implement improved systems for project management in Quickbooks, including participating in the management of project and grant budgets.
• Ensure timely payment of quarterly taxes and working with an external accounting firm for annual financial audits and completion of 990 forms.

2. Human Resources Management (15%)

• Administer human resources support to Viva Farms staff, such as discussing timesheets, PTO balances, benefits, withholdings, and supporting employee performance reviews and evaluation.
• Onboard new employees and familiarize staff with updates to employment policies and procedures, as well as regulatory changes affecting employment.
• Manage timesheet software (T-Sheets) execution together with employees and generate reports in support of grant management activities.
• Conduct payroll execution of wages, payroll taxes, WA State insurance programs and employee benefit programs.
• Participate in monitoring and implementation of changes to employee benefit programs and assist employees with inquiries regarding their benefits.
• Organize and support employee Annual Review processes.
• Develop and implement improved HR systems, such as employee tracking databases, training programs, and background/driving records monitoring.

3. Grant Management / Other Administrative Tasks (15%)

• Coordinate with and assist Development Team with regular grant billing, including data entry, data analysis and reconciliation, syncing grant data with accounting software, and creating grant billing invoices.
• Conduct a variety of administrative, research and project management tasks in a timely and thorough manner, including filing non profit status, charitable status and business licenses renewals.
• General office management, including maintaining office supplies and company property inventory in use by employees, software acquisition, maintaining inventories of office supplies and basic tech support.
• Manage existing vendor accounts and systems, including telecommunications, waste management, email accounts and others.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Preferred Qualifications

1. Demonstrated commitment to the mission of Viva Farms and passion for providing high-level administrative and organizational support in service of the organization’s goals.

2. 3-5 years of bookkeeping experience, and managing business and HR operations for a similar-sized organization.

3. Be a positive and flexible team player and be able to maintain a positive demeanor in a fast-paced environment. Demonstrates reliability, maturity, initiative, creativity, discipline, and commitment.

4. Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Self-motivated to identify opportunities for improvement in systems and processes and to devise a plan for implementation.

5. Superb organizational skills and a strong desire to ensure operations run smoothly; attentive to details and conscientious of adhering to deadlines and deliverables.

6. Ability to multitask and self-manage to effectively meet deadlines.

7. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with demonstrated success in supporting a team.

8. Experience with Quickbooks, Google Suite, MS Office, particularly Excel, and other productivity software, as well as internet research.

9. Proficiency in written and spoken Spanish is highly preferred; fluency in English required. I

Compensation

this position is: hourly, varies DOE, $32.00 - $34.00