Hub Officer

Hours: 22.5 hours / week (3 days / week)

Contract: Part-time, fixed-term until 31st March 2027

Location: We are offering 2 posts, one in Newtown, Powys and one in South Powys / Hybrid / Remote (with regional travel across Powys). Please specify if you are applying for the Newtown or South Powys role.

About the Project & Lead Organisation

Bwyd Powys Food (hosted by Cultivate) serves as the lead administrative organisation for the Dyfed Powys Civil Food Resilience Project (Phase 2). This collaborative regional initiative unites all four Local Food Partnerships (LFPs) across the region—Bwyd Powys Food, Bwyd Sir Gâr Food Partnership, Partneriaeth Bwyd Ceredigion, and Pembrokeshire Food Partnership.

Phase 2 focuses on scaling up civil preparedness and literacy regarding food system shocks, co-producing household and community toolkits, and expanding machinery rings and shared processing capacity for local producers.

Workstream 1 (Scaling Up Awareness & Governance): Co-creating bilingual food resilience toolkits, conducting scenario testing workshops and engaging households, community groups, food businesses, and public bodies. to embed food security into emergency planning.

Workstream 2 (Strengthening Local Food Systems): Supporting the expansion of regional machinery rings, facilitating farm diversification, building direct supply chain connections, and promoting grower training initiatives.

Job Description

The Hub Officer provides essential operational, technical, and compliance support to the regional Project Officer. This role ensures the practical infrastructure, machinery ring operations, health and safety, and environmental health frameworks run smoothly on the ground.

By balancing day-to-day machinery ring management with technical support for food hub standards and producer signposting, the postholder empowers local growers to scale up production, transition into shorter supply chains, and meet local market demand safely and effectively.

Key Responsibilities

1. Machinery Ring Operations & Health & Safety Management

• Equipment & System Management: Maintain and update the online borrowing platform (myTurn), handling booking requests, tracking equipment usage, and maintaining accurate member accounts.
• Health & Safety Risk Assessments: Write, review, and maintain robust Health & Safety (H&S) risk assessments, safe operating protocols, and user workflows for all machinery ring equipment and operations.
• Producer Engagement & Onboarding: Facilitate collaborative input sessions with local growers to align equipment procurement with user needs, assist in onboarding new members, and organise familiarisation and safety training on market garden or field-scale setups.
• Machinery Ring Metrics: Work with the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer to develop baseline datasets and tracking mechanisms for the machinery rings, (including tracking metrics).
• Financial & Administrative Support: Monitor operational costs, track usage frequency, and implement user charge models to ensure ongoing sustainability. Maintain service records and user account documentation.
• Maintenance & Safety Oversight: Establish regular maintenance schedules based on usage hours, liaise with local service providers, and manage user competency sign-offs.

2. Supply Chain & Environmental Health Support

• Environmental Health Compliance Support: Support local food hubs with Environmental Health compliance, helping write food safety risk assessments, hazard analyses, and hygiene procedures for safe produce handling, storage, and distribution.
• Operational Food Hub Assistance: Support the Project Officer in delivering market integration activities by providing practical assistance to local food hubs, community food networks, and distribution facilities.
• Producer Business & Scale-Up Support: Assist local farmers and horticultural growers with practical business planning, diversification, and scaling up production capacity.
• Market Signposting & Outreach: Support the Project Officer by signposting growers toward new market opportunities and representing the Machinery Ring at farming events, conferences, and training sessions.

Person Specification (E = Essential, P = Preferred)

• Familiarity with agricultural or horticultural machinery and shared equipment operations (E)
• Proven ability to write, implement, and monitor Health & Safety (H&S) risk assessments for machinery and practical operational environments (E)
• Knowledge of Environmental Health standards, food safety regulations, and risk management relevant to food hubs, storage, and short supply chain infrastructure (P)
• Understanding of short food supply chains, regional food hubs, and local agricultural systems (E)
• Experience in supporting growers/farmers with business planning, diversification, or upscaling (P)
• Experience supporting project leads, administrative coordination, or multi-partner project delivery (P)
• Strong organisational skills with proficiency in spreadsheets, online borrowing databases (e.g., myTurn), and record-keeping (E)
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to build trust and relationships with farmers, food hubs, inspectors, and sector stakeholders (E)
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively as a supportive team member within a regional project structure (E)
• Commitment to collaborative farming practices, civil food resilience, and equal opportunities (E)
• Valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle for business travel across Powys (E)
• Ability to speak, read, and write in Welsh (P)

Closing Date: 6th September 2026

Interview Dates: w/c 14th September 2026