About Square Roots

Square Roots is the technology leader in indoor farming. Our mission is to future-proof agriculture for a world facing climate change.

Founded by serial entrepreneurs, Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, Square Roots partners with food distributors, retailers, consumer goods producers, and foundations. Our farming-as-a-service model combines proprietary technology, indoor growing expertise, and production facilities, to deliver bespoke value to our customers in the short-term while contributing to climate change solutions for the long term.

About the Role

The Apprentice Grower role is the first step in a career path in indoor farming at Square Roots. Apprentices join as full-time employees from day one, and start by learning indoor farming and production fundamentals before growing increasingly autonomous and becoming eligible, based on performance, to move into a permanent Associate Grower position on our farm team.

This role will be part of our team that grows food for our customers in Food Service, who are providing healthy greens to their customers across industries like healthcare, hospitality, and higher education.

On your first day at Square Roots, you will get ramped up on Square Roots basics—our mission, company goals, how to use business communication tools like Slack and Google calendar, and more. Your first few weeks are then spent in an intensive farm-learning period, where you’ll be immersed in production farming basics through hands-on training and mentorship. You will then work under close supervision by experienced farmers, and then gradually more independently. You’ll be assessed periodically to get the feedback and support you need to help you succeed.

Competitive hourly pay with eligibility for overtime. Eligible for growth and upward mobility in your first year. As a full-time employee, you will also be eligible for 100% covered medical, dental, and vision benefits and equity in Square Roots.

You will:

• Participate in an intensive indoor farming training period during your first few weeks while you learn basic farm tasks and production.

• Perform the work of growing food, to include seeding, transplanting, harvesting, and packaging, adhering to production schedule, all while maintaining Square Roots' strict food safety and quality control standards, and adhering to safety protocols.

• Maintain farm hardware and systems, including conducting regular checks to ensure farms are in good working order, cleaning, sanitizing, stocking farms with inventory and assist with pest scouting and beneficial insect application.

• Generate and enter farm data, utilizing Square Roots' proprietary software, forms, spreadsheets, and other data management tools; regularly review and learn to analyze data to spot issues and report on trends.

• Participate in communications related to yield targets and production work across the farm team and to other departments as needed.

You have experience with:

• Growing food in some capacity (on your own, in a community space, or—bonus!—in a commercial farming environment)

• Working a repetitive, physically demanding job, possibly in the food or service industry

• At least 1-2 years' general work experience (you know how to show up and be a great employee!)

You are:

• Passionate about real, local food

• Interested in indoor hydroponic farming (maybe you've done your own research, taken courses, or even have a little hands-on experience)

• Interested in indoor farming as a career path

• Dedicated, resilient, and up for hard work; farming is a lifestyle!

• A collaborative and respectful team player with a “no task too small” attitude

• Comfortable with a fast-changing, constantly evolving startup environment

• A clear, thorough communicator who prioritizes keeping your team and manager informed

• A motivated self-starter, with an optimistic and proactive attitude

• Methodical & detail-oriented - you understand the importance of adhering to established guidelines

• Comfortable with and physically capable of working inside small spaces (we farm in shipping containers!)

• Local to our Grand Rapids campus

• Available to work 40 hours a week, generally on weekdays

• Able to lift 40 lbs and stand for 6-8 hrs

• Proficient in using modern technology and productivity tools such as Gmail, Google Drive, Slack, and other collaborative platforms for communication, file sharing, and task management.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Competitive hourly pay rate: we are committed to paying a living wage to our employees!

• Benefits: Access to high quality medical, dental, and vision plans, with employee premiums fully covered by Square Roots

• Generous paid time off