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Do you have a passion for connecting farms and agricultural producers to local food systems? Would you like to help the State of Maine achieve its goal of increasing the consumption of locally sourced food and food products grown in Maine? If so, this job may be your future!
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CONSERVATION & FORESTRYSENIOR PLANNER(MARKET DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR)Opening Date: September 17, 2026
Closing Date: End of the day October 09, 2026
Location: Augusta
Position Number: 200025276
Position Type: Permanent Full Time/Year-Round
Class Code: 0603
Grade: 25 (Professional/Technical Unit)
Salary: $54,412.80 - $76,315.20 Per Year
Interested applicants need to submit a Direct Hire Application, along with a Cover Letter, and a detailed Resume* *For us to properly determine if you meet the minimum qualifications for any posting, you must be sure your resume includes the month and year for any relevant experience listed. Your resume should include the duties and responsibilities associated with each position. Any experience that was not full-time employment should be identified as such.
AGENCY DESCRIPTION: The Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) is recruiting to fill a full-time Institutional Market Development Coordinator (Senior Planner) position with the Division of Agricultural Resource Development at its Augusta headquarters. Remote work options are available subject to management approval.
BRIEF JOB DECRIPTION: The person in this position plays a meaningful role in Maine's local food systems. This position requires experience in market development and market access for agricultural and value-added food businesses, particularly in product, market, and business development; marketing, branding, and promotions; supply chain coordination; and/or local food and beverage distribution or procurement.
This position involves researching, designing, implementing, and evaluating effective resources to support market development for Maine agriculture, food, and beverage producers and processors. This position will be responsible for monitoring market data trends; matching Maine agricultural and value-added food businesses with available resources to enable them to explore, assess, and successfully access new and viable market channels for their products; positioning their products in these markets; and tracking and evaluating program effectiveness. This position will be the primary liaison for relevant market-focused organizational partners, service providers, and Maine-based businesses seeking market access and market development support for agricultural and value-added food products. Correlating to this work is the Maine Climate Action Plan Goal to increase the amount of food consumed in Maine from state food producers to 30% by 2030. Examples of the work the person in this position will conduct are:
- Guide businesses to identify distribution channels, networks, and resources to build capacity to access, enhance, and/or expand market pathways.
- Collaborate with entities working to increase the marketing and distribution of Maine agricultural and value-added food products in state, regional, domestic, and international markets.
- Coordinate closely with entities working to collect data related to the sales, distribution, and consumption of Maine food and agricultural products.
- Develop tools and resources that support market development activities and strategies for Maine businesses.
- Implement guidelines, processes, and programming for Maine-based agriculture and food businesses to engage in relevant market development, trade shows, trainings, events, and peer learning exchanges.
- Support the Department in preparation for and participation in inbound and outbound trade missions.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities required: - Direct experience in local food system work with nonprofits or municipal or state government.
- Curriculum development and implementation skills to deliver responsive technical assistance.
- An understanding of market economics and experience in areas such as supply chain coordination, export markets, specialty crop marketing, food safety, and packaging.
- Robust project management experience and ability to action plan and achieve benchma