Our organization works to bring new life to downtown Rockford by establishing a weekly tradition that draws people into the heart of the city, creates a vibrant community center, increases business at downtown shops & restaurants, and serves as an incubator for new businesses.
We hope you join us in the goal and meet us at the Market.
Who We Are: Our 501c3 organization works to bring new life to downtown Rockford by establishing a weekly tradition that draws people into the heart of the city, creates a vibrant community center, increases business at downtown shops & restaurants, and serves as an incubator for new businesses.
Our first Outdoor Friday night Rockford City Market occurred in May of 2010, and was immediately embraced by the community. In the past fourteen Market seasons we have grown to include the North End City Market on Saturday mornings and our Indoor Rockford City Market Building in downtown Rockford.
Incubation is at the heart of what we do – whether it be a small tent vendor just starting out at one of our market or events, an eager kitchen client looking to dive into food-based entrepreneurialism with our Incubator Kitchen, or a more established small business looking to plant roots and open their first brick and mortar storefront in our building – we’re always striving to support local makers, growers, and entrepreneurs by curating opportunities for them to connect with the community and grow their passions.
In 2023 we were proud to support 80+ local vendors and farmers, 39 local musicians, and 27 local non-profits; all supported by 100k+ patrons over the course of the year at our various events.
Who You Are: The Market Engagement Manager serves as a positive, energetic face of the Rockford City Market, the North End City Market, and the Rockford City Market Incubator Kitchen. You will oversee the majority of the behind the scenes administrative work necessary to enable our markets and incubator kitchen to operate smoothly and efficiently, while working closely with the Executive Director, our seasonal staff, and our seasonal intern(s).
You are an individual who is passionate about building community and incubating small businesses. You enjoy the opportunity to inject your ideas and creativity into building, growing, and managing events and programming. The small details are crucial to event management, and you actively engage in prioritizing efficient systems to make sure those details are accounted for properly. You understand that small teams share the load at times, and you’re eager to work collaboratively with all entities of our organization to ensure that goals are met.
You are aware that our markets, events, and incubator kitchen are businesses which must turn a profit that contributes to the overall fiscal health of our organization. You recognize the need to balance the community-building part of our mission with the entrepreneurial spirit needed to operate a financially successful market and incubator kitchen program.
Job Summary
The Market Engagement Manager collaborates with the Executive Director to further the mission and execute the vision of Rockford City Market (RCM), playing a crucial role in the overall success of Rockford City Market. The role focuses on and is responsible for the day-to-day operations, collaborative planning and hosting of annual events, and the on-going programming of the organization. The Market Engagement Manager serves as a highly visible point of contact for the Outdoor Rockford City Market, the North End City Market, the RCM Incubator Kitchen Program, and the robust calendar of indoor community-based events. They serve as a liaison between the organization and other regional entities. The ideal candidate will possess a demonstrated ability to build relationships, a passion for local small businesses and community-building programming, effective communication skills, and strong detail orientation.
Job Focus
Drive market success through working with the Executive Director to develop and implement strategies to enhance market and event attraction and quality. Increasing diverse attendance and total sales.
Create satisfaction for vendors, volunteers, partners, and clients by ensuring timely communications and resolution of issues.
Build positive reputation and effectiveness of RCM through serving as a liaison to community, city, and state groups to maintain awareness of changes in the food access landscape and program development.
Job Responsibilities & Objectives
Coordinates and oversees day-to-day operations at the Outdoor Rockford City Market, North End City Market, indoor community events, and the RCM Incubator Kitchen Program in accordance with RCM policy.
Monitors vendor and kitchen client operations, and ensures compliance to RCM rules and agreements, as well as city health inspection standards and state regulations.
Provides orientation and training to new vendors and kitchen clients, offering ongoing coaching to help ensure success
Manages all data pertaining to the SNAP/LINK Match program, prepares data and analysis to relay the importance of programs and advocate for improvements; submits reimbursement requests promptly
Works to ensure accuracy of vendor and kitchen client invoices; communicates effectively regarding outstanding fees, enforces penalties for non-payment and provides updates to vendor and kitchen client internal records
Ensures that administrative work outside of event hours is completed in a responsive, thorough, and accurate manner.
Expected Outcomes
Engaged enthusiasm about the organization and its programming by both external and internal stakeholders.
Continual evaluation of the strengths and challenges of events and programming, focused strategies for future growth, and potential partnership opportunities with other organizations.
A safe, healthy and vibrant event and kitchen atmosphere.
Committed consistency with growing a thriving, robust, community-centered event calendar.
Thriving relationships with the City of Rockford, Greater Rockford Chamber of Commerce, Winnebago County Health Department, and downtown entities regarding our events and programming.
Challenges are used to grow and adapt for future situations.
Diligent assessment and completion of goals within the designated role, and stretch goals for the organization that are delegated to you or shared by the team.
Required Competencies
Understands the role of the Rockford City Market, the North End City Market, and the RCM Incubator Kitchen Program in the greater Rockford region
Personal confidence
Strong work ethic
Highly responsive
Detail-oriented
Self-starter
Strong relationship builder
Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Demonstrated experience managing staff, volunteers, clients and/ or vendors
Demonstrated experience collaborating with diverse groups, developing and maintaining effective working relationships with stakeholders including vendors, farmers, community members, sponsors, local media, the general public, and staff
Experience in developing and facilitating event programming
Good problem solving and organizational skills, along with strong time management skills and the ability to handle multiple tasks at once.
Conflict resolution skills
Proficient with Google Workspace, and comfortable learning new tools and technologies as needed in this role
Comfortable with social media posting for sharing RCM updates and special events
Must be able to work non-standard hours as needed, based on market season and special events calendar
Ability to lift and carry 30lbs