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Staff Vacancies

Join the team

Sunseed is run by voluntary staff members. Coordinators' contracts last for a year, while assistants come for 3 or 6 months (both can be extended). You will find the upcoming vacancies and the general work conditions below.
If you are interested in a certain position, please do apply as eventually it will be open.

Now recruiting:

Sustainable Living Coordinator (April 2021)

Sunseed is a non-formal education project for the transition toward sustainability. The community of volunteers live in an off-grid (electricity & water) village and committed to teaching visitors & volunteers how to live a low-impact lifestyle.
The Sustainable Living department coordinates the smooth running of Sunseed’s low-impact lifestyle. The department ensures that all visitors contribute to it through shared cooking and household duties. The department is central to educating all volunteers in everyday low-impact, sustainable living and bringing awareness to the no chemical policy. The Sustainable Living Coordinator implements the Sunseed Food Policy to ensure an ethical, healthy, vegetarian diet. It is a very broad role involving many different tasks and getting to the core of community life, keeping the focus on the importance of an integrated and environmentally aware lifestyle.
This is a volunteer position with compensation of 210 euros per month and a minimum commitment of one year.
Core Responsibilities
Overseeing the running of Sunseed’s low-impact household
Orientating volunteers on their arrival and educating them in low-impact living
Organizing the accommodation and the communal area
Supervising hygiene, health and safety, cleanliness, tidiness
Publishing and updating rotas, notices and routines
Implementing and encouraging no-chemical policy
Making organic soap, toothpaste and cosmetics
Food Management (making orders, harvesting etc)
Overseeing the implementation of the Sunseed Food Policy
Promoting solar and energy-efficient cooking
Preserving excess produce from the gardens (preserves, ferments, olives, almonds etc)
Foraging wild plants and promoting their use
Taking care of the medicinal garden and using medicinal plants
Baking bread
Other Responsibilities
Organizing Sunseed’s presence at local markets and festivals
Documenting and evaluating work undertaken
Requirements
Passion for low impact living
Experience baking bread, making preserves and natural cosmetics
Commitment to use of low-impact cooking technologies, and reducing consumption and waste

Operations Coordinator (April 2021)

Sunseed is a non-formal education project for the transition towards sustainability that has existed for more than 30 years and is now in the process of adopting a more inclusive structure inspired by sociocracy. In this context, the goal of the Operations Coordinator is to have an oversight on the legal requirements, the finances and future of the project.

Minimum 1 year voluntary work contract.
Payment 210€/month as a coordinator.
6 hours of work/day.

Core Responsibilities

● Keep constant communication between the staff on site, trustees, lawyer and external business administrator.
● Do monthly internal accounts with the cooperation of coordinators and other community members.
● Elaborate final year’s financial review.
● Manage legal documents including insurances, taxes, deeds, local facilities, contracts and agreements, etc.
● Take care of legal responsibilities of Sunseed to the UK and Spanish state.
● Predict income and examine expenditure to identify areas where more resources are required.
● Make invoice and staff payments.
● Update the admin & trustee Google drive and folders regularly.
● Create work systems and be willing to teach the community on admin tasks.

Requirements

● Fluent in both Spanish and English
● Familiar with Spanish law
● Experience in accounting and finance management
● Good communication skills (including the ability to work as part of a closely integrated team), confidence, sensitivity, patience and open-mindedness to work with all members of the group
● Ability to live in a basic communal environment with limited resources and the desire to live and work closely with community members
● Committed to be an equal amongst the members of the team

Desirable Skills

● Previous experience in Sunseed and aware of its challenges
● Commitment to promoting sustainable living and the aim of Sunseed
● Previous knowledge of NGO administration
● An understanding of organisational structures, particularly sociocratic organisations

Upcoming vacancies:

Eco-Maintenance Assistant (May 2021)

Sunseed is a non-formal education centre dedicated to sustainability, biodiversity and self-sufficiency. The project is located in the village of Los Molinos del Río Aguas, a settlement with a long agricultural and mining history. What was once a cluster of traditional houses has become an example of off-grid living. The village has no connection to the public electricity and water networks and is self-sufficient. Electricity is provided by photovoltaic panels, water comes from the river itself and rainwater harvesting, waste is managed by sustainable wastewater treatment systems, etc. 

Within the Eco-maintenance department you will work and learn about traditional architecture, bio-construction, sustainable materials, recycling, self-managed project management and much more.

The responsibilities of the Maintenance Assistant include the maintenance of existing buildings, repair and restoration of housing and common spaces, construction of ephemeral elements necessary for the continuation of the Sunseed project, research on ecological and traditional building techniques, use of tools, etc. Larger projects require the help of local construction workers and need to be coordinated together with a coordinator.

Core responsibilities:

Assist volunteers in carrying out tasks.

Maintenance and improvement of our buildings

General maintenance of roofs, floors, doors, etc.

Lime plastering, painting and finishing

Tooling and material supervision

Enforcing safety rules

Instruction on the proper use of tools

Ensuring that unsafe tools are not used

Maintaining and repairing tools

Desirable skills:

Experience in green building techniques and materials.

Experience in the use of power tools

Experience in plumbing

Basic knowledge of Spanish

Ability to work as part of a team.

Affinity with Sunseed's mission and vision.

Ability to work outdoors in a variety of climates.


Required skills:

  1. Commitment to Sunseed’s vision, mission and goals

  2. Commitment to environmental stewardship and social change

  3. Willingness to share knowledge and ideas and encourage learning, teaching and community integration

  4. Ability to give short talks and guided tours

  5. Ability to be flexible, co-operative and welcoming to all visitors

  6. Ability to provide mentoring for visitors and supervise their projects

  7. Good communication skills, good spoken and written English

Desirable skills:

  1. Some knowledge of Spanish and willingness to improve language skills

  2. If over 25, a full driving license valid for driving in Spain

  3. Interest in living off-grid in a sustainable way

Benefits

Vegeterian food

Locally sourced mostly organic food included

Paid holidays

24 days of paid holidays per year

Amenities

Internet, cosmetics, detergents, library, etc. provided

Scenic landscape

Unique location within a natural reserve with a natural pool

Coordinator
€ 210

Monthly

APPLY
  • Contract of 12-24 months
  • Accommodation: basic single room
  • 2 paid days off a month
  • 150€ travel assistance at the end of each contract year
All staff are responsible for their own insurance and up-to-date tetanus jabs.
Assistant
€ 25/50*

Monthly

APPLY
  • Contract of 3-6 months
  • Accommodation: basic shared room
  • 40€ travel assistance at the end
  • 2 days paid holidays per month
*25€/month for 3 months commitment, 50€/month for more than 3 months commitment. 

Committing to Sunseed 

Living at Sunseed as a community member means more than simply doing your job well. You will be expected to put your environment first and personal needs second.

You will be expected to take part fully in community life, relevant meetings and to assist in duties that are outside of your post like sharing communal duties such as cooking and cleaning, as well as setting a good example in areas such as enthusiasm, safe practices, punctuality and socialising.

All staff participate in the planning and implementation of tasks in their department and contribute to the overall longer-term strategic development of the project.

All staff are responsible for supervising volunteers and implementing the Health and Safety guidelines in all activities. This is of the utmost importance for staff involved in supervising unskilled volunteers in potentially hazardous situations.

All staff are expected to follow and oversee Sunseed’s mission and policies (vegetarian, no-chemical, no-drug), procedures (grievance) and agreements (communal).