Founded in 2016, Cairnspring Mills is a regenerative flour mill located in the Skagit Valley of northwest Washington state, producing fresh milled flours made from identity-preserved grains. Customers include many of the highest-end bakeries and Pizzerias in the country, including Tartine, Macrina, Breadfarm, Sea Wolf Bakery, Pizzeria Bianco, In Bocca al Lupo, Essential Baking, and Grand Central Baking, all of whom pay a premium price for our exceptionally flavorful, naturally nutritious, and regeneratively grown flour.
 
Cairnspring grew 38% in 2023 when we reached max capacity of the current mill, and the business is operating profitably.  The company sources directly from more than a dozen regional farms using regenerative practices that promote soil health. Approximately 30% of our volume is USDA Organic certified, and for our conventional grain we restrict the use of glyphosate as a harvest aid and prohibit the use of neonic insecticides to go above and beyond the standards of conventional grain production.

 

In response to significant inbound demand from larger customers, we are breaking ground on a much larger second mill in Northeast Oregon on the land of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Q1 2025.

It is our intention to create and grow a company culture of community, respect, hard work, constructive communication, compassion, and support for others while aiming to provide our customers with high quality service and products. We expect all members of the company including founders, managers, and board members to treat each other, customers, vendors, and outside service providers with respect, kindness, and professionalism. Cairnspring Mills believes that these values are critical to making this a great place to work and to the overall success of the company.

We are looking to hire the Company’s first ever Responsible Sourcing and Sustainability Manager to formalize and upgrade Cairnspring’s sustainability standards and strategy. The position will report directly to the Company’s Chief Operating Officer.

 

Key responsibilities include:

 

-            Oversee and lead the company’s first ever Carbon Neutral Certification 

    o   Analyze three alternative certification options

    o   Present budget, standard and timing considerations to the Executive Leadership Team

    o   Lead all data collection, analysis and submission of required documentation to certifier

    o   Oversee audits and full certification process

-            Formalize and improve the Company’s internal Regenerative Sourcing Standards and implement new farmer audit and impact measuring program

    o   Review company’s sourcing standards and create new sourcing standards that can be tailored to the regenerative growers in our network that farm in a variety of climates and soils. 

    o   Implement annual audit protocols and measurement system for grading our network of farmers in Oregon and Washington

    o   Collaborate with leadership team and advisory board on best practices and grower input

    o   Research and intimately understand the standards from Regenify and Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and include key components so that we can more readily certify specific products in the future under either standard.

    o   Support the CEO and assist the tribal conservation district with the facilitation of the regenerative technical committee made up of local farmers, conservation districts and other technical service providers.

-            Work with the company Founder, production and sales team to develop our new Climate Smart flour that utilize perennial, heirloom and other ancient grains.

    o   Collaborate with the CEO and Production Manager to engage wheat breeding programs such as the WSU Bread Lab and Oregon State University with wheat trials and provide the Production manager and CEO with information needed to negotiate contract terms

-            Support Cairnspring Food Safety & Quality Manager on annual SQF and organic certifications including collecting and reviewing supplier documentation

-            Team with commercial managers and teams to present Cairnspring’s sustainability, impact and standards to customers and distributors. Participate in key sales and marketing presentations as the Company’s internal expert on sustainability.

-            Support Cairnspring CEO and Production with annual grain purchase contracts and ensuring that all standards are met by each grower.

    o   Run analysis for CEO and COO with respect to optimal grain purchases from each supplier to minimize carbon footprint and ensure resiliency in supply chain.

 

Strong preference for candidates located in the Seattle, North Puget Sound, Pendleton, Oregon or Portland metro areas but open to top candidates located on the West Coast that could travel one to two times each month to Oregon.

 

-            Base salary will range from $70k to $90k depending on experience.

-            Full benefits package including medical, dental and vision.

-            Bonus.

-            Stock option package.

-            Over 5 years of experience working as a certifier or implementing novel certification programs. 

-            Experience with agriculture commodities and growers working to get out of the commodity system.

-            Experience with regenerative agriculture and regenerative sourcing standards and practices.

-            Experience creating corporate standards and translating certifier requirements into annual operating plans and internal management SOPs.

 

Cairnspring Mills is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or veteran status.