Landforce Employment Opportunities
“We nourish a culture of self-empowerment for people aspiring towards meaningful and stable employment, as we protect and improve the environment.”
Landforce Background
At Landforce we believe it is imperative to nurture the talents of everyone who comes through our doors, especially people who have been left out of Pittsburgh’s economy, whether this is because they are citizens returning from incarceration, as a result of educational barriers, as returning veterans, those in recovery from addiction or mental health, or because they are living in poverty and do not yet have a work history or received a leg up into Pittsburgh’s employment sector. We also believe that everyone has the right to live near green spaces that are safe and beautiful.
Founded in November 2015 by a consortium of Pittsburgh, PA nonprofits, Landforce, an employment social enterprise, acts as a transitional employer. We use much needed environmental stewardship of our natural (and naturalized) areas to provide individualized career and supportive services and hard and soft skills training, while offering transitional employment that develops workplace skills and behaviors, establishes an employment record, and generates employer references.
Landforce serves people living in Pittsburgh and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the city within Allegheny County. Crew demographics largely reflect underserved neighborhoods in our region: 86 percent of the people we serve are African American, 87 percent are male. Sixty-five percent have a criminal record, 50 percent have a mental health diagnosis, 31 percent have a history of addiction, and 27 percent have been homeless.
Landforce Accomplishments
Our crew members have participated in more than 14,000 hours of training and nearly 2,000 hours of case management, and together with our staff have contributed 45,000 hours of environmental stewardship to the Pittsburgh region, working on contracts worth over one million dollars in earned revenue. On average, 85 percent of our finishers go on to other employment within two weeks of completing our season. Ninety-one percent of respondents are still working 12 months after leaving Landforce. As an example of our long-term impact, 100 percent of our 2020 respondents were still employed 12 months out, and everyone had received raises in that first year. As a cohort, their average wage increased from $15.90/hour to $19.13/hour at their 12-month check-ins.
We recently released our 2022 to 2025 strategic plan, and are pursuing a path that will allow significant growth over the coming years. We welcome you to explore the plan and see how you might fit into our strategic expansions.
Working at Landforce
In a 2020 DEI survey conducted by an outside consultant, Landforce employees cited the organization’s top values were teamwork, commitment to crew members, passion, integrity, and trust. The consultant concluded that there is a “uniquely high sense of trust in the organization,” that employees also felt Landforce has strong leadership that reflects the goals and strategies and their everyday work, that the organization prioritizes a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and that their work was respected, fairly evaluated and that they felt like their ideas and suggestions were used to improve the culture and operations of the organization.
Landforce values diversity as a cornerstone to our success as an organization. We celebrate the differences and similarities that all employees bring to our team. We are committed to creating an atmosphere that fully utilizes the unique capabilities of each employee, and where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. Landforce is an Equal Opportunity Employer that does not discriminate on the basis of actual or perceived race, creed, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, age, disability, sex, gender identity, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, arrest record, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.
Landforce currently has two open positions. Job descriptions and application instructions for each are included below each position title. We welcome your application, and strongly encourage candidates who identify with the people we serve to apply.
Available Positions:
Work Readiness Manager
We are seeking an energetic, collaborative, people-person that brings deep knowledge of community resources and counseling/casework practices with high risk populations, including mental health treatment and the impact of trauma. We encourage people with a demonstrated passion for justice and equity to apply, and are interested in learning about your experience using asset-based communication and a focus on turning trauma-informed-care into healing-centered engagement. We look forward to welcoming a new member of our team who is eager to share their skills, who cares deeply about our dual mission, and is willing to learn alongside us as we continue to work together to build a just world for people and the planet. For the full position description and instructions on how to apply click HERE.
Director of Wood Reuse
Landforce is looking to fill the newly created role of Director of Wood Reuse. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build an urban woody biomass campus in conjunction with our workforce development program. Because of our dual people and planet mission, the person in this position will have the unique opportunity to use their wood reuse skills and knowledge both for environmental benefit and to support people using this training opportunity to create a better future for themselves and their families. Ideal candidates will be deeply familiar with the safe operations of lumber production, curious about how to successfully recreate production systems within an urban environment, and have a deep sensitivity to the structural inequalities and traumatic experiences that have often impacted our crew members’ lives. For the full position description and instructions on how to apply click HERE. Our goal is to initiate the hiring process and have the position successfully filled by June.
Administrative Coordinator
Landforce is hiring a part-time administrator (20 hours/week) who is detail-oriented, organized, and able to help others meet deadlines in a timely manner to support our Director of Operations with regular administrative and office-related tasks. Ideal candidates should be comfortable using technology (email, Google Drive, word processing, etc), but we are happy to teach the successful applicant the specific tools needed to successfully hold this position. It is crucial that interested candidates bring a patient approach, and that they have experience working with the diverse groups of people who come through our doors. For the full position description and instructions on how to apply click HERE.
Site Supervisor
Landforce is hiring two Site Supervisors. We are looking for empathetic leaders who are energetic, engaging, and knowledgeable in the best practices of environmental stewardship. The individuals in this position must be able to not only model professional-level skills, but also be able to form a trusted supervisory relationship with our crew members who come from a broad diversity of experiences. Experience working with people who have been impacted by systemic racism and other forms of injustices is crucial to this position. We would anticipate that Site Supervisors bring a range of the following technical skills: Green infrastructure, Tree Planting and Tree Care, Trail Building and Maintenance, Invasive Plant Management, Arboriculture, Horticulture, Basic Carpentry, and Sustainable Landscaping. We encourage people with a demonstrated passion for justice and equity to apply, and welcome those who are passionate about providing equitable green space development and maintenance opportunities to underserved communities and residents across Allegheny County. For the full position description and instructions on how to apply click HERE.