WineTalent Classifieds: Human Resources Specialist in St. Helena, CA

WineTalent is working with our client, Long Meadow Ranch, on an HR Specialist position.

Long Meadow Ranch is seeking an HR Specialist to join our Human Resources team.

Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned agricultural enterprise producing grapes and wine, olives and olive oil, grass-fed beef and lamb, fruits, vegetables, and eggs in the Napa Valley, Anderson Valley and Marin County. The Long Meadow Ranch operations also include an acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, a general store and wine tasting bar in the historic Logan-Ives House, an outdoor cafe, a farmer's market, a working garden and a variety of unique event spaces all located at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch.

Reporting to the Director of Human Resources, the HR Specialist will be responsible for employee recruitment, new hire processes, on-going employee relations and employee file management. The Human Resources team is a dynamic small team that works collaboratively with all departments to build and retain a successful team of managers and employees. We are searching for an enthusiastic individual who has the passion and drive to be an advocate for employees at all stages of their LMR career.

Responsibilities:

• Administer the recruitment process from outreach to hire
• Assist with development of recruitment SOPs and ensure adherence
• Utilize, update and maintain the Greenhouse application, an applicant tracking software, on a daily basis
• Work closely with hiring managers to establish job criteria and a hiring plan for new job openings 
• Post and maintain job postings for open positions
• Ensure offer letters are accurate, properly communicated and signed
• Input all new hires into HRIS systems for start of employment
• Schedule and provide the onboarding orientation to all new hires including proper paperwork - I9 verification, confidentiality agreements, job descriptions, policies and handbook acknowledgment, as well as employee introduction to LMR benefits
• Assist employees with benefit elections when employee becomes eligible and during the annual open enrollment period
• Maintain all employee file records according to compliance law, retainment requirements and company policies
• Update all changes in employee rates with new offer letters, Wage Theft protection notices and employee files
• Maintain employee files with performance reviews, counseling sessions and recognitions
• Process proper paperwork for terminations in employee files
• Provide support to employees regarding HR policies, benefits, payroll questions, leaves of absence, and unemployment or disability claims
• Administer the unemployment claim process
• Assist employees with translation of company policies and employee relations
• Collaborate and assist with HR team on company culture initiatives, safety and wellness programs, and charity initiatives
• Assist with general company administration duties and projects

Education, Experience and Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or closely related discipline, and/or related business experience
• 2+ years of wine and restaurant industry HR experience
• Proven success in recruitment
• Keen understanding of HR best practices
• Experience with Applicant Tracking Software, including Greenhouse
• Extensive knowledge and proficiency of computer programs including Google Apps, and Microsoft Office
• Well developed skills in problem solving, prioritizing tasks and taking initiative
• Strong organizational and time management skills
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with great attention to detail, even under tight deadlines and a fast paced environment
• Ability to communicate and work collaboratively to build relationships at all levels
• Must have a high level of confidentiality and discretion
• Must be proficient in English and Spanish verbal and written communication
• Must have a valid California Driver’s License and maintain a safe driving record
• Ability to lift 40+ pounds
• A pre-employment investigative consumer report is required

Compensation and Benefits:

• This is a full-time, hourly position
• Competitive compensation depending on experience plus benefits including medical/dental insurance, paid vacation and 401(k)

All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential

WineTalent:  The Right People for the Job

WineTalent Classifieds: Graphic Designer for Long Meadow Ranch

WineTalent is working with our client Long Meadow Ranch to find a dynamic, creative and innovative person to join the marketing team as a Graphic Designer.

Long Meadow Ranch is a family-owned agricultural enterprise producing grapes and wine, olives and olive oil, grass-fed beef and lamb, fruits, vegetables, and eggs in the Napa Valley, Anderson Valley and Marin County. The many-faceted operation includes the 650-acre LMR Mayacamas Estate home ranch located in the Mayacamas Mountains above Rutherford and the 90-acre LMR Rutherford Estate, located on the Rutherford Bench, and, in Mendocino County, the 145-acre LMR Anderson Valley Estate. The Long Meadow Ranch operations also include an acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant, a general store and wine tasting bar in the historic Logan-Ives House, an outdoor cafe, a farmer's market, working garden and a variety of unique event spaces all located at Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch.

Reporting to the Senior Marketing Manager, the Graphic Designer will be responsible for the creative design, production and asset management of the LMR brands and initiatives. The marketing team is a dynamic small team that works collaboratively with all departments to bring together many different layers surrounding the common mission of Long Meadow Ranch. We are searching for an enthusiastic individual who has the passion and drive to create successful and professional marketing initiatives to increase awareness and sales for Long Meadow Ranch.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate on creative vision with the entire marketing team for all projects
• Lead creative design and execution for graphic design projects
• Design and produce creative content for events, including seasonal, wholesale, off-site, brand events and more
• Design menus, invitations, announcements, and materials for marketing events
• Design, produce and collaborate with marketing team on creating consumer facing content including advertisements and announcements on a variety of platforms
• Design and produce new materials for company departments and teams  
• Generate creative design and content for holiday catalog
• Lead execution of labels and collateral for new products and product launches
• Design, develop, maintain and improve select brand assets including but not limited to: collateral, email templates, fonts, and website
• Collaborate with outside agencies on creative content  as required
• Work closely with Marketing Coordinator on design and templates for email campaigns

Education, Experience and Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or closely related discipline
• 2+ years of consumer packaged goods marketing experience
• 1+ years of beverage alcohol marketing experience
• Keen understanding of the hospitality industry
• Mastery of creative applications including Illustrator and Adobe creative tools
• Excellent analytical and communication skills with great attention to detail, even under tight deadlines and a fast paced environment
• Ability to manage projects through from ideation to launch
• Entrepreneurial, can-do mindset and takes initiative
• Ability to communicate and work collaboratively to build relationships at all levels
• Extensive knowledge and proficiency of computer programs including Google Apps, Microsoft Office, Adobe
• Must have a valid California Driver’s License and maintain a safe driving record
• Ability to lift 40+ pounds
• A pre-employment investigative consumer report is required

Compensation and Benefits:

• This is a full-time, hourly position
• Competitive compensation depending on experience plus benefits including medical/dental insurance, paid vacation and 401(k)

All inquiries will be kept strictly confidential

WineTalent:  The Right People for the Job

Book Review: The Wine Lover's Daughter by Anne Fadiman

This past December I was listening to NPR on my way to my morning run.  A funny thing always happens when I do this on the weekend.  I'll start a show on my drive out, and pick up the exact same show when I get back in my car after the run.  Most often this is infuriating; doesn't NPR have more to talk about?  But that morning I was so thrilled to get to hear the story twice.  If you want to hear the story once, twice or more, here is a link.

Anne Fadiman writes about her father, Clifton Fadiman.  Anne's father was a renowned literary critic, editor and radio host who was also a true oenophile.  During his lengthy career, Clifton Fadiman was the editor in chief of Simon & Schuster, the book critic for The New Yorker and co-author of the encyclopedic "The Joys of Wine."  He also hosted a popular radio quiz show, "Information Please!" and was a judge for the Book of the Month Club.

Anne Fadiman may have hesitantly followed in her father's footsteps to become a writer, but she has become a renowned writer as well.  Having first listened to her about the book on the NPR broadcast, I was excited to read the book.  Having the book in hand, I realized that she wrote one of my favorite books, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," a profile of a Hmong refugee family that went on to earn her the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction.

Reading Anne's recollections of growing up immersed in wine culture is funny and insightful.  Her father was an intelligent and worldly man who loved good wine.  From a young age she sampled extraordinary wines around the family dinner table and at events.  Her father loved to share his knowledge and his wines with his family and friends, and Anne had a great education in the wines of the world, especially Burgundy and Bordeaux.

While many of us would love to have that exposure to great wines and knowledge, Clifton's daughter has a bittersweet relationship to wine.  While it reminds her of her father and her past, she herself does not really like to drink much wine.  As a science lover who also likes to uncover the mysteries of our senses, Anne Fadiman's exploration of flavor, taste and personal preference takes her to into researcher's labs, to wine bars for tastings, and to studying tongue maps.  These exercises are quite enlightening, and I think give her a perspective on herself in relation to and separate from her father.

As happens to all of us, Clifton Fadiman ages during the book, and his daughter describes the changes in him and in their relationship.  But his love of wine is unwavering.  While in his final days he does become a fan of Guinness, his relationship with wine is constant.  After his death, his daughter pieces together much of his adult life from what she learns in his Cellar Book.  As she said, it was like finding a sheaf of old love letters.  From that mismatched collection of documents, she found vivid memories of his past.

This book was very well written, and engagingly explores a father-daughter relationship from the daughter's perspective.  This daughter fortunately knows how to write.  While we may all have our own relationships with parents, children and wine that we need to contemplate, it is very interesting to get Anne Fadiman's perspective on her relationships to parents, children and wine.  In case my review prompts interest, here's a link to the book.