Title: Cultivation Associate 
Pay Rate: $16.00/hr 
Location: Chicago, IL
Job Type: Full Time | Non-Exempt 
Shift: Tuesday-Saturday | 5:00am - 1:30pm

Who You Are: 
You’re excited to build a well-rounded skill set in cannabis cultivation with a particular interest in plant genetics and early-stage plant development. With training and guidance, you’ll gain hands-on experience supporting the Genetics team while building knowledge across the cultivation process. You bring curiosity, reliability, attention to detail, and a team-focused mindset to an operation that thrives on shared knowledge and cross-training.

What You’ll Do: 

As a Cultivation Associate supporting the Genetics team at Curaleaf, you’ll help care for and maintain healthy plant material while developing hands-on cultivation skills. You’ll work closely with the team to support plant health, consistency, and quality while being cross-trained across cultivation activities as needed. Your day-to-day will include:

• Performing daily plant care such as taking cuttings, rooting, transplanting, watering, feeding, trimming, staking, and pruning to support healthy plant development
• Supporting propagation and early-stage plant care while following established processes for plant identification, labeling, and tracking
• Monitoring humidity, moisture, and temperature to maintain ideal growing conditions and meet quality goals
• Inspecting plants for overall health, pests, disease, or other concerns and communicating findings to the team
• Maintaining accurate plant identification and inventory records throughout the cultivation process
• Operating and maintaining lighting, irrigation, and climate-control systems while keeping cultivation areas, tools, and equipment clean and sanitized
• Supporting additional cultivation activities, including harvest, curing, and production needs, through cross-training and during high-demand periods
• Following state regulations, security procedures, SOPs, and quality standards when handling, labeling, and tracking plant material

What You’ll Bring: 

• You have a natural green thumb and a genuine passion for working with plants, whether your experience comes from a professional cultivation environment, horticulture, agriculture, landscaping, or gardening at home
• You thrive in a fast-paced, team environment and enjoy learning new cultivation techniques and processes
• You bring sharp attention to detail, especially when handling, identifying, and tracking plant material
• You are reliable and organized, with strong documentation and inventory skills that help you stay on top of a structured schedule
• You have solid math and measurement skills and the ability to operate a scale with confidence
• You have a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent

Even Better If: 

• You have experience with propagation, cloning, mother plant care, or other early-stage cultivation processes
• You bring knowledge of growing technologies such as lighting, irrigation, growing media, and nutrients
• You understand different cannabis strains, phenotypes, and their unique characteristics or growing needs
• You have hands-on experience in cannabis cultivation, horticulture, agriculture, landscaping, or a related environment

Physical Requirements 

• Ability to stand, sit, and walk for extended periods of time (8-10 hours per shift) 
• Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds regularly and occasional lifting of heavier items with assistance 
• Frequent and repetitive use of hands and wrists for extended periods of time 
• Repetitive bending, squatting, and reaching 
• Ability to climb ladders or step stools to access plants or equipment 
• Ability to use required PPE when required, such as masks, hair nets, beard covers, respirators, boot covers, scrubs, non-slip shoes, and Tyvek suits as necessary 

Environmental Conditions 

• Exposure to environments with high humidity, varying temperatures, and strong odors (such as cannabis) 
• Exposure to soil, water, fertilizer, dust, pollen and plant pathogens 
• Exposure to cleaning solvents, such as high volumes of isopropyl alcohol 
• Exposure to loud noises, including but not limited to air compressors, packaging equipment, and alarms 
• Exposure to CO2 manufacturing procedures at OSHA approved CO2 levels