Business Consultant, Ecommerce

Overview

Incumbents in this Business Consultant position provide statewide technical assistance to rural Utah agricultural businesses seeking to grow revenue, expand markets, and improve customer reach through e-commerce and digital marketing. The primary function of the position is to deliver one-on-one consulting, coaching, and implementation support to agricultural producers, agribusinesses, food and farm enterprises, and related rural businesses. Each consultant is expected to provide direct e-commerce and digital marketing technical assistance to at least two businesses per month, with services delivered in person, virtually, or through a hybrid format as appropriate for a statewide clientele.

This is a grant-funded, 15-month appointment beginning July 1 2026. Four positions are available. Successful candidates must demonstrate expert-level knowledge and practical experience in e-commerce, digital marketing, or both, with the ability to translate that expertise into actionable guidance for rural agricultural businesses.

• Provide individualized e-commerce and digital marketing technical assistance to rural Utah agricultural businesses, with a target of serving at least two businesses per month per consultant.
• Assess each participating business's current online presence, market position, customer base, digital capacity, and readiness to implement e-commerce or digital marketing improvements.
• Help agricultural businesses select, improve, and manage appropriate e-commerce platforms, online storefronts, payment systems, product listings, inventory workflows, shipping approaches, and customer service practices.
• Advise businesses on digital marketing strategy, including search engine optimization, social media marketing, email marketing, content planning, paid advertising, analytics, customer segmentation, and brand development.
• Provide practical coaching to help businesses implement recommended improvements rather than only providing general advice.
• Support businesses in developing measurable goals, action plans, timelines, and performance metrics related to online sales, customer acquisition, customer retention, and market expansion.
• Deliver services statewide to rural Utah agricultural businesses through virtual consultations, regional visits, on-site business evaluations, workshops, webinars, and partner referrals.
• Maintain accurate case notes, client records, service data, impact measures, and required documentation for university, grant, and partner reporting.
• Coordinate with USU Extension, agricultural organizations, economic development partners, local food systems partners, and other statewide stakeholders to identify eligible businesses and align technical assistance with rural economic development priorities.
• Develop or adapt educational materials, checklists, templates, and training resources related to agricultural e-commerce and digital marketing.
• Participate in program evaluation, outcome reporting, client follow-up, and continuous improvement of the technical-assistance model.
• Stay current on e-commerce tools, digital marketing practices, platform changes, analytics tools, artificial intelligence tools, consumer trends, and legal or regulatory considerations relevant to online agricultural sales.
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

• A bachelor's degree in business administration, marketing, digital marketing, e-commerce, agricultural business, communications, information systems, entrepreneurship, Extension education, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and directly related professional experience.
• A minimum of two years of professional experience in e-commerce, digital marketing, business consulting, small business ownership, agricultural business support, or a closely related field.
• Demonstrated expert-level competence in e-commerce or digital marketing, including experience advising, managing, or implementing digital strategies for businesses.
• Ability to provide technical assistance to a statewide clientele of rural Utah agricultural businesses through virtual, in-person, and hybrid service models.
• Ability and willingness to travel within Utah, including to rural communities, as needed to meet program objectives.

• Experience working with agricultural producers, agribusinesses, food businesses, farmers markets, value-added agriculture enterprises, or rural small businesses.
• Experience with platforms such as Shopify, Woo Commerce, Squarespace, Wix, Etsy, Amazon, Google Business Profile, Meta Business Suite, email marketing platforms, customer relationship management tools, or comparable systems.
• Experience using analytics tools to measure website traffic, conversion rates, campaign performance, customer engagement, or return on marketing investment.
• Experience delivering technical assistance, Extension programming, workshops, webinars, or business coaching to adult learners.
• Professional certifications in digital…