Description

General Description:

Food Rescue Engagement Managers are responsible for executing the Food Rescue engagement strategy developed in coordination with the Director of Food Rescue Initiatives.  Food Rescue Engagement Managers manage day-to-day relationships with a network of nearly 400 retail donors throughout Cook County and work collaboratively across departments to ensure that the partners who participate in the Community Food Rescue program experience successful relationships with retail donors.  The person in this role will need to work diplomatically to ensure that the needs of partners and retailers are effectively represented in conversations with retail donors.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions:

Donor Portfolio Management (60-80%):

Manage a portfolio of donors actively engaged in the Community Food Rescue program:

• • Perform quarterly stewardship visits to donors within their assigned portfolio to ensure continued engagement with the Community Food Rescue program.  At each visit, provide store-level donation reports that outline the performance of each store department to identify gaps in donation programming.
  • Provide assigned donors with a monthly donation report summarizing donations from stores under their banner, in collaboration with teammates who may manage overlapping portfolios.
  • When needed, train store donation teams on their company’s and the Food Depository’s donation guidelines to maintain a high standard of food quality and food safety.
  • Develop strong working relationships with store teams and corporate leaders to improve acquisition outcomes and ensure a high level of customer service.  Attend district meetings, where appropriate.
• Visit lapsed donors to rebuild relationships and reengage them in the Community Food Rescue program.
• Maintain a database of prospective donors and develop strategies to educate them on the benefits of donating through the Community Food Rescue program, prioritizing donors accessible to partner organizations in areas of high unmet need.
• Review and analyze donor performance, providing a monthly report to the Director of Food Rescue Initiatives categorizing donor performance to prioritize deployment of Food Rescue engagement resources.  Work collaboratively across teams to develop strategies for improvement of donor performance within low-performing stores.
• Support MealConnect reporting for partner organizations connected to donors within their portfolio, in collaboration with the Partner Relations team.
• Support Food Rescue activities at select food industry trade shows:
  • Serve as the primary onsite contact for show staff.
  • Coordinate with the Volunteer Experience team to recruit volunteers and manage volunteers on the day of the event.
  • Coordinate with Transportation, Ops, and partner organizations to manage logistics and equipment for the event. 
     

Partner Support (5-15%):

• Collaborate with the Community Impact team to guide partners through the process of onboarding to Community Food Rescue programs, ensuring they are well-positioned to perform Community Food Rescue.
• Working in conjunction with the Training and Compliance team, curate a calendar of regularly scheduled Community Food Rescue trainings for partners interested in joining the program, or for those in need of retraining.  With the Training and Compliance team, optimize training offerings in alignment with team goals.
• Working alongside the Procurement team data analyst and the REBA team, identify opportunities to evaluate partners’ performance in the Community Food Rescue program.
• Oversee MealConnect reporting for partner organizations who participate in the Community Food Rescue program.  Lead cross-departmental collaboration efforts to ensure timely and accurate reporting each month, working closely with the Community Impact team to troubleshoot missing reporting.
   

Program Management (10-20%):

• Support the development and implementation of the Food Depository’s Food Sourcing Strategic Plan, in collaboration with the Procurement team. 
• Manage the Starbucks FoodShare program, including:
  • Act as the liaison between the Food Depository, Feeding America, the 3PL provider, and Starbucks to ensure smooth program execution.
  • Coordinate with Ops and Supply Chain to ensure consistent flow of product from point of receiving to shipping.
  • Work alongside the Development team to prepare grant reports as needed. 
•  Identify opportunities to optimize the Community Food Rescue program to reduce barriers, increase access, and ensure the needs of partners and donors are met through the program.
• Review and analyze Food Rescue Ambassador notes, updating the StratusLive CRM tool with key insights and meaningful interactions. 
• Work in collaboration with the Director of Food Rescue Initiatives to strategically deploy Food Rescue Ambassadors to appropriate donor locations to express appreciation for their partnership.
• Collaborate across functions to:
  • Resolve issues between donors and partner organizations, in alignment with recommendations from Partner Relations Managers.
  • Coordinate pickups of ad hoc donations, in collaboration with the Procurement team, Transportation team, and Partner Relations Managers, when appropriate.
•  Manage donor and partner records for participating organizations across appropriate databases, including the MealConnect reporting platform, Ceres ERP system, and the StratusLive CRM platform.

Requirements

Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in community outreach, donor engagement, sales, or relevant food industry experience
• Strong interpersonal and customer service skills required, with an ability to communicate clearly, diplomatically, and persuasively
• Strong problem-solving required, with an ability to collaborate across departments and think creatively to resolve issues
• Strong organizational skills required, with an ability to prioritize and plan workflows, and manage time appropriately
• Intermediate to advanced skills in using the Microsoft Office Suite
• Experience using Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) systems highly desired
• Experience using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as CERES, desired but not required
• Valid driver’s license and consistent access to a reliable vehicle
   

Exposure:

• Required to travel to donor locations throughout Cook County up to 70% of work time.
• Exposure to office and warehouse environments.
• Occasionally lifts materials weighing up to 25 lbs.
• Interacts in person, via telephone, and via email with Food Depository staff, donors, partners, community leaders, volunteers, and the public.
• Occasional evening and weekend time required for site visits and donor events.

This position is onsite Tuesday through Thursday, with remote options available Monday and Friday