Vice President of Community Impact & Innovation

St. Louis Area Foodbank (SLAFB)

JOB DESCRIPTION

Job Title: Vice President of Community Impact & Innovation

Immediate Supervisor: Chief Operating Officer
Employees Supervised: Director of Partner Impact, Director of Community Engagement, Innovation and Programs Manager
FLSA: Exempt
 
General Description/Position Summary:

The Vice President of Community Impact & Innovation leads a team of mission-driven experts who are dedicated to fulfilling the St. Louis Area Foodbank’s (SLAFB) vision of a nutritionally secure Missouri and Illinois. The Vice President develops and executes strategy for the Community Impact Team ensuring unique community needs are met through a holistic approach that provides an excellent partner and neighbor experience while developing a pathway to end hunger. As an innovative change agent, the Vice President will create and shape high-impact programs and services, strategize approaches to expand capacity, and champion availability and equitable access to community resources across our 26-county region. The Vice President of Community Impact & Innovation will collaborate with key external stakeholders such as community leaders and partners to raise awareness of SLAFB programs and services while learning community needs centered around food insecurity including poverty, hunger, health, and nutrition.

Objectives:

• Develop and execute the strategy of the Community Impact/Partner and Programs teams. Ensure key performance indicators and desired outcomes are met while responding to current trends and opportunities.
• Collaborate with external stakeholders to identify gaps in community services and existing barriers to equitable access. Respond with innovative, comprehensive programs and services that meet the unique needs of our partners and neighbors with a drive toward ending hunger.
• Ensure the growth of our partners’ capacity to meet identified gaps in access or services in their respective communities.
• Understand the holistic needs of our partners and neighbors. Ensure the Foodbank can provide or serve as a connector to necessary community resources.
• Provide leadership, coaching, goals, and ongoing support to Community Impact/Partners and Programs teams.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Design and implement the strategy of the Community Impact/Partners and Programs department consisting of the Equitable Access Team, Community Health and Wellness Team, Partner Services Team, and Ending Hunger/Community Engagement Team.
• Develop departmental work plans and budgets; create program toolkits and curriculum; continuously improve internal processes, evaluate effectiveness of goals against projected outcomes; and ensure goals are met according to mutually agreed upon timelines.
• Ensure compliance with all partners in accordance with Feeding America, St. Louis Area Foodbank and other sanctioning body’s operating guidelines, regulations, and rules.
• Ensure compliance to all Feeding America contract requirements that falls under the teams supervised.
• Ensure excellent customer service, encouragement, and support to increase the overall capacity of our partner network including through direct services that end hunger such as nutrition and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
• Create partnerships with community leaders, partners, and external stakeholders to enhance outcomes and impact by stewarding current relationships and recruiting new and influential stakeholders to grow awareness of our network, programs, and services.
• Represent the SLAFB in the community and actively involved in dialog with influencers who can support our mission.
• Take a leadership role in supporting fundraising and marketing efforts. Focused on ensuring program design, impact and evaluation is laid out in a way that potential donors and community members can easily understand while supporting the drafting of fundraising proposals.
• Maintain an in-depth understanding of the politics, capacity, resources, challenges, opportunities, and the data supporting these across our service territory.
• Collaborate across departments at the leadership level to gather feedback and support on initiatives and promote understanding of the team’s strategy and tactics.
• Recruit, develop, and retain a talented and diverse team to meet and exceed organizational outcomes.
• Ensure the incorporation of volunteers, interns, and AmeriCorps members into all programs, services and at partner sites as needed.
• Serve on strategic committees as designated including, but not limited to, the Leadership Team, Partners and Programs Committee of the Board, Disaster Response Team, and Feeding America Committees.
• Actively engage with the multi-state food bank disaster partnership as well as Voluntary Organizations Active In Disasters (VOAD)/Community Organizations Active in Disaster (COAD) partners in preparing the Foodbank and its partners for disaster relief. Includes overseeing emergency distributions during times of disaster.
• Attending program-related training conferences and workshops as appropriate.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited university required with emphasis in Non-Profit Administration, Public Health, or another related field; relevant master’s degree is a plus.
• Minimum of ten years’ experience driving multi-faceted program work with an emphasis on program design, collecting and measuring outcomes using evidentiary procedures, assessing risk, and garnering financial support for sustainability.
• Minimum of five years’ experience managing and developing staff with proven success in mentoring, leading, and motivating.
• Display track record of effectively leading a performance and outcome-based program and team with experience in operationalizing strategies, continuous improvement, and growing programs to scale.
• Demonstrated persuasive, credible, and succinct communicator with excellent interpersonal skills collaborating with internal and external stakeholders.
• Experience in achieving impact through influence with diverse stakeholders, including forging strong partnerships that build consensus and trust, and inspire action toward shared goals.
• Customer focused with a strong sense of business acumen and an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with high levels of honesty and integrity and an innovative, flexible outlook.
• Courage to take risks, stand up for what you believe in and do the right thing.
• Proven experience in fundraising for programming work including securing multi-year gifts from corporations and foundations.
• Demonstrated commitment to compliance, timely reporting and accuracy of reporting outcomes and inspection results to outside entities.
• Passion for the Foodbank mission and the ability to demonstrate SLAFB’s Core Values: Stewardship, Teamwork, Agility and Respect.
• Bilingual proficiency a plus.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:

In addition to working onsite at the Foodbank facility, the Vice President of Community Impact & Innovation will spend time in the community, at partner sites, and at direct food distribution events. Physical requirements include:

• Walking to and from the corporate office to the warehouse, both of which are on the Foodbank campus.
• Walking on hard concrete surfaces (in the warehouse or in the community).
• Ability to lift, bend, stoop, pick up and move objects up to 40 pounds.

Work Schedule:

• Monday – Friday onsite at the SLAFB facility and in the community as needed.
• However, flexibility will be granted as appropriate in accordance to the SLAFB’s Remote Work/Working From Home Policy.
• Occasional weekend (Saturday/Sunday) or evening hours may be required.
• Meeting attendance may require overnight travel.

The impact you’ll make:

At the St. Louis Area Foodbank, we are working to build a stronger bi-state region by nourishing people, empowering communities, and transforming systems. With the dedicated partnership of nearly 600 hunger-relief programs and local agencies – including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and residential programs – we are responding to hunger in communities across 26 counties in Missouri and Illinois by distributing food to more than 400,000 people every year.

Since opening in 1975, and with the tremendous support and generosity of this community, the St. Louis Area Foodbank has grown to become our region’s largest food distribution charity dedicated to feeding those in need. Together, we are feeding people and working to address the root causes of hunger for lasting impact every day.

About the St. Louis Area Foodbank:

• The St. Louis Area Foodbank (SLAFB) is a member of Feeding America, which is a national network of 200 food banks all working together for the common goal of ensuring equitable access to nutritious food.
• This nationwide network offers us a variety of resources, like food, funds, best practices, and gives our work a much bigger, louder voice than we could hope to have on our own.
• The St. Louis Area Foodbank supports 26 counties – 14 in Missouri and 12 in Illinois – thus serves, supports and stewards a diverse group of stakeholders across our region, as well as serves as a member of Feeding Missouri (the 6 Feeding America Food Banks in Missouri) and Feeding Illinois (the 7 Feeding America Food Banks in Illinois).
• As a food bank, we collect food from a variety of sources, such as manufacturers, retail stores, farmers, and individual donors.
• We then store, sort, and repackage that food at the highest safety standards and finally distribute that food to our network of agencies and programs, which work directly with people in the community.
• We facilitate the movement of food safely and efficiently and offer the kinds of resources and support to our partner agencies that a single food pantry or shelter could not hope to access on its own.
  • VISION: A nutritionally secure Missouri and Illinois.
  • MISSION: Building a stronger bi-state region by nourishing people, empowering communities, and transforming systems.

What we can offer you:

Beyond a great mission, dedicated team members, and an incredible opportunity to truly make a difference in our community, you will be generously rewarded for your contributions including:

• Competitive pay commensurate with experience
• Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) plan
• 403b plan with robust company match
• Comprehensive benefits (medical, dental, vision, group company-paid life insurance, short-term disability, and more!)

We work hard, play hard and change lives – so apply to join our Foodbank Family!

APPLY ON OUR WEBSITE: https://stlfoodbank.aaimtrack.com/jobs/1054690 

This job description does not list all the duties of the job.  Performance of other duties may be requested.  Evaluations will be in part based upon performance of the tasks listed in this job description. St. Louis Area Foodbank has the right to revise this job description at any time.  The job description is not a contract for employment.

Revised December 2023