Community Engagement Specialist

The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri•Columbia, MO

About The Position

The Community Engagement Specialist will focus on maintaining, building and developing a strong partner network of food assistance programs within The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri’s service area. This role will work with the Community Engagement team to alleviate hunger through both direct and immediate interventions and long-term strategies that improve access and the charitable food experience for those seeking resources. Community Engagement Specialists administer overall program activities, with an emphasis on agency relations, partner education and engagement and capacity building. Duties include building and leveraging relationships to provide support to organizations and schools in an assigned region; helping those partners develop food security solutions that meet the needs of neighbors and their communities; conducting food safety and compliance monitoring at partner sites; and maintaining accurate records and standards based on applicable contracts with Feeding America and the USDA; and more. The ideal candidate will have strong customer service, communication and relationship building skills and have experience working with diverse populations. The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri is a regional disaster and hunger-relief network that brings together community resources to share tens of millions of pounds of food with neighbors each year. Our highly-collaborative team believes that empowerment, education and partnerships are key to getting food into the hands of those who need it most. With the help of 145 partner agencies, nearly 200 school partners and more than ten thousand volunteers, our day-to-day efforts help feed nearly 100,000 neighbors each month across our 32-county area. We encourage you to apply to see if improving food security is a mission that speaks to you.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required
Commensurate experience in the field of social work, community outreach or government will be considered.
Minimum of 3 years customer service experience
Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to build rapport with diverse organizations and audiences
Strong data, oral and written communication skills
Excellent knowledge and capability to operate within Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel and Outlook
Ability to learn and operate within The Food Bank’s internal data systems
Ability to function at a high level of productivity while maintaining attention to detail.
Strong organizational skills
Experienced approach to managing multiple assignments and workflow with a proven ability to relate to staff, management and interested parties for the benefit of The Food Bank
Ability to operate within a team framework and within the organizational mission
Ability to adapt quickly to change and an innovative approach to support partner agencies in doing the same.
ServSafe Food Protection Manager Certification must be secured at the cost of The Food Bank within first three months of employment.
Must have a valid driver’s license
Ability to lift 25 pounds

Responsibilities

Develop strong working relationships with a defined set of partner agencies and schools and serve as their primary point of contact for The Food Bank.
Connect partners to The Food Bank resources and best practices to help support the operational needs, sustainability and growth of their food distribution program.
Monitor partner agency performance for compliance with organizational needs and requirements, including follow-up food distribution site inspections for corrective action.
Maintain up-to-date agency documents to ensure agency compliance with applicable contracts and standards.
Identify and resolve issues (e.g. charitable food access, food safety, community needs, etc.) for community members and partner agencies.
Learn and operate within The Food Bank’s internal data systems, including CERES, Oasis Insights, Meal Connect and more.
Train new partners, schools and volunteers at Mobile Market locations as necessary based on capacity and strategic goals.
Work within the scope of professional agreements, such as those with Feeding America, Feeding Missouri, USDA, MODSS and all food distribution programs operated by The Food Bank.
Work with the Community Engagement team to create new initiatives, as well as evaluate and refine existing programs to better serve community members facing food insecurity.
Coordinate internal activities to support the overall goals of the Community Engagement Team.
Collaborate with The Food Bank team to facilitate efficient and effective delivery of services.
Assist the Community Engagement team in planning annual partner convening opportunities, such as quarterly webinars, annual regional meetings and the annual agency conference.
Present hunger-relief industry content to partner agencies through opportunities as listed above.
Support food distribution and SNAP application efforts via phone support or in-person at partner agencies, Mobile Markets, schools or other key locations as needed.
Plan, pilot and implement database assistance.
Train and support agencies in data collection software