Senior Manager, Volunteer Engagement

CAPITAL AREA FOOD BANK•Washington, DC

10d•$83,800 - $113,400•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Manager of Volunteer Engagement reports to the Director of Community Engagement and leads the strategy, execution, and continuous improvement of CAFB’s volunteer operations and customer service experience across both DC and Northern Virginia. CAFB’s volunteer community is one of the organization’s most important resources, with more than 13,000 volunteers annually supporting the food bank’s work and saving the organization millions of dollars each year. Volunteers advance CAFB’s mission in many ways, including sorting and packing food in the distribution center, planting and harvesting in the garden, distributing fresh produce at free community farmers markets, and supporting other hands-on opportunities that help move food into the community. This role is responsible for ensuring those volunteers have a consistent, welcoming, safe, and meaningful experience that helps advance CAFB’s mission. The Senior Manager also serves as a thought partner to the Director in strengthening the overall volunteer experience and identifying opportunities to improve how volunteers are welcomed, engaged, retained, and connected more deeply to the mission. This role ensures the volunteer experience is welcoming, mission-driven, and operationally disciplined by setting clear expectations, supervising consistent execution across DC and Virginia, and serving as the bridge between Volunteer Engagement, Warehouse Operations, and other departments across the Food Bank. The Senior Manager works through Volunteer Engagement Specialists and other volunteer-facing staff to ensure activities are aligned with operational guidelines, safety practices, compliance expectations, and CAFB’s standards for hospitality and service. The Senior Manager must maintain a strong and current understanding of CAFB’s work, priorities, and community impact, and be able to translate that knowledge into volunteer communications, outreach, and experiences that are fresh, informative, and mission-centered. This role requires a weekly presence at both the DC and Virginia sites to ensure consistency in compliance, customer service, safety practices, and overall volunteer experience across locations. In addition, the Senior Manager works closely with the Director of Community Engagement, Operations, and other internal departments to identify opportunities where volunteers can add value and help design meaningful volunteer experiences that support operational needs, donor engagement, and broader community engagement goals. Because volunteering is often a gateway to deeper engagement with CAFB, this role also helps connect volunteer experience to broader community engagement and fundraising strategies. The Senior Manager will support CAFB’s peer-to-peer fundraising portfolio by helping identify new community and corporate partners for campaigns such as Season’s Feedings, Food From the Bar, and Hard Hats Against Hunger. This role will also work with the fundraising team on volunteer-connected cultivation events and engagement opportunities that increase CAFB’s visibility, reach, fundraising potential, and connection to the community.

Requirements

At least 7 years of experience managing a team in a professional setting.
Bachelor’s Degree preferred.
Strong project management skills, with the ability to manage timelines, details, competing priorities, and cross-functional workstreams.
Clear, consistent verbal and written communicator who can build trust across teams, volunteers, and internal partners.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint).
Strong customer service orientation, with the ability to create a welcoming, responsive, and mission-centered experience for volunteers and partners.
Dependable and detail-oriented, with strong follow-through and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
Must attend required food safety and other operational certification training courses.
Operate a pallet jack, or the ability to gain training, within the first 90 days of employment.
Occasional weekend availability required.

Responsibilities

Directly supervise, coach, and develop volunteer engagement staff, ensuring team members are clear on expectations, trained in customer service, and equipped to support volunteers across DC and NOVA locations.
Lead the implementation, consistency, and ongoing evolution of CAFB’s volunteer operations model across locations.
Set the direction for the day-to-day volunteer program and design systems that improve volunteer experience and operational coordination. Including managing both the internal and external volunteer calendars.
Develop consistent customer service standards for volunteer check-in, orientation, shift support, issue resolution, and post-shift appreciation.
With the aid of the volunteer management system (HOC) and volunteer survey results, identify opportunities to improve the volunteer experience before, during, and after each shift, including communications, orientation, lounge experience, recognition, and follow-up.
Maintain a strong and current understanding of CAFB’s work, priorities, and community impact, and translate that knowledge into volunteer communications, outreach, and experiences that are fresh, informative, and mission-centered.
Serve as a thought partner to the Director of Community Engagement on strategies to strengthen the volunteer experience, improve retention, and deepen volunteer connection to CAFB’s mission.
Join monthly Feeding America National Office (FANO) calls with other volunteer managers to learn best practices and build connections with other food banks.
Quarterly visits to other food-based nonprofit volunteer programs.
Track the local volunteer landscape, including opportunities and trends.
Serve as the primary liaison between Volunteer Engagement, Warehouse Operations, and internal departments, ensuring strong communication, clear expectations, and effective cross-functional collaboration.
Establish and maintain streamlined workflows with Operations related to volunteer assignments, shift planning, inventory needs, safety procedures, salvage protocols, and compliance requirements.
Ensure all volunteer activities are executed consistently and in alignment with CAFB’s operational guidelines, safety standards, and food handling procedures.
Provide leadership and direction to Volunteer Engagement staff to adapt volunteer plans based on changing operational priorities, including inventory fluctuations, volunteer volume, and urgent or emergency needs.
Serve as the escalation point for volunteer-related operational concerns, customer service issues, safety questions, and cross-departmental coordination needs.
Partner with internal teams to identify, design, and implement new volunteer workstreams that support operational goals while enhancing the volunteer experience.
Oversee the maintenance, accuracy, hygiene, and effective use of the volunteer database (HOC) to ensure accurate records, reporting, and operational coordination.
Use volunteer data and program insights to monitor trends (e.g., participation, productivity, retention) and inform continuous improvement in volunteer engagement and operational integration.
Build a pipeline of highly engaged volunteers who may grow into CAFB ambassadors, donors, peer-to-peer fundraisers, or community connectors.
Strengthen CAFB’s peer-to-peer fundraising portfolio by cultivating new community and corporate partners for campaigns such as Season’s Feedings, Food From the Bar, and Hard Hats Against Hunger, while identifying opportunities to build new platforms that engage companies, professional networks, civic groups, and community partners.
Advance volunteer recognition and volunteer-connected initiatives, stewardship, and retention strategies that encourage volunteers to return and deepen their relationship with CAFB.
Coordinate volunteer components of peer-to-peer campaigns, corporate activations, special events, and broader community engagement efforts.
Increasing CAFB’s visibility, reach, fundraising potential, and connection to the community.
Work in partnership with the fundraising team and Director of Donor Engagement to ensure donor-related volunteer activities are planned and managed with excellence, care, and strong attention to the donor experience.
Other duties as assigned