Specialist, Partnerships - DC
About The Position
The Specialist, Partnerships - DC serves as a primary relationship manager and trusted resource for more than 80 partner agencies throughout all eight wards of the District of Columbia. The position builds and sustains relationships with nonprofit and community-based organizations, learns their priorities and challenges, responds to concerns, strengthens organizational capacity, improves partners’ experience with Capital Area Food Bank programs and systems, and ensures program compliance. The Specialist develops knowledge of the District’s emergency food and food-access landscape and uses partner feedback, program data, and community needs to identify trends, assess opportunities, and make recommendations. The role balances relationship management, compliance, recruitment, partner engagement, data management, training, and competing priorities. In collaboration with colleagues across regions and departments, the Specialist plans and implements targeted recruitment, engagement, and capacity-building efforts, and provides structured opportunities for partners to share feedback and contribute to CAFB’s work. The position includes local travel throughout the District. The schedule is hybrid, with regular hours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; occasional weekends or extended hours may be required for special events.
Requirements
- Associate degree.
- Two to three years of experience in customer service, community engagement, member services, or a related field.
- Demonstrated ability to build effective working relationships with people and organizations representing diverse backgrounds, identities, cultures, lived experiences, and levels of organizational capacity.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to tailor information to different audiences.
- Ability to manage multiple concurrent responsibilities, establish priorities, meet deadlines, and maintain follow-through in a changing environment.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to travel throughout the District of Columbia.
Nice To Haves
- Knowledge of, or ability to quickly learn about, District of Columbia communities and the local food-access environment.
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office software, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
- Familiarity with food access, economic insecurity, and structural barriers affecting communities.
- Ability to uphold compliance standards and communicate corrective actions clearly, respectfully, and consistently.
- Strong analytical and critical-thinking skills, including evaluating quantitative and qualitative information, identifying patterns and gaps, and making sound recommendations.
- Attention to detail and ability to manage competing priorities in a diverse, fast-paced, team-oriented environment.
- Experience facilitating meetings or presentations for groups with varying levels of knowledge and experience.
- Experience working with customer relationship management systems and electronic databases.
- Access to a reliable vehicle.
Responsibilities
- Manage relationships with more than 80 partner agencies across all eight wards of the District of Columbia, maintaining regular communication and understanding each partner’s priorities, strengths, and challenges.
- Manage partner engagement, compliance activities, site visits, recruitment, trainings, and follow-up commitments, prioritizing work according to urgency, risk, partner impact, and regional goals.
- Serve as the regional expert on partner agency activities and collaborate on partner recruitment, onboarding, engagement, and relationship-management strategies.
- Respond to partner questions and concerns respectfully and promptly, resolve issues, and navigate difficult conversations while maintaining effective working relationships.
- Schedule and conduct site monitoring and evaluation visits to ensure compliance with CAFB and Feeding America National Organization requirements.
- Monitor partner compliance and support the development and implementation of corrective action plans.
- Maintain accurate partner information, documentation, and activity records in organizational databases and files.
- Plan and facilitate accessible partner trainings, workshops, and meetings that respond to differences in experience, organizational capacity, and community context.
- Create opportunities for partner agencies to engage with, contribute to, and influence CAFB’s work in the District of Columbia.
- Conduct targeted outreach to potential partners and evaluate organizational readiness, geographic need, community reach, and alignment with regional priorities.
- Analyze partner activity, engagement, capacity, geographic coverage, and community needs to identify trends, gaps, risks, and opportunities to improve the network.
- Collaborate with other regional teams to establish and implement standards of practice that strengthen the regional partner network.
- Lead efforts to improve partner experience, including access to CAFB resources and interactions with food bank tools and systems.
- Engage partners in data collection and other CAFB initiatives, and recommend system enhancements to increase partner engagement.
- Balance planned projects with time-sensitive partner needs while maintaining thoughtful prioritization and follow-through on commitments.
- Perform other related duties as assigned.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
Associate degree
