Food Recovery Lead

The SF Market; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The SF Market is seeking a Food Recovery Lead to manage the daily operations of our Food Recovery Program. You will coordinate donations from Market merchants to a network of nonprofit partners, ensuring quality and tracking data for funders and City agencies.

You will report to the Market Community Program Manager, build strong relationships with merchants and partners, and help advance SB 1383 goals while representing the Market to various stakeholders.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in food recovery or related field
• Experience in nonprofit environment
• Strong communication and coordination with diverse stakeholders

Responsibilities

• Establish and sustain relationships with Market merchants and nonprofit partners
• Oversee day-to-day operations of the Food Recovery Program
• Coordinate early-morning donation activities and logistics (Mon-Fri, 6 AM start)
• Ensure quality control and data tracking of donations
• Analyze program data and prepare reports for funders and partners
• Develop communications materials and represent The SF Market to stakeholders
• Support purchase facilitation and funder relationships
• Assist with SB 1383 implementation and regulatory reporting
• Collaborate with the Community Program Manager on program planning

Skills

Food recovery

Nonprofit experience

Excel

Communication

Organized

Team collaboration

Safety knowledge

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Job description

The Food Recovery Lead manages the day-to-day operations of The SF Market’s Food Recovery Program, which recovers surplus fresh produce and grocery items from Market merchants and redistributes them free of charge to a network of nonprofit Community Partners serving food-insecure Bay Area residents. Since launching in 2016, the program has recovered more than 10.6 million pounds of food-an average of roughly 4,000 pounds per day- equivalent to an estimated 3,300 meals daily. Reporting to the Market Community Program Manager, this role builds and maintains relationships with merchants and Community Partners, oversees donation quality and data tracking, and represents The SF Market to funders, City agencies, and community stakeholders.

• Establish, cultivate, and sustain relationships with Market merchants and nonprofit community partner organizations, in partnership with the Community Program Manager
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the Food Recovery Program, including:
• Beginning each workday Mon-Fri, at 6 AM: conduct 2 hours of rapid-paced communications via text and in-person while coordinating surplus food donations from Market merchants to Community Partners
• Maintaining consistent, effective communication with merchants and community partners
• Providing oversight and quality control over donations
• Collecting and tracking donation data
• Analyze and report program data to funders and partners, including grant reports, in partnership with the Community Program Manager
• Create and contribute to communications materials about the Program
• Represent The SF Market to key program stakeholders, including Market merchants, board members, partners, funders, City leaders, media, and community leaders
• Support community partner purchasing on the Market by facilitating Merchant-Customer relationships
• Support the Community Program Manager in managing program funder relationships
• Support continued implementation of SB 1383 on the Market and with City oversight agencies
• Serve as liaison between the City of San Francisco and Market merchants, providing annual donation reports, in partnership with the Community Program Manager
• Collaborate with the Community Program Manager on program planning and design for the future of the Food Recovery Program

Qualifications

• 2 or more years of experience working in food recovery, food banking, or the food insecurity field
• Experience working in a nonprofit environment

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to identify a wide variety of fruits and vegetables and evaluate the safety and quality of donations
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office, particularly Excel
• Extremely organized and efficient, with excellent attention to detail
• High level of professionalism, diplomacy, and good judgment
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; comfortable using phone and text messaging
• Ability to professionally represent the Market to community partners, funders, the public, media, and other key stakeholders
• Ability to effectively communicate with and motivate a diverse cross-section of stakeholders
• Able to work independently with minimal oversight, and collaboratively as part of a team
• Proactive problem-solver who works well within tight time constraints
• Able to coordinate multiple sites, personnel, and materials, and to negotiate competing priorities
• Knowledge of food recovery best practices, including Safe Food Handling and the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act

Physical Demands

• Able to walk 2-3 miles on a regular basis
• Able to lift and move boxes and bags of product up to 50 lbs., by hand and with a hand truck
• Able to work in a loud, fast-paced, physical environment around forklifts, trucks, and refrigerated warehouse spaces

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated understanding of the policy environment shaping food recovery, including but not limited to SB 1383
• Able to think strategically about the Program's future, including assessing the costs and benefits of potential changes
• Comfortable functioning as an 'outsider' within a merchant business, operating the Program without hampering merchant operations
• Experience with or knowledge of farming, packing, distribution, handling, and/or storage of produce
• Knowledge of the wholesale/retail produce business
• Ability to speak Spanish and/or Mandarin

This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by this employee. He or she will be required to follow any other instructions and to perform any other duties requested by his or her supervisor.