Food Vendor Relationship Manager

suma; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 15,000 - 25,000; Full time

Job summary

Suma is seeking an experienced, Portland-based contractor to lead two connected workstreams: building a replicable vendor onboarding process for the suma app, and serving as project lead for our 2026 Holiday Special, suma's annual holiday meal sales and distribution program.

This role will recruit and onboard vendors, refine evaluation criteria, coordinate with a delivery partner, and align cross-team efforts across marketing, product, and operations to ensure successful execution.

Qualifications

• Experience coordinating projects in nonprofit, food access, or community settings.
• Existing relationships with local food vendors and small businesses are a plus.
• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight.
• Business development or sales experience is desirable.
• Availability from early October through January wrap-up, with December distribution dates.

Responsibilities

• Design and document a repeatable vendor onboarding and information process.
• Identify and vet approximately 2-3 new vendors and coordinate with a delivery partner.
• Vet vendors using established and refined criteria to fit project needs.
• Coordinate vendor products/offers for distribution on the suma app.
• Lead recruitment and onboarding for the Holiday Special and manage cross-team coordination.

Skills

Project coordination

Vendor onboarding

Business development

Cross-functional collaboration

Job description

Suma operates the suma app (app.mysuma.org), an open-source e-commerce marketplace where 3700+ low-income people, people of color, adults with disability, and other vulnerable community members purchase and save money on essential expenses, access benefits, subsidies and discounts, and protect their data. The app responds to technical barriers (e.g., privacy, enrollment) that prevent our communities from accessing benefits they qualify for. The app has nearly 3,500 users and about 66.55% are SNAP/WIC beneficiaries.

FY26, users completed 38K+ app transactions and saved $247K+ on essential expenses, a steep increase from 6.5K transactions and $77K in savings in FY25. Our 10-person team has deep software engineering, product, accessibility, engagement, operations, communications, and customer service expertise.

Project Overview & Purpose

Suma is seeking an experienced, Portland-based contractor to lead two connected workstreams: (a.) building a replicable vendor onboarding process for the suma app, and (b.) serving as project lead for our 2026 Holiday Special, suma's annual holiday meal sales and distribution program.

Suma has been actively meeting with and introducing new vendors to the app, supported by a long-term consultant, EXP. This role will pick up and advance that work: developing a documented, repeatable onboarding process while directly leading vendor recruitment and coordination for the 2026 Holiday Special. Additionally this role will help us find a delivery partner for meals.

Scope of Work

The contractor will pick up existing work from suma's long-term consultant (vendor lists, early concepts, and partial documentation) and build it into a complete, replicable process. Responsibilities include:

• Design and document a repeatable vendor onboarding and informational process for prospective suma app vendors, building on existing materials and concepts.
• Identify, meet with, and vet approximately 2-3 new vendors (in addition to a separate delivery/distribution partner, scoped below).
• Vet vendors based on existing criteria, while also expanding and refining this criteria per the project and suma needs.
• Coordinate new vendor product/offerings for distribution on the suma app.
• Vendor categories in scope: local food vendors, gift card providers, and gift certificate providers.
• Produce onboarding materials (templates, checklists, outreach scripts, or similar) that suma can reuse and refine.

B. Holiday Special Project Coordination

The contractor will serve as point of contact and project lead for the 2026 Holiday Special, suma's annual program that sells and distributes low-cost meals and gift cards to suma users. This year's program shifts away from a high volume oflarge prepped perishable items. Instead we’ll be focused on gift cards, gift certificates, and smaller, minimally perishable-dependent food items from local vendors, and a limited number of perishable meal deliveries. Responsibilities include:

• Lead recruitment and onboarding of holiday meal vendors using the process developed in Workstream A.
• Source, evaluate, and coordinate with a delivery/distribution partner for the program
• Coordinate overall program logistics: vendor supply/fulfillment timing, distribution logistics, and delivery coordination.
• Act as the project lead, directing and coordinating the rest of the suma team through the process, and executing needs (ex: Brand & Marketing Manager for visual materials and marketing, Product Team for building offerings on app, etc.)
• Generate an outline/plan that will allow us to serve not only current suma users, but recruit additional users in partnership with low income housing partners.
• Manage timeline across the two distribution windows:
• Gift cards/gift certificates: distribution beginning mid-December
• Food items: distribution December 22-23
• Support planning against this year's target volumes: approximately ~300 gift cards/certificates, and no more than 100 food units (compared to 200 meals distributed last year).

About Suma

Suma operates the suma app (app.mysuma.org), an open-source e-commerce marketplace where 3700+ low-income people, people of color, adults with disability, and other vulnerable community members purchase and save money on essential expenses, access benefits, subsidies and discounts, and protect their data. The app responds to technical barriers (e.g., privacy, enrollment) that prevent our communities from accessing benefits they qualify for. The app has nearly 3,500 users and about 66.55% are SNAP/WIC beneficiaries.

FY26, users completed 38K+ app transactions and saved $247K+ on essential expenses, a steep increase from 6.5K transactions and $77K in savings in FY25. Our 10-person team has deep software engineering, product, accessibility, engagement, operations, communications, and customer service expertise.

Project Overview & Purpose

Suma is seeking an experienced, Portland-based contractor to lead two connected workstreams: (a.) building a replicable vendor onboarding process for the suma app, and (b.) serving as project lead for our 2026 Holiday Special, suma's annual holiday meal sales and distribution program.

Suma has been actively meeting with and introducing new vendors to the app, supported by a long-term consultant, EXP. This role will pick up and advance that work: developing a documented, repeatable onboarding process while directly leading vendor recruitment and coordination for the 2026 Holiday Special. Additionally this role will help us find a delivery partner for meals.

Scope of Work

A. Vendor Onboarding Process Development

The contractor will pick up existing work from suma's long-term consultant (vendor lists, early concepts, and partial documentation) and build it into a complete, replicable process. Responsibilities include:

• Design and document a repeatable vendor onboarding and informational process for prospective suma app vendors, building on existing materials and concepts.
• Identify, meet with, and vet approximately 2-3 new vendors (in addition to a separate delivery/distribution partner, scoped below).
• Vet vendors based on existing criteria, while also expanding and refining this criteria per the project and suma needs.
• Coordinate new vendor product/offerings for distribution on the suma app.
• Vendor categories in scope: local food vendors, gift card providers, and gift certificate providers.
• Produce onboarding materials (templates, checklists, outreach scripts, or similar) that suma can reuse and refine.

B. Holiday Special Project Coordination

The contractor will serve as point of contact and project lead for the 2026 Holiday Special, suma's annual program that sells and distributes low-cost meals and gift cards to suma users. This year's program shifts away from a high volume oflarge prepped perishable items. Instead we’ll be focused on gift cards, gift certificates, and smaller, minimally perishable-dependent food items from local vendors, and a limited number of perishable meal deliveries. Responsibilities include:

• Lead recruitment and onboarding of holiday meal vendors using the process developed in Workstream A.
• Source, evaluate, and coordinate with a delivery/distribution partner for the program
• Coordinate overall program logistics: vendor supply/fulfillment timing, distribution logistics, and delivery coordination.
• Act as the project lead, directing and coordinating the rest of the suma team through the process, and executing needs (ex: Brand & Marketing Manager for visual materials and marketing, Product Team for building offerings on app, etc.)
• Generate an outline/plan that will allow us to serve not only current suma users, but recruit additional users in partnership with low income housing partners.
• Manage timeline across the two distribution windows:
• Gift cards/gift certificates: distribution beginning mid-December
• Food items: distribution December 22-23
• Support planning against this year's target volumes: approximately ~300 gift cards/certificates, and no more than 100 food units (compared to 200 meals distributed last year).

Deliverables

• A documented, replicable vendor onboarding process and supporting materials (templates, checklists, outreach/vetting guides) for use in future onboarding and Holiday Special cycles.
• A vetted roster of approximately 2-3 new platform vendors,
• A confirmed delivery/distribution partner for the holiday meals.
• Full project coordination and lead execution of the 2026 Holiday Special, including vendor coordination, delivery partner management, and cross-team coordination with suma staff.
• A post-campaign summary/retro capturing what worked, what should change, and recommended refinements to the onboarding process for potential new vendors.

Budget & Compensation

Suma anticipates a fixed-fee engagement in the range of $15,000 to $25,000 for the full scope described above. This range covers the contractor's time and coordination effort only and is separate from the Holiday Special program budget itself.

Proposers should submit a proposed fee structure (fixed fee preferred, though alternative structures such as monthly retainer will be considered) with a breakdown by workstream and/or phase.

Qualifications

We are looking for a candidate who brings:

• Demonstrated project coordination or project management experience in nonprofit, food access, business, or community-based settings
• Existing relationships with local food vendors, small businesses
• The ability to work independently, both ideating and implementing with minimal oversight
• Business development and/or sales experience
• Availability aligned with the project timeline (early October start through January wrap-up), including availability during the December distribution windows
• A local presence in Portland for vendor visits and delivery coordination (strongly preferred)
• Comfort leading and coordinating cross-functionally with internal staff and teams (e.g., marketing) without formal authority over them

Reporting Structure

The contractor will report directly to suma's Director of Operations, and will work with and help lead other suma staff (including the Brand & Marketing Manager) through the vendor onboarding and Holiday Special process.

Proposal Requirements

Interested contractors should submit a proposal including:

• A brief statement of relevant experience
• An overview of your proposed approach to the vendor onboarding process and Holiday Special coordination.
• A proposed fee and structure, with a breakdown by workstream and/or phase.
• Confirmation of availability for the full engagement window, including the December distribution dates.
• Confirmation of local presence/proximity to Portland.
• 1-2 references from relevant past work.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated primarily on:

• Relevant experience in vendor/business development, food access, or nonprofit project coordination.
• Demonstrated project coordination skills and approach.
• Existing local vendor relationships.
• Local proximity.
• Availability across the full engagement window.
• Cost will be considered but is not the primary deciding factor.

Procurement shall also support suma’s commitments to expand opportunities for businesses that are women or minority owned and/or local as well as to bring technology investments to low-income people, people of color and other frontline communities.