Senior Manager of Food Sovereignty at Metro Caring in Denver, Colorado

[sheena.a...@gmail.com]

Title: Senior Manager, Food Sovereignty 

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer 

Classification: Exempt, Full-Time 40 hours 

Pay Rate: $60,000 - $75,000 

Start Date: October 2020 

SUMMARY
Metro Caring Nourishes our Neighbors, Provides Tools to Thrive, and Fosters Community to meet immediate needs while addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty. Using a multifaceted approach, Metro Caring’s approach couples direct services with community organizing and advocacy. The organization is poised for growth as we seek to innovate, share power with our stakeholders, and develop an equity-oriented policy agenda. Metro Caring is an impact-oriented organization, looking to test and scale up smart solutions while providing direct services to effect change. At Metro Caring, we: pursue equity, champion the mission, rise together, find the fun, own it, are brave, and think outside the box. We seek candidates who embody these values in their daily work and interactions with all. 

Metro Caring seeks a Senior Manager of our Food Sovereignty to operationalize our vision toward an equitable and inclusive food system by providing oversight of the operations of our direct-programming work related to food. Additionally, they will oversee the planning, coordination, and supervision of managers of the Nutrition and Food Access Programs and garden coordinator. They will ensure the strategic alignment between the program execution and the vision of our programs and benchmark qualitative and quantitative data toward those outcomes.

You are an ideal candidate for this role if you: 

• Value the details while seeing the big picture; and specifically, have experience with benchmark evaluations and progress-to-goal metrics 

• Have experience managing managers of people (managing through layers) 

• Get joy from identifying problems and ways that daily operations can become more efficient, and have an analytical eye toward those solutions 

• Have experience working with diverse populations of people, specifically supporting conflict resolution as they arise from difference 

• Have a lens of racial equity in all of the work you do • Love being “on the ground,” and “in the thick” of the work 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Management of operations, programs, and logistics 

• Host quarterly team retreats and an annual retreat to review progress and set goals to align with strategic plan and budget 

• Responsible for hiring, onboarding, performance management, performance development, and firing as needed for team 

• Cultivate positive, values aligned team culture 

• Ensure implementation of high-quality food sovereignty programs aligned to the strategic goals of the organization 

• Implement strategies to improve team processes and programs that align to goals and outcomes 

• Solving and identifying places for innovation and continuous improvement with an analytical, thoughtful, results-oriented stance 

• Manage communication between core program staff, volunteers, participants, managers and leadership 

• Ensure alignment with collaborative community partners that reinforces Metro Caring’s mission 

• Work with managers to develop and sync program schedules and calendars 

• Solve problems as issues arise; making sound, values-aligned decisions, learning from failures, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement 

• Develop budgets in collaboration with team managers and ensure delivery of programs on budget 

• Identify and pursue new opportunities to grow the department’s budget and impact 

• Write grants and grant reports for food sovereignty team, working with managers to raise funding for these programs and supporting program growth goals 

• Complete program reports for the organization’s leadership team, Board of Directors, evaluation committee, and funders 

• Assess current and prospective partnerships to ensure values and strategy alignment and sufficient return on investment 

• Contribute meaningfully to strategically and values aligned coalitions and partnership work such as the Blueprint to End Hunger workgroup 2/3 

Supervision and Management of People

 • Be an open and effective communicator between staff, partners, and community 

• Coach and train staff and volunteers on the impact team 

• Develop and instill strong, positive program culture among staff, volunteers, and larger community 

• Provide direct supervision to the leaders of each program to guide and support their development (of both program and of selves) 

• Develop rapport and build relationships with staff, volunteers, participants, and broader partners 

• Observe behavior and dynamics across program teams and apply coaching and development techniques 

Data and Evaluation 

• Facilitate program evaluation and progress reports 

• Ensure collection of program data and outcome evaluation 

• Cultivate equitable evaluation norms and processes on team and movement from measurement of outputs to measurement of impact and outcomes 

• Provide support for administrative staff to collect/report data required monthly, quarterly, and annually 

• Evaluate the impact of programs and support the implementation of changes in line with the goals of the broader impact team and organization 

Culture of Engagement 

• Participate in monthly all-staff meetings/retreats; lead relevant trainings and present department specific content for full team as applicable 

• Attend every other Leadership Team meeting 

• Coordinate team to lead gathering content at least one week each month 

• Attend at least three volunteer gatherings per week and meet and greet volunteers 

• Attend a Planting Seeds tour within first month of employment and invite at least 2 contacts per year to attend 

• Must have understanding of system inequities and a commitment to continue personal learning and growth around issues of race and class equity

REQUIRED SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS 

• 4+ years experience leading, managing, directing, or coordinating the daily operations of a program, site, or facility 

• 4+ years experience supervising and coaching team members who run direct service programs 

• Experience managing managers 

• Experience with implementation science, continuous improvement processes (such as PDSA, LEAN or Six Sigma), and other implementation, evaluation, and fidelity frameworks 

• Experience evaluating and collecting data that supports broader team outcomes 

• Ability to bring a diverse, equitable, and inclusive lens to management and programming 

• Strong interpersonal communication particularly in diverse communities 

• Familiarity with issues of systemic inequity, and preferable understanding of the food system or food justice issues 

• Bilingual preferred in Spanish, Arabic, Mandarin, Russian, or Burmese 

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS 

Metro Caring offers a fulfilling workplace and comprehensive benefits package. 

• Join a diverse, passionate, enthusiastic and collaborative team 

• 120 hours per year of paid time off; paid sick leave; paid holidays 

• 401K retirement plan with an employer-paid match 

• Competitive employee health dental, short-term disability and Parental/Family Leave plans 

TO APPLY: Send cover letter and resume to j...@metrocaring.org. Include Senior Manager, Food Sovereignty in the subject line. Only candidates who are selected for interviews will be contacted. No phone calls, please.

Metro Caring is an equal opportunity employer. The organization is dedicated to the goal of building a diverse staff and we encourage applications from qualified individuals of all backgrounds.