Director, Economic Mobility Services (Chicago or Washington, DC)

Work. Serve. Thrive.

Imagine a place where your talent can make a meaningful difference in peoples' lives. Working at Feeding America is a uniquely rewarding experience in which our employees work together as vital parts of a much larger mission. We are innovative, mission-focused, diverse, collaborative, values-driven and focused on results.

We are a national, nonprofit organization and the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity. Located in the heart of downtown Chicago, our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger.

The Opportunity

The Director, Economic Mobility Services will lead Feeding America’s efforts to support food banks’ capacity to pursue initiatives designed to reduce need for charitable food assistance. This staff person will act as a leader within a diverse group of capacity-building professionals and will by the nature and complexity of the work collaborate closely with professionals from across Feeding America and the food bank network.

Salary Range: $100,000 to $125,000+ Based on Experience

Responsibilities:

• Craft a strategy through which Feeding America will serve member food banks as they seek to strengthen organizational capacity efforts to end hunger through economic mobility initiatives. Develop and implement a plan that makes disproportionate investments in food banks serving communities facing disproportionate rates of food insecurity.
• Design and implement a suite of services to support food banks’ capacity to understand, adopt and pursue economic mobility initiatives as core components of their strategic work. Services may include assessments, cohort trainings, webinars, communities of practice, and facilitated implementation support.
• Lead staff who act as capacity building consultants to food banks, create spaces for the exchange of information and expertise, and facilitate professional development opportunities for food bank staff engaged in ending hunger work.
• Co-create with Vice President, Ending Hunger Partnerships strategy for movement of innovative practices from pilot stage to readiness for network dissemination.
• Partner closely with colleagues across Network Engagement, Supply Chain, Equity, Research, and Innovation and with food bank stakeholders to ensure services respond to timely, emerging needs and opportunities and reflect the latest information on effective practices.
• Collaborate with colleagues in Network Learning & Engagement to ensure that food banks receive access to high quality learning materials, conference sessions, and tools, including learning emerging from conferences and communities of practice.
• Serve as a leader in Feeding America’s effort to build core capacities across the network, investing in strong relationships throughout the organization and making connections that drive better outcomes for those we serve.
• Partner with Sr. Director, Capacity Building Strategy & Growth to design and implement evaluation strategy that assesses service effectiveness and adjust services as necessary to optimize outcomes.
• Develop and lead strategy for disbursing member grants to food banks to support economic mobility capacity building efforts.
• Travel: 20% - 40%.

Foundational Requirements

• Mission Focused – Demonstrates a commitment to Feeding America’s mission through word and action. Is committed to keeping people facing hunger at the center of our work and strives to translate this commitment into action on a daily basis. Willing to advocate for people facing hunger and serve as an ambassador for Feeding America inside and outside of work.
• Embraces Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Demonstrates a personal commitment to valuing different backgrounds and life experiences through word and action. Takes personal actions to build an inclusive culture that ensures everyone can fully contribute based on their unique talents, skills and perspectives and feels welcomed and valued. Commits to driving equitable solutions to address root cause issues by incorporating an equity framework in their daily work.  Committed to continuous personal EDI development.

Required Leadership Competencies

• Establishes Vision & Crafts Strategy: Develops strategic initiatives and creates a supporting portfolio of projects aligned to department strategy and operating goals. Partners with leaders in other departments to identify strategies for breaking down long-term barriers to achieving critical organizational goals.
• Fosters Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Pursues opportunities to identify new ideas, scan for best practices, share learnings, and drive continuous improvement. Analyzes current practices, policies, and procedures to find areas for improvement and apply best practices. Reinforces a data-driven, learning, and innovation-focused mindset across the organization through persistent inquiry for and sharing of external practices. Gives others latitude to test new ideas and learn from the experience.
• Collaborates Internally & Externally: Leads cross-functional work groups and is regularly sought out to work collaboratively on problem-solving teams. Networks and fosters relationships with external partners to achieve long-term mutually beneficial outcomes. Promotes constructive conversations that challenge ideas and consider alternative points of view about issues and options. Models positive engagement in resolving conflict and elevates a focus on mission and what is best for the people we serve. Avoids finger-pointing and preserves others’ reputations, even in challenging situations.
• Inspires, Motivates & Influences Others: Shows passion for our mission in a way that energizes and engages others to personally do more toward ending hunger. Finds creative ways to engage and excite staff, food bank members, donors, and other key stakeholders to act upon our mission to end hunger. Sincerely thanks people at all levels of the organization for their contributions and provides them with specific feedback about good work. Garners support and influences others by adapting approach and messages aligned to audiences’ concerns.

Required Technical Competencies, Experience & Certifications

• Eight plus leading complex projects and initiatives, preferably in the anti-hunger movement or human services, poverty alleviation or similar field.
• Deep knowledge of programmatic interventions that show promise to reduce a person’s likelihood to be food insecure.
• Experience as an inclusive leader and responsive supervisor.
• Ability to successfully negotiate complexity.

Feeding America embraces a philosophy that recognizes and values diversity.  Our goal is to attract, develop, retain, and promote a talented diverse workforce in a culture where all employees will contribute to their fullest potential.

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