Managing Director

MANAGING DIRECTOR

ABOUT HEAL FOOD ALLIANCE

HEAL is a multi-sector, multi-racial coalition building collective power to transform our food and farm systems, with racial justice and community self-determination at the core.

We are led by our member organizations, who represent over 2 million rural and urban farmers, ranchers, fishers, farm and food chain workers, indigenous groups, scientists, public health advocates, policy experts, community organizers, and activists nationwide.

HEAL is committed to achieving food and farm systems that are nourishing for our families, accessible and affordable for all communities, and fair to the working people who grow, distribute, prepare, and serve our food — while protecting the air, water, and land we all depend on.

ABOUT THIS POSITION

HEAL recently developed a five year strategic plan, and seeks a principled and practiced Managing Director (MD) to steward our progress towards that plan, ensuring consistency with HEAL’s mission, vision, and values.

The MD serves as the senior leader responsible for operationalizing HEAL’s strategic plan,  in charting the organization’s path to meet our members’ objectives. By ensuring internal team alignment to support our long-term organizational strategy, the MD oversees internal leadership and implementation, while the ED focuses on organizing strategy, movement partnerships, and resource development.

The Managing Director also serves as a key steward of organizational continuity during periods of Executive Director leave, sabbatical, transition, or reduced capacity, helping ensure operational stability, staff support, member accountability, and alignment with organizational priorities.

The person in this position:

• Ensures HEAL’s internal operations, systems, and implementation practices remain aligned with the organization’s movement commitments, member mandates, and values around racial justice, disability justice, intersectionality, collective governance, and organizational compliance.
• Provides administrative and programmatic leadership and support to HEAL’s ~15 staff in defining and implementing near and medium-term goals, objectives, strategies, and activities consistent with mandates from members, in service of executing HEAL’s strategic plan.
• Actively problem solves relevant strategic and tactical questions and matters of organizational prioritization, including staff time and resource allocation.
• Leads cross-team work planning, assessment of execution, and accountability processes, ensuring transparency and integrity.
• Supports fundraising, including coordinating inputs from members and partners on proposals and developing associated budgets.
• Manages reporting, including team contributions to grant reports, the end of year report, and quarterly donor updates.
• Builds a positive, collaborative team and efficient working environment where team members enjoy working together, deliver impact, and grow professionally over time.
• Through guidance and coaching, promotes a culture of distributive leadership and collective responsibility.
• With the leadership team, develops and adapts HEAL’s organizational systems as needed.
• Represents HEAL with members, funders, public events, and other settings as needed.
• Serves as operational partner to the Executive Director, and provides organizational continuity during Executive Director’s absence.

This position reports to HEAL’s Executive Director and directly supervises 3-6 Director-level staff.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Understanding of the intersections of racial, economic, gender, accessibility, and environmental justice.
• Demonstrable analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills - able to synthesize complexity into clear, actionable plans and frameworks
• Strong project management and prioritization; adept at balancing multiple initiatives and emerging priorities, including experience implementing and maintaining organizational project management systems and software.
• 5+ years of experience managing people and teams in ways that foster growth and a thriving, accountable, dynamic team culture
• Deep commitment to movement building and practical experience with grassroots organizing
• Excellent English-language written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate work progress into compelling narratives to inform decisions and funder reports
• Ability to work on a computer, participate in virtual meetings, and facilitate virtual meetings
• Willingness to travel up to 10-15%

Preferred:

• 5+ years of experience leading a similar-size team through strategy, planning, implementation, and evaluation
• 10+ years in social justice work (paid or unpaid)
• A passion for transforming our food and farm systems.

HEAL seeks self-motivated and strategic thinkers who are able to adapt as the organization shifts and grows. As a complex coalition, we seek individuals who are highly organized systems thinkers. We strongly encourage applicants with personal experience confronting the negative impacts of our current food system

For all positions, HEAL seeks individuals with a demonstrated understanding of the intersections of racial, economic, and environmental justice, who are committed to transformative change.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

This is a full time salaried exempt position with annual gross pay of $120,000-$130,000, commensurate with experience.

HEAL’s full time benefits package includes:

• 15 holidays, 2 personal days, and up to 3 civic engagement days per year
• Accrual of 13.33 vacation hours per month, totaling 20 days per calendar year
• Accrual of 8 sick hours per month, totaling 12 days per calendar year
• Medical, vision, dental for employees and dependents (Eligible the first day of the following month from date of hire)
• 100% employer sponsored basic life, short-term, and long-term disability insurance coverage.
• Access to a values-aligned 401k retirement plan with employer contribution
• Access to Flexible Spending Account (FSA) & Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) plans.
• Annual wellness, professional development, and home office stipends
• A paid three-month sabbatical after the first 7 years of continuous service, and each 4 years after that.

HEAL also closes down our office for a paid winter hibernation period during the two

weeks surrounding Christmas and New Years (inclusive) and a paid one-week summer

rejuvenation period.

HEAL loans a laptop for work use, and provides a partial internet and cell phone

reimbursement.

HEAL Food Alliance is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the

basis of race, color, religion or belief, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sex

(including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), gender identity or

expression, sexual orientation or any other status protected by law. People from

communities disproportionately negatively impacted by the US food system are strongly

encouraged to apply.

To apply for this position, please complete the application form on our website at

healfoodalliance.org/work-with-us by June 3rd, 2026.