Director of Child Nutrition Programs

At Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, we're committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our organization grows and succeeds when all members of the community, where we live and serve, have a seat at the table to help us ensure all of our neighbors have enough to eat. We invite candidates from all diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, etc., to join our team.

Job Summary

The Director of Child Nutrition Programs leads the Food Bank’s efforts to ensure that all children in our service area have access to enough nutritious food for healthy development. The Director provides vision and direction to the Child Nutrition staff who work with community partners in 11 counties, both urban and rural, to build capacity to run federally and privately funded child nutrition programs. The Director also provides oversight to staff who serve thousands of meals to young people in Out-of-School-Time programs through the highly regulated Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and to staff who run school pantries and backpack programs. The Child Nutrition team shares resources and best practices with community partners, connects community organizations to learn from each other, facilitates strategic conversations among stakeholders, and problem solves issues that arise in the implementation of child nutrition programs. The Director sets priorities and strategic direction for Child Nutrition programs and works collaboratively across Food Bank departments to meet the goals of the Food Bank’s strategic plan. The Director wears multiple hats by being a leader, facilitator, supporter, and participant in various regional and national coalitions, always with the goals of increasing access to and improving the quality of child nutrition programs.

Key Responsibilities

ADMINISTRATION, OVERSIGHT AND COMPLIANCE

• Learn and maintain a high level of understanding of complex, highly inflexible local, state and federal regulations around child nutrition programs.
• Prepare and/or review weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual programmatic reports for accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure team is properly prepared for successful scheduled and unannounced programmatic audits from various oversight authorities.
• Establish a framework for developing goals, tracking progress and evaluating highly regimented programs.
• Remain up to date on federal regulatory changes that affect programmatic delivery and participation requirements.

LEADERSHIP AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT

• Inspire, guide and empower staff:
• Create a positive environment, establishing strong communication and building trust.
• Identify those with potential for leadership and provide coaching and training to assist staff in growing their leadership capacity
• Provide Child Nutrition staff with professional and personal growth opportunities as appropriate. 
• Ensure the Child Nutrition team is structured with clear roles, responsibilities, job descriptions and work plans to support the development, maintenance and sustainability of community-based relationships, as well as support the goals and objectives of the Food Bank’s strategic plan.
• Participate in and contribute to regional, statewide and national conversations about how to build collaborations that improve children’s food security.
• Stay current on trends and best practices for child nutrition collaborations and programs.
• Work collaboratively with the senior management team to implement cross-program activities and functions.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, PARTNERSHIP AND SUPPORT

• Develop and maintain partnerships in urban, suburban and rural communities in the Food Bank’s 11-county service area to collaboratively improve access to and participation in child nutrition programs.
• Work closely with the Government Affairs team to highlight and educate elected officials about the importance of child nutrition programs and to advocate for improvements to programs.
• Increase capacity of community partners to better serve their students and program participants by sharing knowledge, technical assistance, and resources.
• Manage active projects and explore new possibilities for how the Food Bank can work with the community to improve children’s food security.
• Work with regional, state and national partners to increase access to and participation in child nutrition programs.
• Represent the Food Bank at community meetings and events.

DATA DRIVEN IMPACT

• Coordinate with the Information Technology team and provide oversight to the Child Nutrition area’s quantitative and qualitative evaluation activities.
• Work with Child Nutrition staff to ensure that the people and organizations benefiting from programs are included in the design, implementation and evaluation of the programs.
• Use data, study findings, and best practices from other organizations to lead the Child Nutrition team in supporting schools and community partners to implement Child Nutrition programs.
• Provide programmatic recommendations to Chief Program Officer and other executive leaders, based on relevance to organizational mission, demonstrated effectiveness, financial analysis and projections, innovation and potential for impact.
• Explore ways that technology and data can be used to develop and strengthen Child Nutrition programs and activities.
• Monitor progress of programs against goals and objectives set out in implementation plans.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in non-profit management, education, child development, social services or a related field and at least seven years related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience required.
• Experience using Salesforce preferred
• Self-motivated, able to balance multiple and competing priorities or deadlines, excellent organizational skills, and ability to track multiple projects, programs and tasks as delegated to program staff.
• Enthusiasm for directing the compliance of highly complex and often inflexible programs
• Experience working with community-based coalitions and organizations, community capacity building efforts, technical assistance and group facilitation
• Experience leading, inspiring and motivating a team.
• Excellent written and oral presentation skills, with ability to engage, inspire, build credibility and engender trust with diverse audiences
• Vision to build strategic partnerships, develop and replicate program models and connect programs to funding and other resources
• Ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts effectively while preserving important relationships with partners and funders
• Demonstrated affinity for conducting program planning and evaluation
• Knowledge of schools, out of school time programs and childcare settings and how they function
• Ability to meet crises calmly to solve problems while maintaining attention to detail and accuracy
• Aptitude to develop budgets and manage expenses successfully to budgets
• Enjoyment of working with diverse populations
• Demonstrated analytical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Ability to working strategically and effectively with multiple team members
• Experience working with Microsoft Office suite
• Flexibility to attend evening and/or weekend meetings and/or events required
• Must have a valid driver’s license - This position requires traveling throughout our 11-county service area with occasional trips to other parts of the country. Work related travel is reimbursed at the federal reimbursement rate.
• FBI Clearance
• Act 33 & Act 34 Clearances

Disclaimer

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all responsibilities, duties, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.