Job Description

Title: Community Engagement Manager

Reports to: Director of Partnerships and Community Engagement

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Hours: Monday - Friday with occasional evening & weekend hours

West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH)—established in 1979 and one of the largest and most successful food pantries in New York City—provides emergency food assistance and supportive services, including access to benefits like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to low-income New York families. West Side Campaign Against Hunger’s mission is to alleviate hunger by ensuring all New Yorkers have access with dignity to a choice of healthy food and supportive services.

WSCAH’s community of customers and partner organizations has grown significantly, as food insecurity has greatly increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of customers WSCAH serves has more than doubled since the outset of the pandemic and we now work with over 23,000 unique households through 30 different distribution locations across the city. WSCAH’s aim is to engage our growing community of customers and partners on a deeper level to best understand and serve our customer’s needs, advocate for changes to the food system, and provide education and engagement on key resources to help alleviate hunger.

Compensation and Benefits: The salary range for the Community Engagement Manager position is $59,000-$65,000 based on experience and qualifications. WSCAH offers a comprehensive benefits package, including 100% company-paid medical and dental insurance for employees and applicable dependents, company-sponsored life insurance, 403b retirement plan with 6% match after one year of employment as well as paid holidays that include a winter break between Christmas and New Year's Day and vacation leave.

Key areas of responsibility will include:

• Develop clear and consistent communication channels between WSCAH and our customers
• Engage with the WSCAH community, with an emphasis on customers, partners, and customer board members, to ensure the needs of the community are being heard, elevated, and acted upon
• Supervise two part-time Customer Support Specialists
• Oversee the customer check-in process and ensure standardization of the customer experience across all distribution locations
• Develop and provide trainings on customer service and other relevant topics to ensure all distribution sites are providing the ‘WSCAH experience’ to customers
• Conduct customer satisfaction surveys, interviews, and focus groups on a regular basis
• Build advocacy campaigns, in collaboration with the Executive Director and other key advocacy team members, based on overall WSCAH advocacy goals and metrics, and engage with our customers and community members to leverage their voice to influence change at the City, State and Federal levels
• Collaborate with WSCAH Communications team to collect community engagement stories and share social media content such as photos and customer testimonials from customers and partners
• Regularly attend site visits and meet with community partner organizations to better understand our work together and identify areas for strengthening our partnership
• Attend outreach events in collaboration with other community organizations to promote WSCAH’s services
• Host quarterly meetings with the WSCAH community in collaboration with the Benefits Access team to share resources and new opportunities
• Represent the WSCAH brand in the community through the WSCAH core values of dignity, community, and choice
• Participate in meetings and events at WSCAH’s 86th Street location, community partner sites, and community events across the city as needed

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies to perform the essential functions of this position.

• Project/Resource Management – Establishes plans and priorities; organizes human, physical and financial resources; delegates tasks and responsibilities appropriately; coordinates and multi-tasks; simplifies and clearly communicates complex information
• Flexibility and Adaptability – Willing and able to change work tasks when needed; shifts priorities based on work demands; assesses and balances competing values (i.e. policies and mission needs), and operates effectively in the face of uncertainty and change.
• Decision Making and Problem Solving – Reaches sound conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of pertinent/available information; takes calculated risks in uncertain or ambiguous situations to make sound, innovative decisions and to address problems.
• Communication – Effectively conveys information both verbally and in writing; listens effectively; promotes and models effective teamwork; works well with people of all levels both within and outside of WSCAH; welcomes differing ideas and points of view and encourages participation at the highest levels.
• Professional Demeanor – Willingly aligns professional goals with the needs and priorities of the organization and believes in the importance of doing so; demonstrates commitment to the job and organization as well as strong initiative and self-motivation to learn, develop, and succeed; willingly accepts personal responsibility and accountability for outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications

While the following experience and skills are preferred, applicants are encouraged to apply even if they don’t currently meet all the listed qualifications.

• Demonstrated commitment to working with low-income families and individuals
• Great communication skills with the ability to motivate multiple stakeholders toward a common goal
• Strong customer service and conflict resolution skills
• Experience leading trainings or workshops
• Passionate about creating change with the ability to think creatively to find innovative solutions to maximize organizational impact
• Demonstrated competency with Microsoft Word, Excel, and other relevant software
• Strong organizational, multitasking, and problem-solving skills
• Previous supervisory experience strongly preferred
• Highly proficient in conversational and written English and Spanish

This job description is intended to convey information essential to understanding the scope of the position and it is not intended to be an exhaustive list of skills, efforts, duties, responsibilities or working conditions associated with the position.

WSCAH is committed to a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace. WSCAH is an equal- opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.