Community Impact & Innovation Director

Job Title: Community Impact & Innovation Director

Position Purpose

Oversight of the department’s upstream, root cause and prevention efforts, including initiatives in research, equity, coalition building, and other community-based solutions. The Director is also a key member of the Great Plains Food Bank’s leadership team.

Core Accountabilities and Essential Duties

1.     Research and Initiative Development

Oversight of the design, development, implementation, administration and evaluation of the organization’s root causes with communities of focus and regional, statewide, and national community coalitions.

•  Forge relationships and collaborative partnerships with community organizations and key stakeholders.
• Set priorities and manage project scope: Provide clear direction on what matters most, maintain team's focus on high-impact work, and ensure scope is well-managed.
• Serve as a liaison to the COO: Act as a strategic connector, ensuring clear alignment and information flow to the COO while enabling sustained focus on enterprise-wide priorities.
• Bridge projects to programs: Lead the transition from project-based work to sustainable program implementation, while aligning closely with the Partner Network (PPN) team—connecting immediate work with long-term impact.
• Invite, convene and facilitate diverse stakeholders to design collaborative solutions and strategies. Drive scalable solutions: Develop and implement approaches that can be applied across stakeholders and regions.
• Develop and execute community assessment(s) as needed.
• Manage logistics of various stakeholder groups, design and implement pilots, ensure budget adherence and grant reporting. Enhance the partner experience: Assist in fostering a seamless, coordinated experience for project partners.
• Identify, design, implement and evaluate solutions.

 2.     Strategic Vision and Leadership

Provides mission-driven leadership that aligns with organizational vision, strategies and goals.

• Leads the development of long-range and annual department strategic plans and goals for functions of the organization that are innovative, responsive to the needs of clients and consistent with the mission and vision of Great Plains Food Bank.
• Drives the ongoing implementation, regular assessment of progress and recommends modifications to the department’s components of the strategic plan and annual work plan.
• Provides leadership, guidance and support for the department team in executing the strategic and annual work plans.

 3.  Research, Evaluation and Analysis

Responsible for organizational oversight of coordinated studies, analysis and offers key evaluation and data collection expertise and support.

• Researches and adopts various evaluation methods such as survey design, deployment and analysis to measure short and long term client and organizational impact.
• Identifies and uses technology to evaluate services and gaps.
• Analyzes new initiative effectiveness and scalability.
• Understands and applies research data to programming development and decisions.

 4.    Staff Development and Direction

Build on the strong culture of the organization and its people to form a cohesive, skilled, high-performing, engaged,

and values-driven team through coaching, training and professional development opportunities.

• Hires, trains, and supervises the Data Insights Manager, Community Impact Manager, and the Coalition Coordinator positions.
• Works with team members to develop and successfully execute annual individual work plans, monitors and provides constructive feedback on performance on a regular basis and works to assist staff in their development goals.   
• Builds a dynamic team that shares common goals, works closely together to pursue opportunities and overcome challenges, and embraces change and innovation to advance the mission of the organization.
• Fosters employee engagement by creating a supportive environment, promoting strong communications, recognizing achievements, and motivating and challenging team members by building on their strengths and providing opportunities for growth where possible.

Education, Experience and Requirements

Successful candidates for this position must hold a bachelor’s degree in human services, non-profit management or related field with a minimum of 5 years’ progressively responsible experience in social services, project management, public awareness advocacy or related area(s). Experience in leadership of others, public health, project development and management and community collaborations and facilitation are highly desired. Valid driver’s license, ability to travel statewide and flexibility to attend meetings and events in evenings and/or on weekends required.

Skills and Competencies 

• Strong communicator that possesses excellent written, oral and interpersonal communication skills.
• Experience leading and motivating teams.
• Ability to think critically and interpret data at a strategic level.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with multi-faceted demands and deadlines.
• Strong organizational skills and detail oriented, yet flexible with an adaptable personal style.
• Experience with research methods.
• Critical thinking skills to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Strong customer service skills and willingness to assist others.

 The above statements are intended to describe the general nature of work being performed by people assigned to this position and appear in no order of significance or priority. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties and skills required of personnel in this position. The Great Plains Food Bank reserves the right to add, modify, change or rescind the actual duties, responsibilities, qualifications and work assignments as deemed appropriate and necessary, and to make reasonable accommodation so qualified employees can perform the essential functions of the position. 

The only food bank in the state of North Dakota, the Great Plains Food Bank recovers food that otherwise would go to waste from a range of food industry partners and through its programs and services distributes it to those in need throughout North Dakota and Clay County, Minn. Working with volunteers, food and financial donors, community champions and advocates, we are committed to serving the people in our region each day. With your help, we can achieve our goal of a hunger-free North Dakota and Clay County, Minn.

Salary : $85,000 - $100,000