Job Description:
Founded in 1967, St. Mary’s is the world’s first food bank. The idea came to founder John van Hengel when he was volunteering at St. Vincent DePaul, serving dinner to those in need. Today, St. Mary’s Food Bank is one of the largest food banks in the United States, and proud of the impact it has had on Arizona—and the world.
We are currently looking for a Fresh Produce Resource Developer to join our team in Phoenix, AZ.
As the Fresh Produce Resource Developer you are directly responsible for the solicitation, development, and retention of fresh produce donation accounts, with an emphasis on donation and programmatic support for the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance (SMFBA) Gleaning Program. You will provide daily account customer service, including timely follow-up and resolution to inactive and problematic accounts. You are also responsible for providing technical, logistical, and educational support for the SMFBA Gleaning Program and other food bank programs involving fresh produce.
Compensation/Salary:
$48,000 - $60,000
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in business, agriculture, or a related field preferred.
- Minimum 3 years of active fresh produce industry experience preferred.
- Significant experience in business/account sales development and management preferred.
- Have strong strategic planning, organizational, and negotiating skills and comprehensive experience in customer service management.
- Exemplary computer literacy and data entry skills also required.
- Self-starter who can work independently and efficiently under minimal supervision, with the ability to coach employees and interact professionally with the public.
- Ability to think strategically and to resolve problems.
- Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations, demonstrates group presentation skills and conducts meetings.
- Prioritizes and plans work activities, uses time efficiently, and develops realistic action plans.
Responsibilities & Duties:
Overall Position Responsibilities
- Responsible for establishing, developing, and maintaining donor relationships with food industry companies, organizations, growers, brokers, and individuals to facilitate the donation of fresh produce products in support of the mission of the food bank.
- Responsible for ongoing solicitation, site visits, and account follow-up to ensure donor development, the growth of the donor relationship, and the timely resolution to any problems with donor accounts.
- Responsible for maintaining all donor account records and files, including the food bank database of donor accounts and their activity.
- Responsible for the development and growth of donor accounts to include volunteer support for the food bank and the SMFBA Gleaning Program.
- Seeks program sponsorship opportunities for food bank programs through the growth and development of donor accounts.
General Gleaning Program Responsibilities
- Expansion of grower gleaning program to include additional growers, orchards, and community garden partners within our service area to glean produce that is not marketable, or that is produced in excess.
- Expansion of gleaning to dedicated crops/acreage that is set aside by growers for donation to the food bank (“Plant a Row for Hunger” Program).
- Solicitation of contracted acreage during the summer and off-season months when fields are being “rested” for the growing of SMFBA crops for early fall gleaning harvest.
- Development of a pick-and-pack-out (PPO) fee-based program with growers to field pack row crop and other fresh produce culls for donation to the food bank.
- Development of an Arizona version of the “Take a bite Out of Hunger” program (a program of First Fruits of Washington, an Apple Marketing Company donating apples to Washington food banks in partnership with growers and grocery stores).
Purchasing Responsibilities
- Responsible for negotiating the purchase of fresh produce items under the SMFBA Pick-and-Pack-out Fee Program (PPO) in the quality and quantity necessary to support food bank programs and operations.
- Continually works to identify and develop new and optimal sources of supply for all PPO purchased produce items.
- Works to minimize the cost of goods for all produce purchases and to leverage donor relations to ensure the best price for all purchased product.
- Keeps track of and provides reports on produce market activity and current market conditions to facilitate the food bank’s produce purchases.
- Responsible for generating purchase order requests and for maintaining accurate records of purchased commodities and vendors.
- Responsible for working with the Transportation and Logistics teams to facilitate and coordinate the transportation of purchased and donated product.
General Responsibilities
- Provides support and technical expertise to the Operations Team in the development of best practices to ensure that produce and other highly perishable products are handled correctly and in the most efficient manner to limit waste and to ensure product will be of the highest quality possible when it reaches the customer.
- Supports established logistical processes and procedures to facilitate product arrival and shipment.
- Maintains awareness of market trends, technology, and food safety.
- Provides support to the Operations Team in the area of product traceability and food safety programs, and provides support, as needed, for product recalls.
- Responsible for maintaining accurate records and generating reports to document and measure key aspects of the position’s job responsibilities (including monthly status reports on account activity and new donor development), and assists with providing data and metrics information to facilitate the evaluation of operational activities of the food bank.
- Responsible for maintaining excellent customer service relations with all internal and food bank and Gleaning Programs partners.
- Cultivates and maintain relationships with other food banks, Feeding America, AAFB, and other community and organizational partners to facilitate the mission of the food bank.
- As assigned, participates in job related trade shows as the food bank’s representative.
- Participates in department and organizational meetings as required.
- Performs other duties as assigned.
