Director, Disaster Services (Nationwide-Remote) - Feeding America

Work. Serve. Thrive. 

Imagine a place where your talent can make a meaningful difference in peoples' lives. Working at Feeding America is a uniquely rewarding experience in which our employees work together as vital parts of a much larger mission. We are innovative, mission-focused, diverse, collaborative, values-driven and focused on results. 

Feeding America is the nation’s largest charity and the leading domestic hunger-relief charity in the United States. Our mission is to feed America's hungry through a nationwide network of member food banks and engage our country in the fight to end hunger. Learn more about Feeding America here. 

The Opportunity

The Director, Disaster Services is responsible for leading strategy and coordination of Feeding America national office disaster response and preparedness efforts as well as capacity building efforts for the network in disaster response, recovery, and preparedness. With the increasing frequency, magnitude and impacts on Partner Food Bank relief efforts and engagement with enterprise-wide climate adaptation/resilience efforts, this role will build strong relationships with network leaders and Feeding America stakeholders, co-creating strategies and services that serve members and ultimately those facing hunger by leveraging national and local assets, strengthening network alignment, and fostering growing collaboration. This is a fully-remote position with significant (>30%) travel as well as the expectation that this person will come on-site for any meetings or trainings as required by their department leadership.
 

Salary Range: $114,000 - 119,000 Based on Experience


Responsibilities:

• Craft strategy for network disaster capacity building needs and national organization response efforts, ensuring strategy addresses both persistent capacity constraints as well as timely, emerging challenges.
• Direct the design, piloting, and refinement of disaster capacity-building efforts for members while maintaining and leveraging long-standing collaborative relationships between network members and the national organization.
• Establish, develop, and oversee the management of national disaster partnerships with key governmental and NGO stakeholders.
• Collaborate with Development and Member Grants to prioritize resources that will further build the Disaster Services function including the national organization and member “blue sky” disaster capacity and “grey sky” support in response to disaster events.
• Develop and manage Disaster Services annual plan and discretionary and member grant budget aligned to organizational priorities.
• Lead the organization’s Disaster Leadership Team while supporting Manager, Disaster Services – Response’s coordination of the response.
• Identify relevant trends in disaster response and utilize findings to modify and/or evolve FA and network disaster plans and strategies.
• In collaboration with Development and Supply Chain, build strategic relationships with donors which have their own Disaster Service protocols to strengthen partnerships and enhance our efforts.
• Hire, supervise, and support team in providing exceptional service and support to national organization and network members that maximize the potential for disaster preparedness, response and recovery for all, including both high and low attention disasters.
• Lead and manage the Disaster Services Advisory Council and any related advisory committees to support the design and implementation of network disaster services.
• Lead After Action Reviews with support of Manager, Disaster Services - Response to capture and apply learnings for continuous improvement of response efforts and prioritization of capacity-building services.
• Develop strategy for creation of tools and resources for network members that address both persistent and emerging need in disaster efforts, including webinars, forums for best practice sharing and professional development workshops; Partner with Network Learning & Engagement to ensure that network members have access to timely, high quality learning materials and experiences.
• Collaborate with leaders across national organization to ensure cohesive network experience and sharing of best practices in network capacity building.
• Ensure disaster response, recovery and preparedness standards for members are consistent with the guidelines established in the partner food bank agreement; providing training and resources to support members with those standards.
• Working with Sr. Director, Capacity Building Strategy & Growth, develop and direct efforts of the team to provide equitable access to prioritized services and comprehensive metrics and evaluations to best support disaster response and preparedness efforts.
• Ensure equity is embedded into Disaster Services strategy and annual plans.

Required Experience and Qualifications 

• 10+ years’ experience in emergency management, disaster relief, human services or governmental organization or Certified Emergency Manager (CEM).
• Excellent project management skills.
• Exceptional presentation and interpersonal skills and ability to work collaboratively with all levels of professionals in multiple organizations.
  

Foundational Requirements:
 

• Mission Focused – Demonstrates a commitment to Feeding America’s mission through word and action. Is committed to keep people facing hunger at the center of our work and strives to translate this commitment into action on a daily basis.  Willing to advocate for people facing hunger and serve as an ambassador for Feeding America inside and outside of work.
• Embraces Equity, Diversity and Inclusion – Demonstrates a personal commitment to valuing different backgrounds and life experiences through word and action. Takes personal actions to build an inclusive culture that ensures everyone can fully contribute based on their unique talents, skills and perspectives and feels welcomed and valued.  Commits to driving equitable solutions to address root cause issues by incorporating an equity framework in their daily work.  Committed to continuous personal EDI development.

Required Leadership Competencies:
 

• Understands our 'Business': Demonstrates in-depth knowledge of how the Feeding America Network and other partners operate in support of our mission and strategy. Uses sound knowledge about Feeding America and not-for-profit human service organizations to help others navigate ways to get things done. Builds relationships with key stakeholders, including functional contacts inside network food banks. Demonstrates a solid understanding of the business levers that can be used to drive different department and organization outcomes.
• Leverages Functional Expertise: Applies extensive functional expertise to diagnose challenges and root causes to complex, organization-wide problems. Provides colleagues with sound functional guidance and influences others to embrace leading practices for the benefit of Feeding America. Prioritizes building employees’ functional acumen and helps team stay abreast of leading practices in their field.
• Continuously Improves: Pursues opportunities to identify new ideas, scan for best practices, share learnings, and drive continuous improvement. Analyzes current practices, policies, and procedures to find areas for improvement and apply best practices. Reinforces a data-driven, learning, and innovation-focused mindset across the organization through persistent inquiry for and sharing of external practices. Gives others latitude to test new ideas and learn from the experience.
• Operates with Integrity: Cultivates trust through consistent leadership, ethics, and calm demeanor, even under stress. Anchors actions and decisions in our mission and values. Consistently treats others with fairness, dignity, compassion, and respect. Voices concerns/opinions appropriately and in advance of decisions and, once made, conveys full support of decisions, regardless of original position on the issue. Openly takes responsibility for mistakes, corrects them, and apologizes when appropriate and necessary.
• Manages Risk: Protects Feeding America’s reputation and credibility by exercising sound judgment and considering risks in all operational decisions. Advocates the importance and value of organizational processes for mitigating risks. Ensures resources are used in alignment with the organization’s priorities and mission. Provides regular, safe opportunities for people to share concerns or observations of potentially questionable practices.