Officer, Grants & Evaluation

Our goal is to support communities in their fight against hunger and food insecurity through advancing the food banking model. GFN launched a new strategic plan in 2019 that charts continued growth with an ambitious vision to help enable its food bank members to materially increase the amount of food distributed to those in need, distribute more nutrient-rich foods, and strengthen the resilience of their communities. Its major goals include:

• Increase the number of people served by food banks with which GFN currently works;
• Expand food banking in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa;
• Support food banking organizations in distributing a greater diversity of foods;
• Build a trusted global network of food rescue and relief organizations.

Our 2030 vision is a global network of community-led food banks that serve meals to 50 million people facing hunger. Our team provides best practices, partners and resources to food bank founders and organizations to help them fight hunger more effectively. In the next five years, we are especially aiming to come alongside changemakers in low-income communities, primarily those based in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. The Opportunity: Financial grants are one of the key resources GFN deploys to food banks, enabling them to scale faster and operate more efficiently. GFN’s Strategic Grants Program makes it possible for food banks to quickly act upon technical expertise offered by GFN Field Staff by providing an immediate influx of income to invest in things like capital improvements, expansion and training of staff and volunteers, development and implementation of programs serving the most vulnerable, strategic planning processes, and research and advocacy efforts. In addition, GFN’s Strategic Grants Program offers grantees valuable coaching and expertise in every aspect of project development and grant management – from writing a proposal, to monitoring and reporting progress, to stewarding donors into longer lasting and more meaningful relationships. Grant impact is measured by several KPI’s but most prominently, by progress made in organizational development. In FY2019, GFN’s Strategic Grants portfolio totaled over $2.4M awarded to food banking organizations in 21 countries. In FY2020, the portfolio expanded to $12.8M awarded to organizations in 51 countries, primarily in the form of COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness & Response Grants. The FY2021 program is budgeted at $2.3M but will likely surpass this as the pandemic continues to adversely impact economies and correspondent levels of food insecurity around the world. The Officer of Strategic Grants & Evaluation (Officer for short) will directly support the Director of Strategic Grants & Evaluation (Director for short) in the design, implementation, and evaluation of the Strategic Grants Program. To accomplish this, the Officer will work closely with other Programs staff, as well as colleagues in GFN Development, Communications, and Finance. The Responsibilities: Responsibilities include but are not limited to: STRATEGY & EVALUATION

• Consider the current grant offerings, document lessons learned, and strategize how to improve the overall program to better align with GFN’s Strategic Plan and GFN Field Staff work plans to maximize mission impact.
• Attend workshops/conferences related to grantmaking to learn, network, and help to further develop GFN’s Strategic Grants Program.
• As needed, conduct field visits to grantees to observe project implementation and evaluate project progress and outcomes.

DIRECT SERVICE

• Forge effective and supportive working relationships with assigned food banks throughout the Network and understand their interests, desired areas for growth, and limitations.
• In partnership with GFN Field Staff, support food banking organizations in developing project proposals.
• Identify funding and other needs of assigned food banks and share those with the Director.
• Support the Director in compiling information and answering information requests from donors and fellow staff, including the drafting of proposals, partner reports, and board materials.

MANAGEMENT

• Compile and send award packets to grantees.
• In partnership relevant Programs staff, support grantees in developing detailed project plans and budgets.
• Request wire transfers of GFN Finance and confirm receipt by grantee.
• Schedule and engage in quarterly progress phone calls with grantees.
• Collect midterm and final reports from grantees, and re-craft these into formats that meet donor expectations.
• Ensure any local communications related to GFN grants follow GFN’s Communications Guidelines.
• Anticipate, identify, and mitigate risks and issues that might be an impediment to the grantee’s success.
• In general, ensure grantees abide by the MOA.
• Maintain GFN’s Legal Due Diligence schedule for assigned food banks and demonstrate good judgement in escalating challenging cases to the Director.
• Update and routinely maintain internal information sharing systems and documents like Box, SalesForce, and others.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

 Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5+ years of experience in managing complex, demanding projects with multiple stakeholders that have, at times, competing interests, preferably in a cross-cultural setting.
• Significant experience in managing and building relationships. This includes the professional maturity to interact effectively with senior individuals from around the world.
• Creative thinker, problem-solver, and excellent negotiator that is able to understand stakeholders’ interests, find common ground, and drive collaborative and mutually beneficial agreements.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate clearly, concisely, and persuasively in multiple forms (e-mail, phone, face to face) .
• Ability to create compelling collateral in a variety of formats (mostly PowerPoint and Word).
• Outstanding organizational skills, superb attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple relationships and projects concurrently.
• Experience with mainstream relationship management software, such as Salesforce.
• Experience with Excel and ability to provide some level of analysis/summarization of data collected.
• Comfort with ambiguity, ability to work autonomously, and possess an entrepreneurial spirit.
• Energetic self-starter driven to achieve (and exceed) tangible goals with excellence and urgency .
• Fluency in other languages (especially Spanish) would be very useful but is not required.
• Experience working in nonprofits, supply chain management, and/or logistics would be very useful but is not required.
• Commitment to the mission of reducing world hunger through the advancement of food banking.

To Apply: Please email a cover letter and resume to hr@foodbanking.org. EOE The Global FoodBanking Network embraces a philosophy that recognizes and values diversity. Its goal is to attract, develop, and retain a talented, diverse workforce in a culture where all employees will contribute to their fullest potential.