Job Title Description: Food Procurement Coordinator

Classification: Exempt

Reports To: Donor Development Manager

Date Updated: October 2022

Summary/Objective

To support Northern Illinois Food Bank’s strategic plan and its derivatives including the challenge to systematically to grow food resources. Primary responsibility is to support the Food Bank’s food acquisition programs, particularly food sourcing, donor cultivation, vendor cultivation and management, and supply chain economics to ensure that Food Bank activities and practices support the needs of its agencies in conjunction with operational objectives and food safety standards.

Essential Functions

• Support food donation solicitation strategies of the Donor Development Manager and Director of Food Procurement
• Serve as the initial contact for donation inquiries via email and phone
• Procure shelf stable, frozen, refrigerated, and non-food items to support NIFB’s programs (including the shopping list)
• Proactively communicate and collaborate across teams to:
  • Share donated food opportunities with Operations and Programs Teams
  • Meet inventory needs
  • Educate teams on unique donation opportunities
  • Work to resolve any donor issues related to receiving/inventory
  • Coordinate pick up and receiving of donations
  • Work with Production on opportunities to relabel/repack product in order to accept additional donations
  • Determine needed/desired products across all programs
  • Schedule receipt of purchased inventory
  • Process vendor payment vouchers
  • Proactively address supply chain challenges
• Data entry and management in CERES, Airtable, MealConnect, and other databases as needed
• Coordinate 3PL logistics for donation opportunities
• Develop a strong working relationship with operations to ensure needs of donor and Northern Illinois Food Bank are being met
• Visit food companies, distributors, processors and other food industry locations when necessary to ensure an acceptable quality, condition and shelf-life of offered product is being met.
• Provide exemplary and professional customer service that will attract not only new, but repetitive and reoccurring food donations and vendors.
• Provide coverage for other team members when needed
• Provide support for Food Bank events
• Employees may assigned other duties, in addition to, or in lieu of those described above, according to the needs of the operations team.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Required Education, Skills, and Experience

• 2 years of college or equivalent work experience
• Food Industry, Food Banking, or Supply Chain experience preferred but not required
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience in successful relationship building
• Capable of maintaining multiple accounts and completing follow up correspondence on a regular basis
• Strong customer service in written and verbal communications
• Prospecting and cultivation skills
• Detail-oriented data entry skills
• Strong decision-making ability, especially when under time constraints.

Preferred Education, Skills, and Experience

• Experience in food industry, sales and customer service strongly preferred.

Supervisory Responsibility

This is not a supervisory position.

Work Environment

This job operates in a professional office environment. This role routinely uses standard office equipment such as computers, phones, photocopiers, filing cabinets and fax machines.

Physical Demands

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to drive and communicate. This is largely a sedentary role; however, some filing is required. This would require the ability to lift files, open filing cabinets and bend or stand on a stool as necessary.

Position Type and Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position. Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Some flexibility in hours is allowed, but the employee must be available during the "core" work hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and must work 40 hours each week to maintain full-time status.

Position Location

This position is based out of our West Suburban Center (Geneva) location.

Travel

Travel within Northern Illinois Food Bank’s 13 county region up to 25% of the time.

AAP/EEO Statement

Northern Illinois Food Bank is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Covid-19 Vaccine Notice

At Northern Illinois Food Bank, we take the health and safety of our employees, neighbors and their loved ones very seriously. We have concluded that the best way to ensure the safety of these individuals is to require that all of our employees be fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Please know that in order to become employed by NIFB (if otherwise eligible), you must provide satisfactory proof of vaccination. You will not be required to provide this proof unless and until you receive a formal job offer from NIFB. Please also know that NIFB will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccination because of a disability or a sincerely held religious belief, practice, observance, or pregnancy.