VP of Marketing and Communications

Who We Are:

FoodCorps partners with schools and communities to nourish kids’ health, education, and sense of community. Our AmeriCorps members partner with educators and school nutrition leaders to provide kids with nourishing meals, food education, and family-driven experiences with food that celebrate and nurture the whole child. Building on our service program, FoodCorps develops leaders, grows networks, and advocates for policy change in service of every kid’s health and well-being. Our goal is that by 2030, every child will have access to food education and nourishing food in school.

The Problem We're Trying To Solve:

School is where kids grow and learn, building knowledge and life skills that will last through their childhood years into adulthood. But too many kids go through the school day without the nutritious food they need to do and feel their best. FoodCorps works with schools to set students up for success by helping to provide nourishing meals, nutrition education, and community connections through food. We partner with schools to get kids excited about eating fruits and veggies, support school nutrition staff in getting nourishing meals on the lunch tray, and work with families to create positive school food environments for all kids. FoodCorps provides hands-on food education to more than 40,000 students each year, helping to support kids’ health, academic success, and connections to their community.

Who You Are:

The incoming Vice President of Marketing and Communications is the visionary and team leader responsible for building and protecting FoodCorps’ brand, growing our audience and engagement with key stakeholder groups, and leveraging the tools of strategic communication to accelerate the organization’s impact through policy influence.

The VP joins FoodCorps during a period of rapid evolution. As we adapt our programming and advocacy priorities to meet the needs of the kids at the center of our mission, the VP will curate FoodCorps’ narrative and shape FoodCorps’ approach to campaigns, branding and brand partnerships, media and public relations, brand presence in schools and communities, and audience-building with donors, policymakers, school partners, families, prospective corps members, and alumni.

This is an exciting opportunity for a proven marketing and communications leader with strong coaching and management skills, a passion for asset-based storytelling, and a drive to build FoodCorps into a household name and a driving force in policy change. The VP reports to the President, and partners closely with the CEO, leading a high-performing, nine-person team. They will serve as a member of the organization-wide Leadership Team, and will collaborate within the External Relations unit as well as across the full institution to meet the needs of all of FoodCorps’ stakeholders.

This position is a VP level role with a starting salary range between $205,000-$235,000.

Areas of responsibility:

• Executive leadership: Serve on the 12-person Leadership Team that informs organizational strategy and budget, monitors organizational performance, and provides cross-functional leadership and change management to FoodCorps as a whole. 
• Team management: Lead and develop the Marketing & Communications Department, with responsibility for setting annual strategy, goals, and department budget, managing data-driven performance targets, and coaching a high-performing, mostly remote team toward the best work of their careers.
• Communication strategy: Envision and operationalize a comprehensive plan for the Marketing & Communications team to serve the needs of FoodCorps and advance our 2030 goal of every child having access to food education and nourishing meals in school.
• Brand and voice: Drive dramatic growth in the recognition of the organization’s work and brand, making school food a trending topic in education and FoodCorps the clear field leader in the space, always applying an asset-based and ethical lens to how the organization presents itself.

Audience-building and engagement: Through organic and paid social strategies and other means of acquisition and engagement, build FoodCorps’ supporter base to 1 million constituents by 2030, with a focus on key stakeholder groups: corps members and alumni, families and caregivers, food education and school nutrition professionals, and school stakeholders.

• Marketing of products and services: Lead the launch of new product and service offerings to schools, districts, and their stakeholders, making the case for FoodCorps’ value proposition and collaborating across the organization to build and populate the partnership funnel.
• Public relations and media: Develop a media relations strategy to secure coverage for FoodCorps and set our staff and stakeholders up for effective appearances in national and local press and new media, position FoodCorps materials and research for dissemination, and support strategic deployment of executives as thought leaders, authors, and public speakers.

Policy and advocacy communication: Advance FoodCorps’ policy agenda at the state and federal levels through strategic communication, activation of constituents, and events. 

• Internal collaboration: Partner with colleagues across the organization to co-create, amplify, and elevate their messages and achieve their goals, including fundraising, corps member recruitment, school-based programming, policy and advocacy, and stakeholder media training.
• Advise on internal communications: Provide strategic guidance on internal communications practices and support transparency in decision-making to ensure all staff are informed and engaged with organizational priorities.

Skills and experience:

• Mission alignment: A compelling personal connection to the FoodCorps mission and demonstrated interest in issues of education, food, child well-being, and/or health.
• Domain expertise in marketing, communications, and campaigns: A minimum of ten years leading a communications, marketing, branding, campaigns, and/or media relations function. Strong preference for prior experience working in a high-growth, geographically distributed setting, serving on a senior leadership team, and engaging in policy communications.
• Management: A demonstrated record of building and developing high-performing teams, coaching individuals and advancing their professional trajectories, and fostering collaboration. Evidence of an approach to management that balances humanity, efficacy, and accountability.
• Strategy: Ability to set strategy in a way that ensures team input and empowerment and holds the needs of the full organization.

• Communication: Standout abilities as a written, verbal, and multimedia communicator, with an ability to shape the narrative of an organization and an issue.

Measures of Success:

By the end of year one, the VP of Marketing & Communications will have achieved the following:

• Strategy: The Marketing & Communications team has a clear and actionable annual strategy that is responsive to the cultural, political and educational landscape, and reflective of the priorities of FoodCorps.
• Individual and team management: The Marketing & Communications team is meeting or exceeding performance targets, and pulse survey results indicate that the team is feeling well-supported and positioned to do their best work. Direct reports score the VP highly as a coach and management partner who accelerates their development.
• Internal collaboration: The Marketing & Communications team is effectively collaborating with the revenue, recruitment, programming, and advocacy teams, leading to stronger messaging alignment, more integrated campaigns, and cross-team trust.
• Audience building: Measurable progress is made toward the goal of 1 million engaged constituents, with growth targets set and achieved across key stakeholder groups, and strategies developed to meet the full goal by 2030. 

Leadership: The VP will have contributed to the health of the organization as a whole, by building close working relationships with colleagues across the Leadership Team, showing up across departments as an enterprise-level leader, managing confidently and empathetically through change, and modeling FoodCorps’ competencies and values. 

Thriving at FoodCorps:

In addition to generous medical benefits and an annual $3000 401(k) matching, FoodCorps provides:

Time Away:

Our work is both vital and demanding. FoodCorps recognizes this and provides ample time to step away and recharge, including:

• half-day Fridays
• 5 weeks of accrued time off
• 12 federal holidays (AND your birthday!)
• 2-week winter break
• a sabbatical policy

Family Planning:

As an organization that supports youth development, our family policies need to match our values. To that end, we offer a wide range of health, wellness and medical benefits.

Ongoing Support and Professional Development:

At FoodCorps, we want our people to work in the way that works best for them. We provide:

• $850 annual home office funds
• Internet bill reimbursement
• Partial cell phone reimbursement
• $500 annual professional development funds

How to Apply:

Applications will be accepted until a match is made. Please note that incomplete applications (applications without all requested materials; ie. cover letter, writing or portfolio examples, etc.) may not be considered. 

FoodCorps is committed to reflecting the rich experiences, identities, and customs of the communities we partner with across the country in our workforce, and to supporting our staff with ongoing career development opportunities. We welcome any and all candidates who identify with our mission and values to submit an application for consideration. FoodCorps is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its employment decisions. FoodCorps provides reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees as required by law.

Applicants with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation at any point in the employment process, including but not limited to the application and interview process.

Your Safety:

Legitimate messages from FoodCorps will only come from an email address ending in )boards.greenhouse.io/foodcorps) not any variations of that (e.g. hr@careers-foodcorps.org, morgan@careers-foodcorps.org, etc). Additionally FoodCorps will not ask you to submit any information outside of our website prior to hire. The best way to contact us regarding employment opportunities is through our site at https://foodcorps.org/careers/.

If you suspect you’re being  targeted as part of a scam we encourage you to submit a fraud report to the Federal Trade Commission with details about your correspondence with the scammer.  This helps the FTC better understand the tactics scammers are using and get a sense of the volume of fraud attempts.