Company description

Grinnell College pursues that mission by providing an education in the liberal arts through free inquiry and the open exchange of ideas. As a teaching and learning community, the College holds that knowledge is a good to be pursued both for its own sake and for the intellectual, moral, and physical well-being of individuals and of society at large. The College exists to provide a lively academic community of students and teachers of high scholarly qualifications from diverse social and cultural circumstances. The College aims to graduate individuals who can think clearly, who can speak and write persuasively and even eloquently, who can evaluate critically both their own and others' ideas, who can acquire new knowledge, and who are prepared in life and work to use their knowledge and their abilities to serve the common good.

Job description

The Grinnell Dining Real Foods Procurement Coordinator will provide administrative leadership for all activities relating to Grinnell’s Dining’s sustainable business practices.  This position includes researching and submitting grant proposals to advance opportunities to support and enhance Grinnell’s sustainable business practices. The Coordinator writes and contributes to Grinnell’s policies and procedures, strategic planning, marketing planning, and facilities planning.  This position is responsible for all activities relating to sustainability, which includes, but is not limited to; food sourcing, recycling, composting (flow of food and food waste management), garden initiatives on the main campus, and the creation and management of a consistent message of sustainability.  The Coordinator provides leadership in Grinnell’s Dining’s efforts to reach 20% or more “real” food by 2020.

The responsibilities of the Grinnell Dining Real Foods Procurement Coordinator will be separated into three branches of work: 

• Uphold tenets of the Real Food Challenge

 The Coordinator will:

• Fulfill all requirements specified by the Real Food Challenge Commitment to 20% Real Food by 2020
• Run the Real Food Calculator to keep Dining Services up to date on Grinnell’s percentage of Real Food

• Construct and propose plan for Real Food procurement

 The Coordinator will:

• Act as outreach coordinator for all Grinnell food sustainability initiatives
• Document all regional and national food sourcing data relating to Grinnell College, including: program history, records, and financial or budgetary impacts
• Coordinate marketing efforts with the Department of Communications on behalf of the Real Food Challenge
• Develop operating plans and other development plans for all Grinnell food production projects
• Assist unit managers, chefs, and production coordinators with following sustainable food purchasing requirements
• Works with chefs to develop menus that take advantage of seasonal harvest opportunities and storage capabilities
• Research new sustainable products, i.e. value-added products, equipment, cleaning supplies, etc.
• Maintain the sustainable products vendor lists
• Maintain and establish new relationships and partnerships for sustainable sourcing
• Be the first contact point for existing vendors, farmers, ranchers and co-ops.

Combining all these tasks, the Coordinator will develop, write, and implement overall sustainability policies and procedures for each year-long fiscal and academic cycle within Dining Services. Targets will be set each semester by a task force of students, faculty and staff (The Green Fund Committee in conjunction with members of the Dining Committee) based on the criteria of Real Food maintained by the National Real Food Challenge calculator. III. Facilitate education on food justice for Grinnell College The Coordinator will:

• Assist in the organization of special events
• Form partnerships with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Center for Careers, Life and Service, and the Office of Community Enhancement and Engagement to open channels for learning and interaction with food justice principles for students, faculty and staff (may involve hosting workshops or events on the topic of local food security and its intersection with race and class, for example)
• Work with Environmental and Safety Manager Chris Bair when appropriate, to continue Grinnell’s commitment to ecologically sound facilities management (may include overseeing the student garden or edible landscaping, for example)
• Act as the liaison between Dining Services and academic departments, student groups, and other interested parties

Requirements: This job is full-time. Approximately 40% of work time should be spent on outreach, event planning, meeting time and coordination for Grinnell College on the whole, and approximately 60% of work time should be spent on research and implementation of alternative food sourcing in Dining Services. The Real Foods Coordinator will be held accountable by the Director and Assistant Director of Dining Services. In addition to a four-year Bachelor’s degree from any accredited institution, the Real Food Coordinator should have 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to effectively communicate with a diverse population including vendors, farmers, ranchers, chefs, students, and the community
• Familiarity with the goals and strategies of the Real Food Challenge
• Knowledge and passion for local foods and sustainable business practices
• Ability to organize small and large events
• Working knowledge of agricultural and farming best practices and growing calendars in Iowa
• Expert knowledge, skills and abilities in gardening, agriculture, and small plot farming
• Expert knowledge of the flow and cycle of food products, food production, and menu development in a high volume food service environment
• Effective public relations skills
• Excellent guest and telephone service skills
• Working knowledge of grant applications and grant writing
• Working knowledge of food service equipment, life cycle management, and sustainable practices in food service design
• Working knowledge of web research techniques
• Commitment to the Grinnell Dining mission
• Ability to be student-centered and guest-focused
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team

 

Compensation

this position is: salaried

Application instructions

Deadline

April 18, 2016