Operations Manager

Cambridge City Foodbank needs an Operations Manager to help us cope with the rising levels of hunger and poverty around Cambridge. Cambridge is the most unequal city in the UK and you could help fix that by ensuring we collect food from those with enough and get it to those who struggle to put a meal on the table.

We are a non-profit organisation and part of the Trussell Trust Network.  Operating at eleven sites in and around Cambridge we have over 170 volunteers and provide emergency food to local residents who are unable to obtain food due to a financial crisis. We work with a large number of professional agencies and local organisations who come into contact with those in need and refer them to the foodbank for help.

Due to continued growth in demand, a full-time Operations Manager is now required. This is a new post to strengthen and sustain our management team. You would work principally at our head office in north Cambridge but will also need to work at other locations around Cambridge on a regular basis.

You would report to the Foodbank CEO and be responsible for the effective collection and distribution of over 100 tons of food, supporting over 8,000 local residents. You will interact with more than 100 local support agencies, coordinate two warehouses and vans, interface with local supermarkets and manage eight food distribution centres.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

In the role of Operation Manager, you will oversee and manage the operation of Cambridge City Foodbank to ensure that it is able to provide a high quality and reliable level of service to its clients in all the projects currently supported. This will include:

Managing referral agency relationships:

• Work with agencies to ensure they understand the guidelines for issuing vouchers and they are effective at identifying those in need.
• Dealing with applications for new agencies and maintaining existing records
• Ensuring the referral voucher system operates smoothly

Managing the warehouse:

• Ensuring the warehouse is safe and well organized
• Ensuring that the warehouse is available for public donations at the published times.
• Organizing the work of warehouse volunteer teams as needed by current logistics
• Ensuring effective transport of food to centres and from collection points and arranging transfer of food between warehouses as required to balance stock.

Managing food centres:

• Coordinate with the Volunteer Manager to ensure the centres are adequately staffed and stocked
• Attend regular weekday sessions to participate and monitor operations
• Ensure that volunteers are adequately trained for their role
• Ensure that Health and Safety and food safety procedures are correctly followed.

Manage or Assist Ad-Hoc projects

From time to time the charity may engage in special projects such as special supermarket collections, Christmas Hamper collection and delivery or Holiday Lunch Club support. The Operations Manager is expected to support these activities either by working with the volunteer assigned to oversee or by managing directly.

Qualifications

The successful candidate will have:

• Substantial experience in a management role involving logistics planning, coordination, and problem solving and be able to handle periods of pressure.
• The ability to supervise volunteers using encouragement rather than direction.
• Good IT skills and familiarity with working in a paperless IT environment.
• A valid UK driving licence.

Cambridge City Foodbank has a Christian foundation and you must be comfortable with the values and principles of the charity. From time to time you may be required to facilitate meetings or activities that include Christian activities.

You will be passionate about helping those facing food poverty.