Director, Supportive Services & Outreach

Ballard Food Bank's mission is to bring food and hope to our neighbors because there can be enough for everyone. To achieve our mission, we provide access to nutritious foods through our grocery model food bank, Kindness Café, and Community Resource Hub, which encompasses financial resources, referral, and mail services that support self-sufficiency. We also advocate for food equity and justice. Our home, which opened in October 2021, serves as a Hub for Hope as it brings together food, services, and community partners in a one-stop shop. The Ballard Food Bank actively strives to be an anti-racist organization and promotes the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in its work.

Position Summary:

The Director of Supportive Services provides leadership for Ballard Food Bank's Supportive Services portfolio, ensuring high-quality client services including community resource navigation, housing stability, and integrated service delivery. The role centers community, provides trauma informed support, and ensures equitable access to resources. The Director is responsible for establishing strategic priorities, ensuring high-quality service delivery, developing partnerships, and advancing the organization's long-term vision for community resource programming.

As part of the organization's strategic management team, the Director partners across departments and external partners to expand access to Community Resource Hub programs that strengthen community, promote self-sufficiency, and address systemic disparities.

Responsibilities:

• Lead Ballard Food Bank's Community Resource Hub and Supportive Services portfolio, ensuring programs deliver meaningful outcomes for clients through effective case management, housing stabilization, financial assistance, outreach, and community partnerships. Drive program quality, operational excellence, staff development, and continuous improvement while advancing equitable access to resources and long-term community impact.
• Manage, coach, and develop the Community Hub team while building leadership capacity, ensuring high-quality practice, and fostering a trauma-informed culture.
• In partnership with the program team, develop, implement and support strategies that align with the strategic plan and organizational priorities.
• Evaluate program outcomes and community trends to identify opportunities for improvement, innovation, and impact.
• Lead our client advocacy efforts and resource navigation, ensuring excellence in client support.
• Support staff in de-escalation and trauma informed care as they work with clients to address issues across the organization.
• Develop and steward strategic partnerships with community organizations, healthcare providers, housing agencies, and government partners to expand access to services
• Work with community stakeholders to build and strengthen continuums of care for clients.
• Foster a collaborative, trauma-informed, and mission-aligned team culture.
• Lead trauma-informed care and de-escalation trainings for staff and volunteers.
• Develop, oversee, and steward the Supportive Services & Outreach Team budget.
• Support advocacy efforts by elevating client voices and working with the external communications team to advance policies aligned with organizational values.

Required Qualifications:

• Seven or more years of experience working in direct service, leading staff, programs, budgets; demonstrated experience evaluating and scaling programs. MSW strongly preferred
• Prior experience providing direct service as a case manager, outreach worker, community navigator, and overseeing staff providing these or similar services
• Demonstrated ability to work well with individuals: experiencing homelessness, experiencing acute behavioral and physical health needs, fleeing family violence and/or sex trafficking, and/or experiencing substance use disorder while pregnant and/or parenting
• Direct service experience in Seattle/King County working with community members experiencing homelessness, behavioral health, and other systemic barriers.
• Demonstrated understanding of de-escalation, trauma-informed care, motivational interviewing, and harm reduction principles
• Demonstrated ability to work well with people from all racial, cultural, social, and economic backgrounds with various identities and experiences, including recent immigrants and people whose first language is not English
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality, set appropriate boundaries and navigate sensitive situations with professionalism and care
• Proficiency with Microsoft Suite and experience with databases, such as HMIS
• Proficiency in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Ukrainian, or Russian a plus
• Legally able to drive in Washington State and flexibility to be mobile to meet emergent needs

Hours:

This is a full-time position with much of the work happening Monday - Thursday during our regular business hours. This includes some evening and weekend hours for events, and programming. Ballard Food Bank currently works a 35-hour work week.

Salary & Benefits:

The starting range for this position is $114,000 - $127,000 per year Ballard Food Bank provides a comprehensive benefits package including but not restricted to: Medical, dental and vision benefits; employer-matched Simple IRA; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays.

How to apply: Please include your answer to the following question in your cover letter then submit your cover letter along with your resume, to careers@ballardfoodbank.org with Director, Supportive Services & Outreach in the subject line. Please no calls or email inquiries.

• Please share how you have developed and/or engaged clients with culturally relevant services that promote access? How did you ensure their needs were addressed while prioritizing client-led care?
• Below are Ballard Food Bank's core values. Please share which of these values resonate with you the most and why.
• Access to food is a human right, as is access to housing, education, and healthcare. Lack of access to these fundamental rights is a direct result of systemic racism and other systemic injustices that lead to poverty.
• Every individual is worthy of respect, and we value each person's dignity, worth, and lived experience.
• We commit to centering relationships and meeting people where they are in the moment.
• We strive to create a welcoming, intentionally inclusive environment.
• We seek to include perspectives, input, and guidance from the people we serve.
• Healthy, culturally appropriate food is critical to our community's wellbeing.
• We are stewards of the land. We aim to minimize our environmental footprint, promote sustainability, and support local farmers and communities to grow their own food.

Equal Opportunity Employment: Ballard Food Bank is an equal opportunity employer. We seek to cultivate a staff team that reflects the rich diversity of our community. We value a team that is vibrant, inclusive and offers a place of belonging. Applicants representing the diversity of our communities are encouraged to apply, including people of color, people with disabilities, people with lived experience, and people of diverse sexual orientations, and gender expressions.